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HISTORY 



NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 



FROM 1619 TO 1880 
NEGROES AS SLAVES, AS SOLDIERS, AND AS CITIZENS 

TOGETHER WITH 

A rKF.I.IMIXARV CONSIDERATION OF THE UNITY OF THE IITMAN 

FAMILY, AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF AFRICA. AM) AN 

ACCOUNT OF THE NEClRo GOYERNMENTS OF 

SIERRA LEONE AND LIRERIA 



GEORGE W. WILLIATJS 

ns^T COLORED MEMBER OF THE OHIO LECISLATl^RE, AN'r> LATE Jt'OGE ADVOCATE OF THt. 
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF OHIO, ETC. 



POFi'LAR EDITIOX—TilO }\1Li:trj:S jX 0.\J. 




( NEW YDRK &JLONl)<)N 

G. r. putxa'm's sons^ 



, iLnr .iiimnciuoti'icr y 

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iThr .llnkhci bother pvtss 



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El IS 5; 



CorVRIGHT. 

Ev G. r. PUTNAM'S SONS, 
18S2. 



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I 






REV. JUSTIN DEWEY FULTON, D. D., 

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; 
AND TO THE 

HON. CHARLES FOSTER, 

GOVERNOR OF OHIO: 

WHO, AS CLERGYMAN AND STATESMAN, REPRESENT THE PUREST PRINCIPLES 
OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH AND STATt: 

Co tht JIInBtnoao Krprcgcntatitjc of tbc Cl)urc{) of Cbriet: 

WHO, FOK A QLARTER OF A CENTURY, HAS STOOD THE INTREPID CHAMFION OF DIVINE TRUTH, 
AND THE DEFENDER OF HIMANITV: DURING THE DARK DAYS OF SLAVERY, PLEADING 

THE CAUSE OF THE BONDMEN OF THE LAND; during the war, urging 

THE EQI'ALITV OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS; DURING RECONSTRUCTION, 
ENCOURAGING THE FREEUMEN TO NOBLE LIVES THROUGH THE 
AGENCY OF THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL; AND EVER- 
MORE THE ENEMY OF AN\' DISTINCTION CASED 
UPON RACE, COLOR. OR PREVIOUS CON- 
DITION OF SERVITUDE. - 

(To tbc Diotinguiobcli S^tatrsman: 

WHO, ENDUED WITH THE GENIUS OF COMMON SENSE, TOO EXALTED TO BE INFLAMED BY 

TEMPORARY PARTY OR FACTIONAL STRIFE, AND WHO, AS CONGRESSMAN AND GOVERNOR, 

IN STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS, HAS PROVEN HIMSELF CAPABLE OF 

SACRIFICING PERSONAL INTEREST TO PUBLIC WELFARE; 

WHO, IN PEALING WITH TH1-: NEGRO PROBLEM, HAS ASSERTED A NEW DOCTRINE IN 
IGNORING THE CLAIMS OF RACES; AND WHO, AS THE FIRST NOKTHERN GOV- 
ERNOR TO APPOINT A COLORED MAN TO A POSITION OF PUBLIC TRUST, 
HAS THEREBY DECLARED THAT NEITHER NATIONALITY NOR 
COMPLEXION SHOULD ENHANCE OK IMPAIR THE CLAIMS 
OF MEN TO POSITIONS WITHIN THE GIFT OF 
THE EXECUTIVE. 

TO THESE NOBLE MEN THIS WORK IS DEDICATED, 

WITH SENTIMENTS OF HIGH ESTEEM AND FERSi)KAL REGARD, BY THEIR 
FRIEND AND HLIMBI.E SERVANT, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



I WAS requested to deliver an oration on the Fourth of Juh', 1S76, at 
Avondale, O. It being the one-hundredth birthday of the American 
Republic, I determined to prepare an oration on the Ainencan Negro. I 
at once began an investigation of the records of the nation to secure mate- 
rial for the orahon. I was surprised and delighted to find that ihe histori- 
cal memorials of the Negro were so abundant, and so creditable to him. 
I pronounced my oration on the Fourth of July, 1S76 ; and the warm and 
generous manner in which it was received, both by those who listened to it 
and by others who subsequently read it in pamphlet form, encoiu'aged me 
to devote what leisure time I might have to a furdier study of the subject. 

I found that the library of the Historical and Philosophical Society 
of Ohio, and the great Americana of JNIr. Robert Clarke containing about 
eight thousand titles, both in Cincinnati, offered peculiar advantages to a 
student of American history. For two years I spent what time I could 
spare from professional cares in studying the whole problem of the African 
slave-trade ; the founding of the British colonies in North America ; the 
slave problem in the colonies ; the rupture between the colonies and the 
British Government ; the war of the Revolution ; the political structure of 
the Continental government and Confederation ; the slavery question in 
local and national legislation ; and then traced the slavery and anti-slavery 
question down to the Rebellion. I became convinced that a history of the 
Colored people in America was required, because of the ample historically 
trustworthy material at hand ; because the Colored people themselves had 
been the most vexatious problem in North America, from the time of its 
discovery down to the present day ; because that in every attempt upon 
the life of the nation, whether by foes from without or within, the Col- 
ored people had always displayed a matchless patriotism and an incom- 
parable heroism in the cause of Americans ; and because such a history 

V 



PREFACE. 



I WAS requested to deliver an oration on the Fourth of July, 1876, at 
Avondale, O. It being the one-hundredth birthday of the American 
Republic, I determined to ])repare an oration on the Ameruan JVcgro. I 
at once began an investigation of the records of the nation to secure mate- 
rial for the oration. I was surprised and delighted to find that the histori- 
cal memorials of the Negro were so abundant, and so creditable to him. 
I pronounced my oration on the I'ourth of July, 1S76 ; and the warm and 
generous manner in wliich it was received, both by those who listened to it 
and by others who subsequently read it in pamphlet form, encouraged me 
to devote what leisure time I might have to a further study of the subject. 

I found that the library of the Historical and Philosophical Society 
of Ohio, and the great Americana of Mr. Robert Clarke containing about 
eight thousand titles, both in Cincinnati, offered peculiar advantages to a 
student of American history. For two years I spent what time I could 
spare from professional cares in studying the whole problem of the .Vfrican 
slave-trade ; the founding of the British colonies in North .America ; the 
slave problem in the colonies ; the rupture between the colonies and the 
British Government; the war of the Revolution; the political structure of 
the Continental government and Confederation ; the slavery question in 
local and national legislation ; and then traced the slavery and anti-slavery 
question down to the Rebellion. I became convinced that a history of the 
Colored people in America was required, because of the ample historically 
trustworthy material at hand ; because the Colored people themselves had 
been the most vexatious problem in North America, from the time of its 
discovery down to the present day ; because that in every attempt upon 
the life of the nation, whether by foes from without or within, the Col- 
ored people had always displayed a matchless patriotism and an incom- 
parable heroism in the cause of .Americans ; and because such a history 



VI PREFACE. 

would give the world more correct ideas of the Chlored people, and incite 
the latter to greater effort in the struggle of citizenship and manhood. 
The single reason that there was no history of the Negro race would have 
been a sufficient reason for writing one. 

The labor incident upon the several public positions held by me pre- 
cluded an earlier completion of this task ; and. fmding it absolutely im- 
possible to write while discharging public duties or practising law, I retired 
from the public service several years ago, and since that time have devoted 
all my energies to this work. It is now nearly seven years since I began 
this wonderful task. 

I have been possessed of a painful sense of the vastness of my work 
from first to last. I regret that for the sake of pressing the work into a 
single volume, favorable to a speedy sale, — at the sacrifice of the record 
of a most remarkable people, — I found my heart unwilling, and my best 
judgment protesting. 

In the preparation of this work I have consulted over twelve thousand 
volumes, — about one thousand of which are referred to in the foot- 
notes, — and thousands of pamphlets. 

After wide and careful reading, extending through three years, I con- 
ceived the present plan of this history. I divided it into nine parts. Two 
thoughts led me to prepare the chapters under the head of Preliminarv 
Considerations. First, The defenders of slavery and the traducers of the 
Negro built their i)ro-slavery arguments upon biblical ethnology and the 
curse of Canaan. I am alive to the fact, that, while I am a believer 
in the Holy Bible, it is not the best authority on ethnology. As far as 
it goes, it is agreeable to my head and heart. Whatever science has added 
I have gladly appropriated. I make no claim, however, to be a specialist. 
While the curse of Canaan is no longer a question of debate, yet never- 
theless the folly of the obsolete theory should be thoroughly understood 
by the young men of the Negro race who, though voting now, were not 
born when Sumter was fired ui.ion. Second, A growing desire among the 
enlightened Negroes in .America to learn all that is possible from research 
concerning the antiquity of the race, — Africa, its inhabitants, and the 
development of the Negro governments of SieiTa Leone and Liberia, led 
me to furnish something to meet a felt need. If the Negro slave desired 
his native land before the Rebellion, will not the free, intelligent, and 
reflective American Negro turn to .Africa with its problems of geography 



PREFACE. VU 

and missions, now that lie can contribute sometliing towards tlie improvc- 
iiient of tlie condition of humanity? Editors and writers everywhere 
throughout the world should spell the word Negro with a capital N ; and 
when referring to the race as Colored people employ a capital C. I trust 
this will be observed. 

In Part II., Slavery in the Colomies, I have striven to give a suc- 
cinct account of the establishment and growth of slavery under the Eng- 
lish Crown. It involved almost infinite labor to go to the records of " the 
original thirteen colonies." It is proper to observe that this part is one 
of great value and interest. 

In P.A.-RT III., The Negro during the Revolution, I found much of 
an almost romantic character. Many traditions have been put down, and 
many obscure truths elucidated. Some persons may think it irreverent to 
tell the truth in the plain, homely manner that characterizes my narrative ; 
but, while I have nothing to regret in this particular, I can assure them that 
I have been actuated by none other spirit than that of candor. Where I 
have used documents it was with a desire to escape the charge of superfi- 
ciality. If, however, I may be charged with seeking to escape the labor 
incident to thorough digestion, I answer, that, while men with the rejjuta- 
tion of Bancroft and Hildreth could pass unchallenged when disregarding 
largely the use of documents and the citation of authorities, I would find 
myself challenged by a large number of critics. Moreover I have felt it 
would be almost cruel to mutilate some of the very rare old documents 
that shed such peeriess light upon the subject in hand. 

I have brought the first volume down to the close of the eighteenth 
century, detailing the great struggle through which the slavery problem 
])assed. I have given as fair an idea of the debate on this question, in the 
convention that framed the Constitution, as possible. It was then and 
there that the hydra of slavery struck its fangs into the Constitution ; and, 
once inoculated with the poison of the monster, the government was only 
able to purify itself in the flames of a great civil war. 

The -second volume opens with the present century, and closes with 
the year 1880. Unable to destroy slavery by constitutional law, the best 
thought and effort of this period were directed against the extension of 
the evil into the territory beyond the Ohio. Mississippi, and Missouri rivers. 
But having placed three-fifths of the slave population under the Constitu- 
tion, having pledged the Constitution to the protection of slave property, 



viii PREFACE. 

it required an almost superhuman effort to confine the evil to one section 
of the country. Like a loathsome disease it spread itself over the body 
politic until our nation became the eyesore of the age, and a byword 
among the nations of the world. The time came when our beloved coun- 
try had to submit to heroic treatment, and the cancer of slavery was 
removed by the sword. 

In giving an account of the Anti-Slavery Agitation Movement^ I have 
found myself able to deal briefly with methods and results only. I have 
striven to honor all the multifarious measures adopted to save the Negro 
and the Nation. I have not attempted to write a history of the Anti- 
Slavery Movement. Many noble men and women have not even been 
mentioned. It should not be forgotten that this is a history of the Negro 
race ; and as such I have not run into the topic discussed by the late 
Henry Wilson in his " Rise and Fall of the Slave Power." 

In discussing the problem of the rendition of fugitive slaves by the 
Union army, I have given the facts with temperate and honest criticism. 
.And, in recounting the sufferings Negro troops endured as prisoners of war 
in the hands of the Rebels, I have avoided any spirit of bitterness. .\ 
great deal of the material on the war I purchased from the MS. library of 
Mr. Thomas S. Townsend of New-York City. The questions of vital, prison, 
labor, educational, and financial statistics cannot fail to interest intelligent 
people of all races and parties. These statistics are full of comfort and 
assurance to the Negro as well as to his friends. 

Every cabinet minister of the President wrote me full information upon 
all the questions I asked, and promptl)' too. The refusal of the general 
and adjutant-general of the army did not destroy my hope of getting some 
information concerning the Negro regiments in the regular army. I visited 
the Indian Territory, Kansas, Texas, and New Mexico, where I have seen 
the Ninth and Tenth Regiments of cavalry, and the Twenty-fourth Regi- 
ment of infantry. The Twenty-fifth Regiment of inftntry is at Fort Ran- 
dall, Dakota. These are among the most effective troops in the regular 
army. The annual desertions in white regiments of cavalry vary from 
ninety-eight to a hundred and eighteen ; while in Negro regiments of 
cavalry the desertions only average from six to nine per annum. The 
Negro regiments are composed of young men, intelligent, faithful, brave. 
I heard but one complaint from the lips of a score of white officers I met, 
and that was that the Negroes sometimes struck their horses over the head. 



PREFACE. IX 

Every distinction in law has disappeared, except in tiie regular army. 
Here Negrfies are excluded from the artillery service and engineer's 
department. It is wrong, and Congress should place these brave black 
soldiers upon the same footing as the white troops. 

I have to thank Drs. (ieorge H. Moore and S. Austin Allibonc, of the 
Lenox Library, for tiie many kind favors shown me while pursuing my 
studies in New- York City. And I am under very great obligations to Ur. 
Moore for his admirable " History of Early Slavery in Massachusetts," with- 
out which I should have been put to great inconvenience. To Mr. John 
Austin S'evens, late editor of "The Magazine of .American History," who, 
during several months residence in New-York City, placed his private 
library and office at my service, and did every thing in his power to aid 
my investigations, I return my sincerest thanks. To the Librarians of 
the New- York Historical, Astor, and New-York Society Libraries, I return 
thanki for favors shown, and privileges granted. I am especially grateful 
to ihe Hon. Ainsworth R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress, for the manner 
in which he facilitated my researches during my sojourn in \\'ashinglon. 
I had the use of many newspapers of the last century, and of other mate- 
rial to be found only in the Congressional Library. 

To Sir T. Risely Griffith, Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of Sierra 
Leone, I am indebted for valuable statistics concerning that colony. 

To the Assistant Librarian of the State Library of Ohio, the accom- 
plished and efficient Miss Mary C. Harbough. I owe more than to any other 
jjcrson. Through her unwavering and untiring kindness and friendship, I 
have been enabled to use five hundred and seventy-six volumes from that 
library, besides newspaper files and Congressional Records. To Cov. 
diaries Foster, Chairman of the Board of Library Connnissioners, I offer 
my profoundest thanks for the intelligent, active, and practical interest he 
has taken in the completion of this work. And to Major Charles Town- 
send, Secretary of State, I offer thanks for favors shown me in securing 
documents. To the Rev. J. L. Grover and his conijietcnt assi^^tant, Mr. 
Charles H. Bell, of the Public Library of Columbus, I am indclHed for the 
use of many works. They cheerfully rendered whatever aid they could, 
and for their kindness I return many thanks. 

I am obliged to the Rev. Benjamin W. Arnett, Financial Secretary of 
the A. AL E. Church of the United States, for the statistics of his denomi- 
nation. And to all persons who have sent me newspapers and pamphlets 



X PREFACE. 

I desire to return thanks. I am grateful to C. A. Fleetwood, an efficient 
clerk in the War Department, for statistics on the Freedmen's Bank. And, 
above all and more than all, I return my profoundest thanks to my 
heavenly Father for the inspiration, health, and money by which I have 
been enabled to complete this great task. 

I have mentioned such Colored men as I thought necessary. To give 
a biographical sketch of all tlie worthy Colored men in the United States, 
would require more space than has been occupied in this work. 

Not as the blind panegyrist of my race, nor as the partisan apologist, 
but from a love {ox" tlu truth of histiuy" I have striven to record the truth, 
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I have not striven to revive 
sectional animosities or race prejudices. I have avoided comment so fiir 
as it was consistent witli a clear exposition of the truth. My whole aim 
has been to write a thoroughly trustworthy history ; and what I have writ- 
ten, if it have no other merit, is reliable. 

I commit this work to the public, white and black, to the friends and 
foes of the Negro, in the hope that the obsolete antagonisms which grew 
out of the relation of master and slave may speedily sink as storms beneath 
the horizon ; and that the day will hasten when there shall be no North, 
no South, no Black, no White, — but all be American citizens, with equal 
duties and equal rights. 

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS. 
New York, November, 18S2. 



CONTENTS. 



part I. 

PRELIMINAR V CONSIDER A TIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE UNITY OF MANKIND. 

PACE 

The Biblical Argument. — One Race and One Language. — One Blood. — The Curse of 
Canaan ' 

CHAPTER II. 

THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF PHILOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND 
EGYPTOLOGY. 

Cushini and Ethiopia. — Ethiopians, White and Black. — Negro Characteristics. — The Dark 
Continent. — The Antiquity of the Negro. — Indisputable Evidence. — The Military and 
Social Condition of Negroes. — Cause of Color. — The Term "Ethiopian" . . . I2 

CHAPTER III. 

PRIMITIVE NEGRO CIVILIZATION. 

The Ancient and High Degree of Negro Civilization. — Egypt, Greece, and Rome borrow 
from the Negro the Civilization that made them Great. — Cause of the Decline' and 
Fall of Negro Civilization. —Confounding the Terms " Negro " and " .-Vfrican " . .22 

CHAPTER IV. 
NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA. 

BENIN : Its Location. — Its Discovery by the Portuguese. — Introduction of the Catholic 
Religion. — The King as a Missionary. — His Fidelity to the Church purchased by a 
White Wife. — Decline of Religion.— Introduction of Slavery. — Suppression of the 
Trade by the English Government. — Restoration and Peace. 

D.AHO.MEY : Its Location. — Origin of the Kingdom. — Meaning of the Name. — War. — 
Capture of the English Governor, and his Death. — The Military Establishment.— 
Women as Soldiers. — Wars and their Objects. — Human Sacrifices. — The King a 
Despot. — His Powers. — His Wives. — Polygamy. — Kingly Succession. — Coronation. 

— Civil and Criminal Law. — Revenue System. — Its Future. 

VORUBA : Its Location. — Slavery and its Abolition. — Growth of the People of Abeokuta. 

— Missionaries and Teachcre from Sierra Leone. — Prosperity and Pe.ice attend the Peo- 
ple. — Capacity of the People for Civilization. — Bishop Crowther. — His Influence . 26 



xii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE. 

PAGE 

Its Location and Extent.— Its Famous Kings. — The Origin of the Ashantees Obscure.— 
The War with Denlicra. — The .Ashantees against the Field conquer two Kingdoms, and 
annex them. — Death of Osai Tutu. — The Envy of the King of Dahomey.— Invasion 
of the Ashantee Country by the Kmg of Dahomey. — His Defeat shared by his Allies. - 
Akwasi pursues the Army of Dahomey into its own Country. — Gets a Mortal Wound 
and suffers a Humiliating Defeat. — The King of Dahomey sends the Royal Kudjoh his 
Congratulations. — Kwamina deposed for attempting to introduce Mohammedanism into 
the Kingdom. — The Ashantees conquer the Mohammerir-ns. —Numerous Wars. — In- 
vasion of the Fanti Country. — Death of Sir Charles McCarthy. — Treaty. — Peace . 34 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE NEGRO TYPE. 

Climate the Cause. — His Geographical Theatre. — He is susceptible to Christianity and 

Civilization 45 

CHAPTER VII. 

AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 

Patriarchal Government. — Construction of Villages. — Negro Architecture. — Election of 
Kings. — Coronation Ceremony. — Succession. — African Queens. — Law, Civil and 
Criminal. — Priests. — Their Functions. — Marriage. — Warfare. — Agriculture. — Me- 
chanic Arts. — Blacksmiths 50 

CHAPTER VIII. 

LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 

Structure of African Languages. — The Mpongwe, Mandingo, and Grebo. — Poetry : Epic, 

Idyllic, and Miscellaneous. — Religions and Superstitions 66 



CHAPTER IX. 

SIERRA LEONE. 

Its Discovery and Situation.- Natural Beauty. — Founding of a Negro Colony. — The 
Sierra Leone Company. — Fever and Insubordination. — It becomes an English Province. 

— Character of its Inhabitants. — Christian Missions, etc S5 

CHAPTER X. 
THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 

Liberia. — Its Location. — Extent. — Rivers and Mountains. — History of the First Colony. 

— The Noble Men who laid the Foundation of the Liberian Republic. — Native Tribes. 

— Translation of the New Testament into the Vei Language. — The Beginning and 
Triumph of Christian Missions to Liberia. — History of the Different Denominations 
on the Field. — t\ Missionary Republic of Negroes. — Testimony of Ofificers of the 
Royal Navy as to the Efficiency of the' Republic in suppressing the Slave-Trade. — 
The Work of the Future 95 



CONTENTS. xiii 

CHAPTER XI. 
RESUME. 

PAGE 

The Unity of the Human Family re-affirmed. — God gave all Races of Men Civilization.— 
The Anticiuity of the Negro beyond Dispute. — Idolatry the Cause of the Degradation 
of the African Races. — lie has always had a Place in History, though Incidental. — 
Negro Type caused by Degradation. — Negro Empires an Evidence of Crude Ability for 
Self-Governmcnt. — Influence of the two Christian Governments on the West Coast upon 
the Heathen. — Oration on Early Christianity in Africa. — The Duty of Christianity to 
evangelize Africa loS 



Part EL 

SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES. 



CH.VPTER XII. 

.THE COLONY OF VIRGINU. 

1619-1775. 

Introduction of the First Slaves. — " Tlie Treasurer "' and the Dutch Man-of-War. — The 
Correct Date. — Tlie Number of Slaves. — Were there Twenty, or Fourteen ? — Litiga- 
tion about the Possession of the Slaves. — Character of the Slaves imported, and the 
Character of the Colonists. — Race Prejudices. — Legal Est.iblishmcnt of Slavery. — 
Who are Slaves for Life. — Duties on Imported Slaves. — Political and Military Prohibi- 
tions against Negroes. — Personal Rights. — Criminal Laws against Slaves. — Emanci- 
pation. — How brought about. — Free Negroes. — Their Rights. — Moral and Religious 
Training. — Population. — Slavery firmly estabhshed .^^"7 115 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 

r62S-i775. 

Settlement of New York by the Dutch in 1609. — Negroes introduced into the Colony, 162S. 

— The Trade in Negroes increased. — Tobacco exchanged for Slaves and Merchandise. 

— Government of the Colony. — New Netherland falls into the Hands of the Kns^lish, 
Aug. 2;, 1664. — Various Changes, — New Laws adopted. — Legislation. — First Kepre- 
sentatives elected in 16S3. — In 1702 Queen Anne instructs the Royal Governor in 
Regard to the Importation of Slaves. — Slavery Restrictions. — Expedition to effect the 
Conquest of Canada unsuccessful. — Negro Riot. — Suppressed by the Efficient Aid of 
Troops. — Fears of the Colonists. — Negro Plot of 1741. — The Robbery of Hogg's 
House. — Discovery of a Portion of the Goods. — The Arrest of Hu^hson, Ins Wife, 
and Irish Peggy. — Crimination and Recrimination. — The IJreaking-out of Numerous 
Fires. — The Arrest of Spanish Negroes. — The Trial of Hu;;hson. — Testimony of 
Mary Burton. — Hughson hanged. — The Arrest of Many Others implicated in the Plot 

— The Hanging of Caesar and Prince. — Quack and Cuffee burned at the Stake. — The 
Lieutenant-Governor's Proclamation. — Many White Persons accused nf being Conspira- 
tors. — Description of Hughson's Manner of swearing those having Knowledge of tlxi 
Plot. — Conviction and Hanging of the Catholic Priest Ury. — The Sviddcn and Unex- 
pected Termination of the Trial. — New Laws more stringent toward Slaves adopted . 134 



xiv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

PAGE 

Tlie Earliest Mentions of Negroes in Massnchusetts. — Pequoci Indians exchanged for 
Negroes. — Voyage of the Slave-Ship " Desire" in 1638. — Fundamental Laws adopted. 

— Hereditary Slavery. — Kidnapping Negroes. — Growth of Slavery in the Seventeenth 
Century. — Taxation of Slaves. — Introduction of Indian Slaves prohibited. — The Posi- 
tion of the Church respecting the Baptism of Slaves. — Slave ILirriage. — Condition of 
Free Negroes. — Phillis VVheatley the African Poetess. — Her Life. — Slavery recognized 
in England in Order to be maintained in the Colonies. — The Emancipation of Slaves. — 
Legislation f.ivoring the Importation of While Servants, but prohibiting the Clandestine 
bringing-in of Negroes. — Judge Scwall's Attack on Slavery. — Judge Baffin's Reply to 
Judge Sewall 172 

CHAPTER XV. 
THE COLONy OF MASSACHUSETTS, — CONTINUED. 

"533-1775- 

The Era of Prohibitory Legislation against Slavery. — Boston instructs her Representatives 
to vote against the Slave-Trade. — Proclamation issued by Gov. Dummer against the 
Negroes, April 13, 1723. — Persecution of the Negroes. — "Suing for Liberty." — Let- 
ter of Samuel Adams to John Pickering, jun., on Behalf of Negro Memorialists. — .\ 
Bill for the Suppression of the Slave-Trade passes. — Is vetoed by Gov. Gage, and fails 
to become a Law 220 

CHAPTER XVI. 
THE COLONY OF MARYLAND. 

l634->77S- 

Maryland under the Laws of Virginia until i6',o. — First Legislation on the Slavery Question 
in 1637-38. — Slavery established by Statute in 1663. — The Discussion of Slavery. — 
An Act passed encouraging the Importation of Negroes and White Slaves in 1671. — 
An Act laying an Impost on Negroes and White Servants imported into the Colony. 

— Duties imposed on Rum and Wine. — Treatment of Slaves and Papists. — Convicts 
imported into the Colony. — An Attempt to justify the Convict-Trade. — Spirited Replies. 

— The Laws of 1723, 1729, 1752, — Rights of Slaves. — Negro Population in 1728. — 
Increase of Slavery in 1756. — No Efforts made to prevent the Evils of Slavery. — The 
Revolution nearing. — New Life for the Negroes 23S 

CHAPTER XVII. 
THE COLONY OF DELAWARE. 

1636-1775- 

The Territory of Delaware settled in part by Swedes and Danes, anterior to the Year 1638. — 
The Duke of York transfers the Territory of Delaware to William Penn. — Penn 
grants the Colony the Privilege of Separate Government. — Slavery introduced on the 
Delaware as early as 1636. — Complaint .against Peter Alricks for using Oxen and 
Negroes belonging to the Company. — The First Legislation on the Shivery Question in 
the Colony. — .An Enactment of a Law for the Better Regulation of Servants. — An Act 
restraining Manumission ~T . 249 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT 

1646-1775. 

TACE 

The Founding of Connecticut, 1631-36. — No Reliable Data given for the Introduction of 
Slaves. — Negroes were first introduced by Sliip during the Early Years of the Colony. 
" Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations." — Interrogating the Governor as to 
the Number of Negroes in the Colony in 16S0. — The Legislature (1690) p.->sses a Law 
pertaining to the Purchase and Treatment of Slaves and Free Persons. — .''in Act passed 
by the General Court J!L_i2ii, reruiring^ Persons manumitting Slaves to ni.aintain thcm^^— 
Regulating the Social Conduct of Slaves in 1723. — The PumsTiifienf of 'Negro, Indian, 
and Mulatto Slaves, for the Use of Profane Language, in 1630. — Lawfulness of Indian 
and Negro Slavery recognized by Code, Sept. 5, 1646. — Lunited Rights of Free 

Negroes in the Colony Negro Population in 1762. — Act against Importation of 

Slaves, 1774 252 

CHAPTER XIX. 
THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 

1647-1775- 

Colonial Government in Rhode Island, May, 1647. — An Act passed to abolish Slavery in 
1652, but was never enforced. — An Act specifying what Times Indian and Negro Slaves 
should not appear in the Streets. — An Impost-Tax on Slaves (1708). — Penalties 
imposed on Disobedient Slaves. — Anti-Slavery Sentiment in the Colonies receives Little 
Encouragement. — Circular Letter from the Board of Trade to the Governor of the 
English Colonies, relative to Negro Slaves. — Governor Cranston's Reply. — List of 
Militia-Men, including White and Blacli Servants. — Another Letter from the IJoard 
of Trade. — An Act preventing Clandestine Importations and Exportations of Passen- 
gers, Negroes, or Indian Slaves. — Masters of Vessels required lo report the Names and 
Number of Passengers lo the Governor. — Viol.itiun of the Impost-Tax Law on Slaves 
punished by Severe Penalties. — .Appropriation by the General Assembly, July 5, 1715, 
from the Fund derived from the Impost-Tax, for the paving of the Streets of Newport. 
— An Act passed disposing of the Money raised by Impost-Tax. — Impost-Law repealed, 
May, 1732. — An Act relating to freeing Mulatto and Negro Slaves passed 172S. — A.n 
Act passed preventing Masters of Vessels from carrymg Slaves out of the Colony, June 
I7i I757- — Eve of the Revolution. — An Act prohibiting Importation of Negroes into 
the Colony in 1774. — The Poi)uIation of Rhode Island in 1730 and 1774 . . . 263 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY. 

1664-1775. 

New Jersey passes into the Hands of the English. — Political Powers conveyed to Berkeley 
and Carteret. — Legislation on the Subject of Slavery during the Eighteenth Century. — 
The Colony divided into East and West Jersey. — Separate Governments. — .\n .Act 
concerning Slavery by the Legislature of East Jersey. — Gener.al Apprehension respect- 
ing tl-.e rising of Negro and Indian Slaves. — East and West Jersey surrender their 
Rights of Government to the Queen. — An Act for regulating the Conduct of Slaves. — 
Impost-Tax of Ten Pounds levied upon each Negro imported into the Colony. — The 
General Court passes a Law regulating the Trial of Slaves. — Negroes ruled out of the 
Militia Establishment upon Condition. — Population of the Jerseys m 173S and 1745 . 282 



xvi CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE COLONY OF -SOUTH CAROLINA. 

-> ' ' ■> PAGE 

The Carolinas receive two Different Charters from the Cro\™ of Great Britain. — Era of 
Slavery Legislation. — Law establishing Slavery. — The Slave population of this Prov- 
ince regarded as Chattel Property. — Trial of Slaves. — Increase of Slave Population. — 
The Increase in the Rice-Trade. — Sei'ere Laws regulating the Private and Public Con- 
duct of Slaves. — Punishment of Slaves for running away. — The Life of Slaves re- 
garded as of Little Consequence by the Violent Master Class. — .^n Act empowering 
two Justices of the Peace to mvestigate Treatment of Slaves. — An Act prohibiting the 
Overworking of Slaves. — Slave-Market at Charleston. — Insunsction. — A Law aulhoriz- 
in<' the carr)-ing of Fire-Arms among the Whites. — The Enlistment of Slaves to serve in 
Time of Alarm. — Negroes admitted to the Militia Seriice. — Compensation to Masters 
for the Loss of Slaves killed by the Enemy or who desert. - Few Slav es manumitted. — 
From 1754-/6, Little Legislation on the Subject of Slavery. — TTireatening War between 
England and her Province,. - :.cies. — The Effect upon Public Sentiment . . 2S9 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE COLONY OF NORTH CAROLIN.A. 

1669-1775. 

The Geographical Situation of North Carolina favorable to the Slave-Trade. — The Locke 
Constitution adopted. — William Sayle commissioned Governor. — Legislative Career of 
the Colony. — The Introduction of the Est.ablished Church of England into the Colony. 

The R'ghts of Negroes controlled absolutely by their Masters. — An Act respecting 

Conspiracies. — The Wrath of Ill-natured Whites visited upon their Slaves. — An Act 
against the Emancipation of Slaves. — Limited Rights of Free Negroes . . . .302 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
THE COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

I679-I775- 
The Provincial Government of ^^assachusett5 exercises .\uthority over the State of New 
Hampshire at its Organization. — Slavery existed from the Beginning. — The Governor 
releases a Slave from Bondage. — Instruction against Importation of Slaves. — Several 
.\cts regulating the Conduct of Seri'ants. — The Indifferent Treatment of Slaves. — The 
Importation of Indian Servants forbidden. — An Act checking the Severe Treatment of 
Ser\'ants and Slaves. — Slaves in the Colony until the Commencement of Hostilities . 309 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

16S1-1775. 

Organization of the Government of Pennsylvania. — The Swedes and Dutch plant Settle- 
ments on the Western Bank of the Delaware River. — The Governor of New York seeks 
to exercise Jurisdiction over the Territory of Pennsylvania, — The First Laws agreed 
upon in England. — Provisions of the Law, — Memorial against Slavery draughted and 
adopted by the Germantown Friends. — W'illiam Penn presents a Bill for the Better 
Regulation of Servants. — .\n Act preventing the Importation of Negroes and Indians. 
— Rights of Negroes. — A Duty laid upon Negroes and Mulatto Slaves. — The Q uaker ^, 
the Friend of the Negro. — England begins to threaten her Dependencies in North 
Amencar^— The People" of Pennsylvania reflect upon the Probable Outrages their 
Negroes might commit 312 



CONTENTS. x\'ii 

CHAPTER XXV. 

THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 

1732-1775- 

PACE 

Georgia once included in the Territory of Carolina. — The Thirteentli Colony planted in 
North .America by the English Government. — Slaves ruled out altogether by the Trus- 
tees. — The Opinion of Gen. Oglethorpe concerning Slavery. — Long and Bitter Discus- 
sion in Regard to the Admission of Slavery into the Colony. — Slavery introduced. — 
History of Slavery in Georgia 3'^ 



V 



part III. 

THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION. 



CH.A.PTER XXVI. 

^ MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 

i775-'7So. 

The Colonial States in 171 5. — Ratification of the Non-Importation Act by the Southern 
Colonies. — George Washington presents Resolutions against Slavery, in a Meeting at 
Fairfax Court-House, Va. — Letter written by Benjamin Franklin to Dean Woodward, 
pertaining to Slavery. — Letter to the Freemen of Virginia from a Committee, concern- 
ing the Slaves brought from Jamaica. — Severe Treatment of Slaves in the Colonics 
modified. — Advertisement in "The Boston Gazette" of the Runaway Slave Crispus 
Attucks. — The Boston Massacre. — Its Results. — Crispus .-^ttucks shows his Loyalty. 

— His Spirited Letter to the Tory Governor of the Province. — Slaves admitted into the 
Army. — The Condition of the Continental Army. — Spirited Debate in the Continental 
Congress, over the Draught of a Letter to Gen. Washington. — Instructions to discharge 
all Slaves and Free Negroes in his Army. — Minutes of the Meeting held at Cambridge. 

— Lord Dun more' s Proclamation. — Prejudice in the Southern Colonies. — Negroes in 
Virginia flock to the British .\rmy. — Caution to the Negroes printed in a Williamsburg 
Paper. — The Virginia Convention answers the Proclamation of Lord Dunmore. — 
Gen. Greene, in a Letter to Gen. Washington, calls .\ttention to the raising of a Negro 
Regiment on Staten Island. — Letter from a Hessian Officer. — Connecticut Legislature 
on the Subject of Employment of Negroes as Soldiers. — Gen. Varnum's Letter to Gen. 
Washington, suggesting the Employment of Negroes, sent to Gov. Cooke. — The Gov- 
ernor refers Vainum's Letter to the General Assembly. — Minority Protest against 
enlisting Slaves to serve in the Army. — Massachusetts tries to secure Legal Enlistments 
of Negro Troops. — Letter of Thomas Kencli to the Council and House of Representa- 
tives, Boston, Mass. — Negroes serve in White Organizations until the Close of the 
American Revolution. — Negro Soldiers serve in Virginia. — Maryland employs Negroes. 

— New York passes an Act providing for the Raising of two Colored Regiments. — War 
in the Middle and Southern Colonies. — Hamilton's Letter to John Jay. — Col. Laurens's 
Efforts to raise Negro Troops in South Carolina. — Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton 
inducing Negroes to desert the Rebel Army. — Lord Cornwallis issues a Proclamation 
offering Protection to all Negroes seeking his Command. — Col. Laurens is called to 
France on Important Business. — His Plan for securing Black Levies for the South 
upon his Return. — His Letters to Gen. Washington in Regard to his Fruitless Plans. — 
Capt. David Humphreys recruits a Company of Colored Infantry in Connecticut. — 
Return of Negroes in the .\rmy in 177S 3^ 



xvm COXl^ENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
NEGROES AS SOLDIERS, v/ 

I775-I783- 

PAGi: 
The Negro as a Soldier. — Battle of Bunker Hill. —Gallantry of Negro Soldiers. — Peter 
Salem, tlie Intrepid Black Soldier. — Biinkcr-liiU Monument. — Tlie Negro Salem Poor 
distinguishes himself by Deeds of Desper.ite Valor. — Capture of Gen. Lee. — Capture 
of Gen. Prescott. — Battle of Rhode Island. — Col. Greene commands a Negro Regi- 
ment. — Murder of Col. Greene in i;Si. — The Valor of the Negro Soldiers . . -363 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION. 

I775-I7S3- 

The Negro was Chattel or Real Property. — His Legal Status during his New Relation as a 
Soldier. — Resolution introduced in tlie Massachusetts House of Representatives to pre- 
vent the selling of Two Negroes captured upon the High Seas. — Tlie Continental 
Congress appoints a Committee to consider what should be done witli Negroes taken by 
Vessels of W.ir in tlie Service of the United Colonies. — Confederation ' of tlie New 
States. — Spirited Debate in Congress respecting the Disposal of Recaptures. — The 
Spanish Ship "Victoria" captures an Englisli Vessel having on Hoard Thirty-four 
Negroes t.iken from South Carolina. — The iNegroes recaptured by Vessels belonging to 
the State of Massachusetts. — They are delivered to Thomas Knox, and conveyed to Cas- 
tle Island. — Col. Paul Revere has Ch.arge of the Slaves on Castle Island. — Massachu- 
setts passes a Law providing for the Security, Support, and Exchange of Prisoners 
brought into the State. — Gen. Hancock receives a Letter from the Governor of South 
Carohna respecting the Detention of Negroes. — In the Provincial Articles between the 
United States of America and His liritannic Majesty, Negroes were j-ated as Property. 
— And also in the Definite Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and 
His Britannic M.ajesty. — And also in the Treaty of Peace of 1S14, between His Britan- 
nic Majesty and the United States, Negroes were designated as Property. — Gen. Wash- 
ington's Letter to Brig.-Gen. Rufus Putnam in regard to a Negro in his Regimen 
claimed by Mr. Hobby. — Enhatmcut in the Army did not always work a Practical 
Emancipation --o 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE NEGRO INTELLECT.- BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER. — FULLER 
THE MATHEMATICIAN. — DERHAM THE PHVSICIAN. 

Slatutoty Prohibition against the Education of Negroes. — Benjamin Banneker, the Negro 
Astronomer and Philosopher. — His Antecedents. — Young B.inneker as a Farmer and 
Inventor. — Tlie INhlls of Ellicott & Co. — Banneker diltivates his Mechanical Genius 
and Mathematical Tastes. — Banneker's first Calculation of an Eclipse submitted for 
Inspection in i;S9.— His Letter to Mr. Ellicott. — The Testimony of a Personal 
Acquaintance of Banneker as to liis Upriglit Character. — His Home becomes a Place of 
Interest to Visitors. — Record of liis Business Transactions. — Mrs. Mason's Visit to 
hmi. — She addresses him in Verse. — Banneker replies by Letter to her. — Prepares his 
First Almanac for Publication in i;y2. — Trtle of liis Ahnanac. — Banneker's Letter to 
Thomas Jefferson. — Thomas Jefferson's Reply. — Banneker invited to accompany the 
Commissioners to run the Lines of the District of Columbia. — Banneker's Habits of 
studying the Heavenly Bodies. — Minute Description given to his Sisters in Reference 
to the Disposition of liis Personal Property after Death. — His Death. — Regarded 
as the most Distinguidied Negio of his Time. — Fuller the Mathematician, or ''The 



COA'TENTS. XIX 

I'AGE 

Virginia Calculator." — Fuller of African Birth, but stolen and sold as a Slave into 
Virj;inia. — \'isited by Men of Learning. — He was pronounced to be a Prodigy in the 
Manipulation of Figures. — His Death. — Derhani the Physician. — Science of Medi- 
cine regarded as the most Intricate Pursuit of Man. — liarly Life of James Derham. — 
His Knowledge of I\ledicine, how acquired. — He becomes a Prominent Physician in 
New Orleans. — L>r. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with him. — What the 
Negro Kacc jiroduced by tlieir Genius in America 385 

CHAPTER XXX. 
SLAVERY DURIN'G THE REVOLUTION. 

Progress of the Slave-Trade. — A Great War for the Emancipation of the Colonies from 
Political IJondagc. — Condition of the Southern States during the War. — The Virginia 
Decl.^ration of Riglits. — Innnediate Legislation against Slavery demanded. — .-Vdverlise- 
nient from "The Independent Chronicle." — Petition of Massachusetts Slaves. — .\n 
Act preventing the Practice of holding Persons in Slavery. — Advertisements frt^ui " The 
Contmental Journal." — A Law passed in Virginia limiting the Riglits of Slaves. — 
Law emancipating all Slaves who served in the Army. — New York promises her 
Negro Soldiers Freedo m. — A Conscientious Minority in Favor of the Abolition of the 
^lave-Trade. — Slavery flourishes during the Entire Revtjlutionary Period . . . 402 

CH.A.PTER XXXI. 

SL.A.VERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 

1775-lSoo. 

'riritish Colonies in North America declare their Independence, — A New Government 
established. — Slavery the Bane of American Civilization. — The Tory P;uty accept the 
Doctrine of Property in Man. — The Doctrine of the Locke Constitution in the South. 

— The Whig Party the Dominant Political Organization in the Northern States. — Slave- 
ry recognized under the New Government. — Anti-Slavery Agitation in the States. — 
Attempted Legislation against Slavery. — .Articles of Confederation. — Their .^doptio^l 
in 1778. — Discussion concerning the Disposal of the Western Territory. — Mr. Jeffer- 
son's Recommendation. — Amendment by Mr. Spaight. — Congress in New York in 
ij-S;. — Discussion respecting the Government of the Western Territory. — Convention 
at Philadelphia to frame the Federal Constitution. — Proceedings of the Convention. - • 
The Southern States still advocate Slavery. — Speeches on the Slavery Question by 
Leading Statesmen. — Constitution adopted by the Convention in 1787. — I^rst^Session 
of Congress under the P'ederal Constitution held in New York in 1 7S9. — The Introduc- 
tion of a Tariff-Bill. — An Attempt to amend it by inserting a Clause levying a Tax on 
Slaves brought by Water. — Extinction of Slavery in M.assacluisetts. — A Change in the 
Public Opinion of the Middle and Elfsfern States on the Subject of Slavery. — Dr. Ben- 
jamin Franklin's Address to the Public for promoting the .Abolition of Slavery. — .Memo- 
rial to the United-States Copgress. — Congress in i;go. — Bitter Discussion on the 
Restriction of the Slave-Trade. — Slave-Population. — \^ermont and Kentucky admitted 
into the Union. — X Law providing for the Return .of Fugitives from " Labor and Ser- 
vice." — Convention of Friends held in Philadelphia. — An Act against the Foreign 
Slave-Trade. — Mississippi Territory. — Constitution of Georgia revised. — New York 
passes a Bill for the Gradual Extinction of Slavery. — Constitution of Kentucky revised. 

— Slavery as an Institution firmly established. . . ■ 412 



History of the Negro Race in America. 



Part E. 
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE UNITY OF MANKIND. 

The Biblical Argument. — One Race and One Language. — One Blood. — The Curse 

OF Canaan. 

DURING the la.st half-ccntury, many writers on ethnology, 
anthropology, and slavery have strenuously striven to 
place the Negro outside of the human family ; and the 
disciples of these teachers have endeavored to justify their views 
by the most dehumanizing treatment of the Negro. But, for- 
tunately for the Negro and for humanity at large, we live now in 
an epoch when race malice and sectional hate are disappearing 
beneath the horizon of a brighter and better future. The Negro 
in America is free. He is now an acknowledged factor in the 
affairs of the continent ; and no community, state, or government, 
in this period of the world's history, can afford to be indifferent to 
his moral, social, intellectual, or political well-being. 

It is proposed, in the first place, to call the attention to the 
absurd charge that the Negro does not belong to the human 
family. Happily, there are few left upon the face of the earth 
who still maintain this belief. 

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis it is clearly stated 
that "God created man," "male and female created he them;"' 
that "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and 

' Gen. i. 27. 



2 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

breathed into his nostrils tlie breath of hfe ; and man became a 
hving soul ;" ' and tliat "the Lortl God took the man, and [juI him 
into the Garden of Kden to dress it and to keep it." - It is notice- 
able that the sacred historian, in every reference to Adam, speaks 
of him as " iiiun ;" and that the divine injnnction to them was, — 
Adam and Eve, — "Me fruitfnl, and multiply, and replenish the 
earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over the iish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every hving thing that 
moveth upon the earth." .; As among the animals, so here in the 
higher order, there were two, — a pair, — "male and female," of 
the human species. We may begin with man, and run down the 
scale, and \\c are sure to find two of a kind, "male and female." 
This was the divine ortler. Ihit they were to "be fruitful," were 
to "replenish the earth." That they did "multiply," we have the 
trustworthy testimony of God ; and it was true that man and 
beast, fowl and fish, increased. We read that after their expul- 
sion from the Garden of VAcn, Eve bore Adam a family. Cain and 
Abel ; and that they "peopled the earth." 

After a number of years we find that wickedness increased in 
the earth ; so much so that the Lord was provoked to destroy the 
earth with a flood, witii the exception of Noah, his v.-ile, his three 
sons and their wives, — eight souls in all.-t Of the animals, two 
of each kind were saved. 

But the most interesting portion of Bible history comes after 
the Flood. We then have the history of the confusion of tongues, 
and the subsequent and consequent dispersion of mankind. In 
the eleventh chapter and first verse of Genesis it is recorded : 

"And tllC WHOLE EARTH XVaS of ONE L.A.NGUAGE, cxud of ONE 

SPEECH." " The whole earth " here means all the inhabitants 
of the earth, — all mankind. The medium of communication was 
common. Everybody used one language. In the si.xth verse 
occurs this remarkable language: "And the Lord said. Behold, 
the people is one, and they have all one language." Attention is 
called to this verse, because we have here the testimony of the 
Lord that "the people X's, one" and that the language of the people 
is one. This verse establishes two very important facts ; i.e., there 
was but one nationality, and hence but one language. The fact 
that they had but one language furnishes reasonable proof that 
they were of one blood ; and the historian has covered the whole 

' Gen. ii. 7. = Gen. ii. 15. ^ Gen. i. 28. ■• Gen. vi. 5 sq. 



THE UNITY OF MANKIND. 3 

question very carefully by recording the great truth that they 
were one people, and had but one language. Tiie seveiitli, eighth, 
and ninth verses of the eleventh chapter are not irrelevant : "Go 
to, let us go down, and there confound theit language, that they 
mav not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered 
them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth : and they 
left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel ; 
because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth : 
and from thence did the Lord scatter them abrcjad upon the face 
of all the earth." 

It was the wickedness of the people that caused the Lord to 
disperse them, to confound their speech, and biing to nought 
their haughty work. Evidently this was the beginning of differ- 
ent families of men, — different nationalities, and hence different 
languages. \\\ the ninth verse it reads, that "from thence did tlie 
Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." There 
is no ambiguity about this language. He did not only "confound 
their language," but "scattered them from thence," from Babel, 
"upon the face of all the earth." Here, then, are two very im- 
portant facts : their language was confused, and they iveix " seat- 
tered." They were not only "Scattered," they were "scattered 
abroad upon the face of all the earth." That is, they were dis- 
persed very widely, sent into the various and remote parts of the 
earth ; and their nationality received its being from the latitudes 
to which the divinely appointed wave of dispersion bore them ; 
and their subsequent racial character was to borrow its tone and 
color from climateric influences. Three great families, the She- 
mitic, Hamitic, and Japhetic, were suddenly built up. i\Luiy other 
families, or tribes, sprang from these ; but these were the three 
great heads of all subsequent races of men. 

" Tliat the three sons of Noah overspread and peopled tlie wliole earth, 
is so expressly stated in Scripture, that, had we not to argue against those who 
unfortunately disbelieve such evidence, we might here stop: let us, however, 
inquire how far the truth of this declaration is substantiated by other consid- 
erations. Enough has been said to show that there is a curious, if not a 
remarkable, analogy between the predictions of Noah on the future descend- 
ants of his three sons, and the actual state of those races which are generally 
supposed to have sprung from them. It may here be again remarlced, that, to 
render the subject more clear, we have adopted the quinary arrangement of 
Professor Blumenbach : yet that Cuvier and other learned physiologists are 
of opinion that the primary varieties of the human form are more pro|)erIy but 
three; viz., the Caucasian, Mongolian, and Kthiopian. This number corre- 



4 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

spends with that of Noah's sons. Assigning, therefore, the Mongolian race 
to Japheth, and the Ethiopian to Ham, the Caucasian, the noblest race, will 
belong to Shem, the third son of Noah, himself descended from Seth, the 
third son of Adam. That the primary distinctions of the human varieties are 
but thi;:t% has been further maintained by the erudite Prichard ; who, while he 
rejects the nomenclature both of Blumenbach and Cuvier, as implying absolute 
divisions, arranges the leading varieties of the human skull under three sec 
tions, differing from those of Cuvier only by name. That tlie three sons of 
Noah who were to ' replenish the earth,' and on whose progeny very opposite 
destinies were pronounced, should give birth to different races, is what might 
reasonably be conjectured ; but that the observation of those who do, and of 
those who do not, believe the Mosaic history, should tend to confirm truth, by 
pointing out in what these three races do actually differ, both physically and 
morally, is, to say the least, a singular coincidence. It amounts, in short, to a 
presumptive evidence, that a mysterious and very beautiful analogy pervades 
throughout, and teaches us to look beyond natural causes in attempting to 
account for effects apparently interwoven in the plans of Omnipotence." ■ 

In the seventeenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, 
twenty-sixth verse, we find the following language : " And hath 
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face 
of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and 
the bounds of their habitation." ^ The Apostle Paul was a mis- 
sionary. He was, at this tiine, ofi a mission to the far-famed city 
of Athens, — " the eye of Greece, and the fountain of learning and 
philosophy." He told the "men of Athens," that, as he travelled 
thiough their beautiful city, he had not been unmindful of its at- 
tractions ; that he had not been indifferent to the claims of its 
citizens to scholarship and culture, and that among other things 
he noticed an altar erected to an nnknoivn God. He went on to 
remark, that, great as their city and nation were, God, whose off- 
spring they were, had created other nations, who lived beyond 
their verdant hills and swelling rivers. And, moreover, that God 
had created "all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the 
earth " out "of one blood." He called their attention to the fact 
that God had fenced all the nations in by geographical bounda- 
ries, — had fi.xed the limits of their habitation. 

We find two leading thoughts in the twenty-sixth verse ; viz., 



* Encyd. of Geo., p. 255. 

^ If the Aposlle Paiil had asserted that all men resembled each other in the color of their 
skin and the texture of their hair, or even in their pliysiological make-up, he would have been at 
war with observation and critical investigation. But, having announced a wonderful truth in 
reference to the tmity of the human race as based upon one blood, science comes to his support, 
and through the microscope reveals the corpuscles of the blood, and shows that the globule is the 
same in all human blood. 



THE UNITY OF A/.LXK/XJ). 5 

that this passage establishes clearly and unmistakably the unity 
of mankind, in that God created them of one l)lood ; second, he 
hath determined "the bounds of their habitation," — hath located 
them geographically. The language quoted is very explicit. "He 
hath determined the bounds of their habitation," that is, " all the 
nations of men.' We have, then, the fact, that there are different 
"nations of men," and that they are all "of one blood," and, 
therefore, have a common parent. This declaration was made by 
the Apostle Paul, an inspired writer, a teacher of great erudition, 
and a scholar in both the Hebrew and the Greek languages. 

It should not be forgotten either, that in Paul's masterl\- dis- 
cussion of the doctrine of sin,- — the fall of man, — he always 
refers to Adam as the "one man" by whom sin came into the 
world. 2 His Ej)istle to the Romans abounds in passages which 
prove very plainly the unity of mankind. The Acts of the Apos- 
tles, as well as the Gospels, prove the unity we seek to establish. 

But there are a few who would admit the unity of mankind, 
and still insist that the Negro does not belong to the human 
family. It is so preposterous, that one has a keen sense of 
humiliation in tiie assured consciousness that he goes rather 
low to meet the enemies of God's poor; but it can certainly do no 
harm to meet them with the everlasting truth. 

In the Gospel of Luke we read this remarkable historical state- 
ment : "And as they led him away, they laid hokl upon one Simon, 
a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him tlic\' laid the 
cross, that he might bear it after Jesus." 3 By referring to the 
map, the reader will observe that Gyrene is in Libya, on the north 
coast of Africa. All the commentators wc ha\e been able to 
consult, on the passage quoted below, agree that this man Simon 
was a Negro, — a black man. John Melville produced a very 
remarkable sermon from this passage. ■( And many of the most 
celebrated pictures of " The Crucifi.xion," in lAn"ope, re[5resent 
this Cyrenian as black, and give him a very prominent place in 
the most tragic scene ever witnessed on this earth. In the Acts 

' Deut. xxxii. S, 9 : " When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when 
he separated the sons of Adam, he set tire bounds of the people according to the number of the 
children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.'' 

^ Rom. V. 12, 14-21. 

^ Luke xxiii. 26 ; Acts vi. 9, also second chapter, tenth verse. Matthew records tho 
same fact in the twenty-seventh chapter, thirty-second verse ; " And as they came out, they found a 
man of Gyrene, Simon by name : him they compelled to bear his cross." 

* See Melville's Sermons. 



6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of the Apostles we ha\-e a very full and interesting account of the 
conversion and immersion of the Ethiopian eunuch, "a man of 
Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of 
the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had 
come to Jerusalem for to worship." ' Here, again, we find that all 
the commentators agree as to the nationality of the eunuch : he 
was a Negro; and, by implication, the passage quoted leads us to 
the belief that the Ethiopians were a numerous and wealthy jieo- 
ple. Candace was the queen that made war against Augustus 
Ca:;sar twenty years before Christ, and, though not victorious, 
secured an honorable peace.- She reigned in Upper Egypt, — up 
the Nile, — and lived at Meroe, that ancient city, the very cradle 
of Egvptian civilization. 3 

" In tlie time of our Saviour (and indeed from that time forward), by Etlii- 
0]5ia was meant, in a general .sense, the countries south of Egypt, then but 
imperfectly known ; of one of which that Candace was queen wlio.se eunuch 
was baptized by Philip. Mr. Bruce, on his return from Abyssinia, found in 
latitude 1 6° 38' a place called Chendi, where the reigning sovereign was then a 
queen ; and where a tradition existed that a woman, by name Hendaquc (which 
conies as near as possible to the Greek name Xmdani)). once governed all that 
country. Near this ])lace are extensive ruins, consisting of broken pedestals 
and obelisks, which Bruce conjectures to be those of Meroe, the capital of the 
African Ethiopia, which is described by Herodotus as a great city in his time, 
namely, four hundred years before Christ ; and where, separated from the rest 
of the world by almost impassable deserts, and enriched by the commercial 
expeditions of their travelling brethren, the Cushites continued to cultivate, so 
late as the first century of the Christian era, some jjortions of those arts and 
sciences to which the settlers in the cities had always more or less devoted 
themselves.'' 4 

But a few writers have asserted, and striven to prove, that the 
Egyptians and Ethiopians are quite a different people from the 
Negro. Jeremiah seems to have understood that these people 
about whom we have been writing were Negroes, — we mean 
black. "Can the Ethiopian," asks the prophet, "change his skin, 
or the leopard his spots .' " The prophet was as thoroughly aware 
that the Ethiopian was black, as that the leopard had spots ; and 
Luther's German has for the word "Ethiopia," "Negro-land," — 

' Acts viii. 27. 

= Pliny says the Ethioijian government subsisted for several generations in the liands of 
queens whose name was Candace. 

5 See Liddell and Sciitt's Greek Le.Nicon. 
■* Jones's Biblical Cycloiiasdia, p. 311. 



THE CXI TV OF MAXKLXD. 7 

tlie country of the blacks.' The word "Etliiop" in the Greek 
literally means "svmburn." 

That these Ethiopians were black, we have, in addition to the 
valuable testimony of Jeremiah, the scholarly evidence of Ilerotl- 
otus, Homer, Josephus, Eusebius, Strabo, and others. 

It will be necessary for us to use the term " Cush " farther 
along in this discussion : so we call attention at this time to the 
fact, that the Cushites, so frequently referred to in the Scriptures, 
are the same as the Ethiopians. 

Driven from unscriptural and untenable grtund on the unity 
of the races of mankind, the enemies of the Negro, falling back 
in confusion, intrench themselves in the curse of Canaan. "i\nd 
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had 
done unto him. And he said. Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of 
servants shall he be unto his brethi-en." - This passage \\-as the 
leading theme of the defenders of slavery in the pulpit for many 
years. Bishop Hopkins says, — 

'• The he.irtless iireverence which Ham, the fatlier of Canaan, displavcd 
toward his eminent parent, whose piety had just saved him from the Dclujie, 
presented the immediate occasion for this remarkable propliccv; Ijut the actual 
fulfilment was reserved for liis posterity after they had lo.st the knowledge of 
God, and become utterly polluted by the abominations of heathen idolatrv. 
The Almighty, foreseeing this total degradation of the r;u-c, ordained them to 
servitude or slavery under the descendants of Shem and Japhelh, doubtless 
because he jitdgcd it to be titcir fittest condition. And all history i)ro\-es liow 
accurately the prediction lias been accomplished, even to tlie [jresent day."'.^ 

Now, the first thing to be done by those who ado;)t this view 
is, to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Noah was inspired to 
pronounce this prophecy. Noah had been, as a rule, a righteous 
man. For more .than a hundred years he had lifted uji his voice 
against the growing wickedness of the world. His fidelity to the 
cause of God was unquestioned ; and for his faith and correct 
living, he and his entire household were saved from llie Deluge. 
But after his miraculous deliverance from the destruction that 
overcame the old world, his entire character is changed. There 
is not a single passage to show us that he continued his avoca- 
tion as a preacher. He became a husbandman ; he kept a vine- 
yard ; and, more than all, he drank of the wme and got drunk ! 

' Tlie term Ethiope was .iiicicntly given to all those whose color was darkened by the sun. — 
SmytlCs Unity of t lie Human Rnccs, chap. i. p. 34. 

- Gen. ix. 24, 25. Sec also the iwenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses. 
^ Bible Views of Slavery, p. 7. 



6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE LN AMERICA. 

of the Apostles we have a very full and interesting account of the 
conversion and immersion of the Ethiopian eunuch, "a man of 
Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace, Queen of 
the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had 
come to Jerusalem for to worship." ' Here, again, we fiml that all 
the commentators agree as to the nationality of the eunuch : he 
was a Negro; and, by implication, the passage quoted leads us to 
the belief that the Ethiopians were a numerous and wealthy peo- 
ple. Candace was the queen that made war against Augustus 
Cajsar twenty years before Christ, and, though not victorious, 
secured an honorable peace.- She reigned in Upper Egypt, — up 
the Nile, — and lived at Meroe, that ancient city, the very cradle 
of Egyptian civilization. 3 

" In the time of our Saviour (and indeed from that time forward), by Etlii- 
o]2ia was meant, in a general sense, the countries south of Egypt, then but 
imperfectly known ; of one of which that Candace was queen wliose eunucli 
was baptized by I'hilip. .Mr. Bruce, on his return from Abyssinia, found in 
latitude i6° 38' a place called Cliendi, where the reigning sovereign was then a 
queen ; and where a tradition existed that a woman, by name Hendaque (which 
comes as near as possible to the Greek name Xni'cSaKj/), once governed all that 
country. Near this place are extensive ruins, consisting of broken pedestals 
and obelisks, which Ihuce coniectures to be those of Meroe, the capital of the 
African Ethiopia, which is described bv Herodotus as a great city in his time, 
namclv, four hundred vears before Christ; and where, separated from the rest 
of the world by almost impassable deserts, and enriched by the commercial 
expeditions of their travelling brethren, the Cushites continued to cultivate, so 
late as the first century of the Christian era, some portions of those arts and 
sciences to which the settlers in the cities had alwa3's more or less devoted 
themselves.'' 4 

But a few writers have asserted, and striven to prove, that the 
Egyptians and Ethiopians are quite a different people from the 
Negro. Jeremiah seems to have understood that these people 
about whom we have been writing were Negroes, — we mean 
black. "Can the Ethiojiian," asks the prophet, "change his skin, 
or the leopard his spots ? " The prophet was as thoroughly aware 
that the Ethiopian was black, as that the leopard had spots ; and 
Luther's German has for the word "Ethiopia," "Negro-land," — 

' Acts viii. 27. 

^ Pliny says the Ethiojjian government subsisted for several generations in the hands of 
queens whose name was Condaci:. 

3 See Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon. 
** Jones's Biblical Cyclopedia, p 311. 



THE UNITY OF MANKIND. 7 

the country of the blacks.' The word "Elhiop" in the (ireek 
literally means "sunburn." 

That these Ethiopians were black, we have, in addition to the 
\ahiable testimony of Jeremiah, the scholarly evidence of Herod- 
otus, Homer, Josephus, Kusebius, Strabo, and others. 

It will l)e necessary for us to use the term " Gush " farther 
along in this discussion : so we call attention at this time to the 
fact, that the Cushites, so frequently referred to in the Scriptures, 
are the same as the Ethiopians. 

Driven from unscriptural and untenable ground on the unity 
of the races of mankind, the enemies of the Negro, falling back 
in confusion, intrench themselves in the curse of Canaan. "And 
Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had 
done unto him. And he said. Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of 
servants shall he be unto his brethren."- This passage was the 
leading theme of the defenders of slavery in the pulpit for many 
years. I5ishop Hopkins says, — 

'■ Tlic lic.irtlcss irreverence wliich Ham. tlic fatlicr of Cnna.m, cli.<iilayc(l 
toward liis eminent parent, whose piety had ju.st .saved him from tlie Dehij^e, 
pre.sented tlie immediate occasion for this remarkable propliecy ; but the actual 
fulfilment was reserved for his posterity after they had lost the knowledge of 
(jod, and become utterly polluted by the abominations of heathen idolatry. 
The Almii;hty, foreseeing this total degradation of the race, ordained them to 
servitude or slavery under the descendants of Shem and Jaidieih. doubtless 
because he fuiliicd it to be their fittest condition. And all history pro\-es how 
accurately the prediction has been accomplished, even to the present day." ■' 

Now, the first thing to be done by those who adopt this view 
i.s, to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Noah was inspired to 
]ironounce this prophecy. Noah had been, as a rule, a righteous 
man. For more .than a hundred years he had lifted up his voice 
against the growing wickedness of the world. His fidelity to the 
cause of God was luiquestioned ; and for his faith and correct 
living, he and his entire household were saved from the Deluge. 
But after his miraculous deliverance from the destruction that 
overcame the old world, his entire character is changed. Tliere 
is not a single passage to show us that he continued his avoca- 
tion as a preacher. He became a husbandman ; he kept a vine- 
yard ; and, more than all, he drank of the wine and got drunk ! 



■ The term Etiiiope was aiicicntly given to all ;;.t.=.. ,. ..v-c color w.is d.irkened by the sun. — 
Smyth's Unity of I lie Human Races, chap. i. p. 34. 

= Gen. ix. 24, 25. See also the twenty-aixtl) and twenty-seventh verses. 
^ Bible Views of Slavery, p. 7. 



8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO iiACE IN AMERICA. 

Awaking from a state of inebriation, he knew that Ham had 
beheld his nakedness and "told his two brethren." But " Shem 
and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoul- 
ders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their 
father ; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their 
father's nakedness."' It is quite natural to suppose, that, humil- 
iated and chagrined at his sinful conduct, and angered at the 
behavior of his son and grandson. Ham and Canaan, Noah ex- 
pressed his disapprobation of Canaan. It was !ns desire, on the 
impulse of the moment, that Canaan should suffer a humiliation 
somewhat commensurate with his offence ; and, on the other hand, 
it was appropriate that he should commend the conduct of his 
other sons, who sought to hide their father's shame. And all this 
was done without any inspiration. He simply expressed himself 
as a fallible man. 

Bishop Hopkins, however, is pleased to call this a "prophecy." 
In order to prophesy, in the scriptural meaning of the word, a 
man must have the divine unction, and must be moved by the 
Holy Ghost ; and, in addition to this, it should be said, that a true 
prophecy always comes to pass, — is sure of fulfilment. Noah 
was not inspired when he pronounced his curse against Canaan, 
for the sufificient reason that it was not fulfilled. He was not 
speaking in the spirit of prophecy when he blessed Shem and 
Japheth, for the good reason that their descendants have often 
been in bondage. Now, if these words of Noah were prophetic, 
were inspired of God, we would naturally e.vpect to find all of 
Canaan's descendants in bondage, and all of Shem's out of bond- 
age, — free! If this prophecy — granting this point to the learned 
bishop for argument's sake — has not been fulfilled, then we con- 
clude one of two things ; namely, these are not the words of God, 
or they have not been fulfilled. But they were not the words of 
prophecy, and consequently never had any divine authority. It 
was Canaan upon whom Noah pronounced the curse : and Canaan 
was the son of Ham ; and Ham, it is said, is the progenitor of the 
Negro race. The Canaanites were not bondmen, but freemen, — 
powerful tribes when the Hebrews invaded their country ; ami 
from the Canaanites descended the bold and intelligent Car- 
thaginians, as is admitted by the majority of writers on this 
subject. From Ham proceeded the Egyptians, Libyans, the Phu- 

* Gen. ix. 23. 



THE UNITY OF MANKIND. 9 

tim, and the Ciishim or Ethiopians, who, colonizing the African 
side of the Red Sea, subsequently extended themselves indefi- 
nitely to the west and south of that great continent. Egypt was 
called Chemia, or the country of Ham ; and it has been thought 
that the Egyptian's deity, Hammon or Amnion, was a deification 
of Ham.' The Carthaginians were successful in numerous wars 
against the sturdy Romans. So in this, as in many other in- 
stances, the prophecy of Noah failed. 

Following the chapter containing the prophecy of Noah, the 
historian records the genealogy of the descendants of Ham and 
Canaan. We will quote the entire account that wc may be 
assisted to the truth. 

"And the sons of Ham; Cusli, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan; 
and the sons of Cush : Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raaniah, and 
Sabtechah : and the sons of Raamah ; Sheba and Dedan. And Cush begat 
Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter 
before the Lord : wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter 
before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was liabel, and Erech, 
and Accad, antl Cahieh, in the Land of Shinar. Out of tliat land went forth 
Asshur, and builded Nineveli, and the city Kehoboth, and Calali, and Resen 
between Nineveh and Cahih : the same is a great city. And Mizraim begat 
Ludim, and Anamini, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pallirusim, and Cas- 
hihim (out of whom came Philistim), and -C'aphtorim. And Canaan begat 
Sidon his first-born, and Hcth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and tlie 
(liigasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and tlie Arvadite, 
and tlie Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the 
Canaanites spread abroad. And the border of the Canaanitcs was from Sidon, 
as thou comcst to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomor- 
rah, and Adniah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, 
after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations."^ 

Here is a very minute account of the family of Ham, who it 
is said was to share the fate of his son Canaan, and a clear 
account of the children of Canaan. " Nimrod," says the record, 
" began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter 
before the Lord. . . . And the beginning of his kingdom," etc. 
We find that Cush was the oldest son of Ham, and the father of 
Nimrod the "mighty one in the earth," whose "kingdom" was 
so extensive. He founded the Babylonian empire, and was 
the father of the founder of the city of Nineveh, one of the 
grandest cities of the ancient world. These wonderful achieve- 

' Plutarch, De Iside et OsiriJe. Sec also Dr. Morton, and Etlmologicil Journal, 4tli No 
p. 172. 

- Gen. X. 6-20. 



lO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

mcnts were of the children of Cush, the ancestor of the Negroes. 
It is fair to supi)Ose that this Hne of Ham's posterity was not 
lacking in powers necessary to found cities and kingdoms, and 
maintain government. 

Thns far we have been enabled to see, according to the Bible 
record, that the jiosterity of Canaan did not go into bondage ; 
that it was a powerful ]:)eople, both in point of numbers and 
wealth ; and, from the number and character of the cities it built, 
we infer tliat it was an intellectual posterity. We conclude that 
thus far there is no evidence, from a biblical standpoint, that 
Noah's prophecy was fulfilled. But, notwithstanding the absence 
of scriptural proof as to the bondage of the children of Canaan, 
the venerable Dr. Mede says, " There never has been a son of 
Ham who has shaken a sceptre over the head of Japheth. Shem 
has subdued Japheth, and Japheth has subdued Shem ; but I-Iara 
has never subdued either." The doctor is cither falsifying the 
facts of history, or is ignorant of history. The Hebrews were in 
bondage in Egypt for centuries. Eg3'pt was peopled by Misraim, 
the second son of Mam. Who were the Shcmites .'' They were 
Hebrews ! The Shcmites were in slavery to the Hamites. Mel- 
chizedek, whose name was expressive of his character, — king of 
riglitcoiisncss (or a righteous king), was a worthy priest of the 
most high God ; and Abimelech, whose name imports parental 
king, pleaded the integrity of his heart and the righteousness of 
his nation before Goti, and his plea was admitted. Yet both 
these personages appear to have been Canaanites." ■ Melchize- 
dek and Abimelech were Canaanites, and the most sacred and 
honorable characters in Old-Testament history. It was Abra- 
ham, a Shemite, who, meeting Melchizedek, a Canaanite, gave 
him a tenth of all his spoils. It was Nimrod, a Cushite, who 
"went to Asher, and built Nineveh," after subduing i.ie Shem- 
ites. So it seems \-ery ].)lain that Noah's prophecy did not come 
true in every resjject, and that it was pot the word of God. 
"And God blessed Noah and his sons." ' God pronounces his 
blessing \\\Mm this entire family, and enj lins upon them to " he 
fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." Afterwards Noah 
seeks to abrogate the blessing of God by his "cursed be Canaan." 
But this was only the bitter expression of a drunken and humilia- 
ted parent lacking divine authoritv. No doubt he and his other 

Dr. Bush. 2 Ge-n. \^. i. 



THE UNITY OF MANKIND. I I 

two sons conformed their conduct to tlie spirit of the curse pro- 
nounced, and treated the Hamites accordingly. The scholarly 
Dr. William Jones ' says that Ham was the youngest son of 
Noah ; that he had four sons, Cush, Misraim, Phut, and Canaan ; 
and that they peopled Africa and part of Asia.- The Hamites 
were the offspring of Noah, and one of the three great families 
that have peopled the earth. 3 

■ Jones's Biblical Cyclopedia, p. 393. Ps. Ixxviii. 51. 

- Ps. cv. 23. 

3 If Noah's utterance were to be regarded as a prophecy, it applied only to the Canaanites, 
the descendants of Canaan, Noah's grandson. Nothing is said in reference to any person Wut 
Canaan in the supposed prophecy. 



12 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF PHILOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND 

EGYPTOLOGY. 

CusHiM AND Ethiopia. — Ethiopians, White and Black. — Negro Characteristic?.— The Dark 
Continent. — The Antiquity OF THE Negro. — Indisputable Evidence —The Military and 
Social Condition of Negroes. — Cause of Color. —The Term Ethiopian. 

THERE seems to be a great deal of ignorance and confusion 
in the use of the word "Negro;"' and about as much 
trouble attends the proper classification of the inhabitants 
of Africa. In the preceding chapter we endeavored to prove, 
not that Ham and Canaan were the progenitors of the Negro 
races, — for that is admitted by the most consistent enemies of 
the blacks, — but that the human race is one, and that Noah's 
curse was not a divine prophecy. 

The term " Negro " seems to be applied chiefly to the dark 
and woolly-haired people who inhabit Western Africa. But the 
Negro is to be found also in Eastern Africa.^ Zonaras says, 
" Chus is the person from whom the Cuseans are derived. They 
are the same people as the Ethiopians." This view is corrobo- 
rated by Josephus,3 Apuleius, and Eusebius. The Hebrew term 
" Cush " is translated Ethiopia by the Septuagint, Vulgate, and 
by almost all other versions, ancient and modern, as well as by 
the English version. " It is not, therefore, to be doubted that 



■ Edward W. Biyden, LL.D., of Liberia, says, "Supposing that tins term was onsinally 
used as a phrase of contempt, is it not with us to elevate it.' How often h.TS it not happened 
that names originally given in repmacli have been aftenvards adopted as a title of honor by those 
against whom it was used ? — Methodists, Quakers, etc. But as a proof that no unfavorable 
signification attached to the word when first employed, I may mention, that, long before the slave- 
trade began, travellers found the blacks on the coast of Africa preferring to be called Negroes " 
(see Purchas' Pilgrimage . . .). And in all the pre-slavetrade literature the word was spelled with 
a capital N. It was the slavery of the blacks which afterwards degraded the term. To say that 
the name was invented to degrade the race, some of whose members were reduced to slavery, is to 
be guilty of what m grammar is called a hysteron froleron. The disgrace became attached to 
the name in consequence of slavery ; and what we propose to do is, now that slavery is abolished, 
to restore it to its original jilace and legitimate use, and therefore to restore the capital A'." 
2 Prichard, vol. u p. 44. ^ Josephus, Antiq., lib. 1, chap. 6. 



THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OE PHILOLOGY. 13 

the term ' Cns/iiin ' has by the interpretation of all ag'cs been 
translated by 'Ethiopians,' because they were also known by their 
black color, and their transmigrations, which were easy and 
frequent." ' But while it is a fact, supjiorted by both sacred and 
profane history, that the terms " Cush " and " Ethiopian " were 
used interchangeably, there seems to be no lack of proof that 
the same terms were applied frequently to a people who were 
not Negroes. It should be remembered, moreover, that there 
were nations who were black, and yet were not Negroes. And 
the only distinction amongst all these people, who are branches 
of the Hamitic family, is the texture of the hair. " ]5ut it is 
equally certain, as we have seen, that the term 'Cushite' is 
applied in Scripture to other branches of the same family; as, 
for instance, to the Midianites, from whom Moses selected his 
wife, and who coukl not ha\'e been Negroes. The term 'Cush- 
ite,' therefore, is used in Scripture as denoting nations wlio were 
not black, or in any respect Negroes, and also countries south of 
Egypt, whose inhabitants were Negroes ; and yet both races arc 
declared to be the descendants of Cush, the son of Ham. Even 
in Ezekiel's day the interior African nations were not of one 
race ; for he represents Cush, Phut, End, and Chub, as either 
themselves constituting, or as being amalgamated with, 'a mm- 
gled people' (Ezek. x.xx. 5) ; 'that is to say,' says Faber, 'it was 
a nation of Negroes who are represented as very numerous, — 
all the mingled people.' " - 

The term "Ethiopia" was anciently given to all those whose 
color was darkened by the sun. Herodotus, therefore, distin- 
guishes the Eastern Ethiopians who had straight hair, from the 
Western Ethiopians who had curly or woolly hair.j " They are a 
twofold people, lying extended in a long tract from the rising to 
the setting sun." 4 

The conclusion is patent. The words "Ethiopia" and " Cush " 
were used always to describe a black people, or the country where 
such a people lived. The term "Negro," from the Latin " uigcr" 
and the French " noir," means black; and consequently is a 
modern term, with all the original meaning of Cush and Ethiopia, 
with a single exception. We called attention above to the fact 
that all Ethiopians were not of the pure Negro type, but were 



' Poole. ■ Smyth's Unity Human Races, chap, ii, p. 41. 

5 Herodotus, vii., 69, 70. Ancient Univ. Hist., vol. xviii. pp. 254, 255. < Strabo, vol. i. p. 60. 



14 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

nevertheless a branch of the original Hamitic family from whence 
sprang all the dark races. The term "Negro" is now used to 
designate the people, who, in addition to their dark complexion, 
have curly or woolly hair. It is in this connection that we shall 
use the term in this work.' 

Africa, the home of the indigenous dark races, in a geographic 
and ethnographic sense, is the most wonderful country in the 
world. It is thoroughly tropical. It has an area in English 
square miles of 11,556,600, with a population of 192,520,000 
souls. It lies between the latitudes of 38° north and 35° south; 
and is, strictly speaking, an enormous peninsula, attached to Asia 
by the Isthmus of Suez. The most northern point is the cape, 
situated a little to the west of Cabo Blanco, and opposite Sicily, 
which lies in latitude 37° 20' 40" north, longitude 9° 41' east. 
Its southernmost point is Cabo d'Agulhas, in 34° 49' 15" south; 
the distance between these two points being 4,330 geographical, 
or about 5,000 English miles. The westernmost point is Cabo 
Verde, in longitude 17° '^}f' west ; its easternmost, Cape Jerdaffun, 
in longitude 51° 21' east, latitude 10° 25' north, the distance 
between the two points being about the same as its length. 
The western coasts are washed by the Atlantic, the northern 
by the Mediterranean, and the eastern by the Indian Ocean. 
The shape of this "dark continent" is likened to a triangle 
or to an oval. It is rich in oils, ivory, gold, and precious timber. 
It has beautiful lakes and mighty rivers, that are the insoluble 
problems of the present times. 

Of the antiquity of the Negro there can be no doubt. He 
is known as thoroughly to history as any of the other families 
of men. He appears at the first dawn of history, and has con- 
tinued down to the present time. The scholarly Gliddon says, 
that "the hieroglyphical designation of 'KeSH,' exclusively ap- 
plied to African races as distinct from the Egyptian, has been 
found by Lepsius as far back as the monuments of the sixth 
dynasty, 3000 B.C. But the great influx of Negro and Mulatto 
races into Egypt as captives dated from the twelfth dynasty ; 
when, about the twenty-second century, B.C., Pharaoh SESOUR- 
TASEN extended his conquests up the Nile far into Nigritia. 
After the eighteenth dynasty the monuments come down to the 

' It is nut wise, to say tlie least, for intelligent Negroes in America to seek to drop tlie word 
" Negro." It is a good, strong, and healthy word, and ought to live. It should be covered with 
glorv : let Negroes do it. 



THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF m/LOLOGV. 15 

third century. A.D., without one single instance in the Pharaonic 
or Ptolemaic periods that Negro labor was ever directed to any 
agricultural or utilitarian objects." ■ The Negro was found in 
great numbers with the Sukim, Thut, Lubin, and other African 
nations, who formed the strength of the army of the king oi 
Egypt, Shishak, when he came against Rehoboam in the year 
971 B.C. ; and in his tomb, opened in 1849, there were found 
among his depicted army the exact representation of the genuine 
Negro race, both in coIok, hair, and physiognomy. Negroes are 
also represented in ligyptian paintings as connected with the 
military campaigns of the eighteenth dynasty. They formed a 
part of the army of Ibrahim Pacha, and were prized as gal- 
lant soldiers at Moncha and in South Arabia.^ And Herodotus 
assures us that Negroes were found in the armies of Sesostris 
and Xerxes ; and, at the present time, they are no inconsider- 
able part of the standing army of Egypt. 3 Herodotus states 
that eighteen of the Egyptian kings were Ethiopians.-t 

It is quite remarkable to hear a writer like John P. Jeffries, 
who evidently is not very friendly in his criticisms of the Negro, 
make such a positive declaration as the following : — 

"Every r.ntional mind must, tlicrefore, readily conclude that the .African 
race lias l)ccn in existence, as a distinct people, over four tliousand two lum- 
drcd years ; and how long before that period is a matter of conjecture only, 
there being no reliable data upon which to predicate any reliable opinion." 5 

It is difficult to find a writer on ethnology, ethnography, or 
Egyptology, who doiTbts the antiquity of the Negroes as a distinct 
jieople. Dr. John C. Nott of Mobile, Ala., a Southern man in 
the widest meaning, in his "Types of Mankind," while he tries 
to make his book acceptable to Southern slaveholders, strongly 
maintains the antiquity of the Negro. 

"Ethnological science, tlicn, possesses not only the authoritative testimo- 
nies of Lepsius and Birch in proof of the existence of Negro races during the 
twenty-fourth century, B.C., but, the same fact being conceded by nil living 
Egyptologists, we may hence infer that these Nigritian types were contem- 
porary with the earliest Egyptians."' '' 



In 1829 there was a remarkable Theban tomb opened by Mr. 
Wilkinson, and in 1840 it was carefully examined by Harris and 

■ Jomiial of Ethnology, No. 7, p. 310. = Pickering's Races of Men, pp. \^-Sc). 

3 Buickliardt's Travels, \>. 341. * Kuleipe, lib. 6. 

5 Jeffiics's Nat. Hist, of Human Race, )x 315. " Types of Mankind, p. 259. 



1 6 B /STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Gliddon. There is a most wonderful collection of Negro scenes 
in it. Of one of these scenes even Dr. Nott says, — 

" A Negress, apparently a princess, arrives at Thebes, drawn in a plaustrum 
by a pair of humped o.xen, the driver and groom being red-colored Egyptians, 
and, one might ahnost infer, eunuchs. Following her are multitudes of Negroes 
and Nubians, bringing tribute from the upper country, as well as black slaves 
of both se.xes and all ages, among which are some red children, whose fathers 
were Egyptians. The cause of her advent seems to have been to make offer- 
ings in this tomb of a 'royal son of KeS/z — Amunoph,' who may have been 
her husband." ' 

It is rather strange that the feelings of Dr. Nott toward the 
Negro were so far mollified as to allow him to make a statement 
that destroys his heretofore specious reasoning about the political 
and social status of the Negro. He admits the antiquity of the 
Negro ; but makes a special effort to place him in a servile state 
at all times, and to present him as a vanquished vassal before 
Ramses III. and other Egyptian kings. He sees no change in 
the Negro's condition, except that in slavery he is better fed and 
clothed than in his native home. But, nevertheless, the Negress 
of whom he makes mention, and the entire picture in the Theban 
tomb, put down the learned doctor's argument. Here is a Negro 
princess with Egyptian driver and groom, w^ith a large army of 
attendants, going on a lung journey to the tomb of her royal hus- 
band ! 

There is little room here to ■question the ]5olitical and social 
conditions of the Negroes.- They either had enjoyed a long 
and peaceful rule, or by their valor in offensive warfare had 
won honorable place by conquest. And the fact that black slaves 
are mentioned does not in any sense invalidate the historical 
trustworthiness of the pictures found in this Theban tomb ; for 
Wilkinson says, in reference to the condition of society at this 
period, — 

"It is evident that both white and black slaves were employed as ser- 
vants ; they attended on the guests when invited to the house of their mas- 

^ Types of Mankind, p. 262. 

^ Even in Africi it is found that Negroes possess gre.it culture. Speaking of Sego, tlie 
capital of Banibara, Mr. Park says : " The view of this extensive city, the nuiiierous canoes upon 
the river, the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surrounding country, formed 
altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence which I little expected to find in the bosom 
of Africa." See Park's Travels, chap. li. 

Mr. Park also adds, that the population of tliis city. Sego, is about thirty thousand. It had 
mosques, and even ferries were busy conveying men and liorses over the Niger. 



THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OE PI/f/.OLOGY. 17 

ter; and, from tlicir being in tlie families of priests as well as of the military 
chiefs, we may infer that they were purchased with money, and that the right 
of possessing slaves was not confined to those who had taken them in war. 
The traffic in slaves was tolerated by the Egyptians ; and it is reasonable to 
suppose tliat many persons were engaged ... in bringing them to Kgypt for 
public sale, independent of those who were sent as part of the tribute, and who 
were probably, at first, tlie property of the monarch ; nor did any difficulty occur 
to the Ishinaelites in the purchase of Joseph from his brethren, nor in his sub- 
sequent sale to I'otiphar on arriving in Egypt." 

So \vc find that slavery was not, at this time, confined to any 
particular race of people. This Negro princess was as liable to 
purchase white as black slaves ; and doubtless some were taken 
in successful wars with other nations, while others were pur- 
chased as servants. 

But we have further evidence to offer in favor of the antiquity 
of the Negro. In Japan, and in many other parts of the East, 
there are to be found stupendous and magnificent temples, that 
are hoary with age. It is almost impossible to determine the 
antiquity of some of them, in which the idols are exact represen- 
tations of woolly-haired Negroes, although the inhabitants of those 
countries to-day have straight hair. Among the Japanese, black 
is considered a color of good omen. In the temples of Siam we 
find the idols fashioned like imto Negroes.' Osiris, one of the 
principal deities of the Eg)'ptians, is frequently represented as 
black.- Bubastis, also, the Diana of Greece, and a member of the 
great Egyptian Triad, is now on exhibition in the British Museum, 
sculptured in black basalt sitting figure.j Among the Hindus, 
Kali, the consort of Siva, one of their great Triad ; Crishna, 
the eighth incarnation of Vishnu; and Vishnu also himself, the 
second of the Trimerti or Hindu Triad, are represented of a black 
color. 4 Dr. Morton says, — 

"The Sphin.x may have been the slirine of the Negro population of Egypt, 
who, as a people, were unquestionably under our average size. Tliree million 
Buddhists in Asia represent their chief deity. Buddha, with Negro features 
and hair. There are two other images of Buddha, one at Ceylon and the other 
at Calanee, of which Lieut. Mahoney says, 'Both these statues agree in having 
crisped hair and long, pendent ear-rings.' " 5 

' See Ambassades M^morables de la Companie des Indes orientales des Provinces Unies vers 
les Empeieiirs du Japan, Amst., 1680 ; and Kaempfer. 
^ Wilkinson's Eijypt, vol. iii. p. 340. 

^ Coleman's Mythology of tiie Hindus, p. gi. Dr. Willlani Jones, vol. iii., p. ^77, 
* Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. pp. 436-448. 
5 Heber's Narrative, vol. i. p. 254. 



1 8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

And the learned and indefatigable Hamilton Smith says, — 

" In the plains of India are Nagpoor, and a ruined city without name at 
the gates of Benares (perhaps the real Kasi of tradition), once adorned with 
statues of a woolly-haired race." ■ 

Now, these substantial and indisputable traces of the march of 
the Negro races through Japan and Asia lead us to conclude that 
the Negro race antedates all profane history. And while the great 
body of the Negro races have been located geographically in 
Africa, they have been, in no small sense, a cosmopolitan people. 
Their wanderings may be traced from the rising to the setting 
sun. 

•'The remains of architecture and sculpture in India seem to prove an 
early connection between that country and Africa. . . . The Pyramids of 
Egypt, the colossal statues described by Pausanias and others, the Sphin.v, and 
the Hermes Canis, which last bears a strong resemblance to the Varaha Avatar, 
indicate the style of the same indefatigable workmen who formed the vast ex- 
cavations of Canarah, the various temjiies and images of Buddha, and the idols 
which are continually dug up at Gaya or in its vicinity. These and other in- 
dubitable facts may induce no ill-grounded opinion, that Ethiopia and Hindus- 
tan were peopled or colonized by the same extraordinary race; in confirmation 
of which it raav be added, that the mountaineers of Bengal and Benhar can 
hardly be distinguished in some of their features, particularly in their lips and 
noses, from the modern Abyssinians." ^ 

There is little room for speculation here to the candid searcher 
after truth. The evidence accumulates as we pursue our investiga- 
tions. Monuments and temples, sepulchred stones and pyramids, 
rise up to declare the antiquity of the Negro races. Hamilton 
Smith, after careful and critical investigation, reaches the conclu- 
sion, that the Negro type of man was the most ancient, and the 
indigenous race of Asia, as far north as the lower range of the 
Himalaya Mountains, and presents at length many curious facts 
which cannot, he believes, be otherwise explained. 

" In this view, the first migrations of the Negro stock, coasting westward 
by catamarans, or in wretched canoes, and skirting South-western Asia, may 
synchronize with the earliest appearance of the Negro tribes of Eastern Africa, 
and just precede the more mixed races, which, like the Ethiopians of Asia, 
passed the Red Sea at the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, ascended the Nile, or 
crossed that river to the west." 3 

Taking the whole southern portion of Asia westward to Ara- 
bia, this conjecture — which likewise was a conclusion drawn, 

' Nat. Hist, cf the Human Species, pp. 200, 214, 217. 

^ Asiatic Reseaiches, vol. i. p 427. Also Sir William Jones, vol. iii. 3d disc. 

3 Nat. Hist. Human Species, p. 126. 



I 



THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF PHILOLOGY. 19 

after patient research, by the late Sir T. Stanford RafHes — 
accounts, more satisfactorily than any other, for the Oriental 
habits, ideas, traditions, and words which can be traced among 
several of the present African tribes and in the South-Sea Islands. 
Traces of this black race are still found along the Himalaya 
range from the Indus to Indo-China, and the Malay peninsula, 
and in a mixed form all through the southern states to Ceylon.' 

But it is unnecessary to multiply evidence in proof of the 
antiquity of the Negro. His presence in this world was coetane- 
ous with the other families of mankind : here he has toiled with 
a varied fortune ; and here under God — liis God — he will, in the 
process of time, work out all the sublime problems connected 
with his future as a man and a brother. 

There are various opinions rife as to the cause of color and 
texture of hair in the Negro. The generally accepted theory 
years ago was, that the curse of Cain rested upon this race ; while 
others saw in the dark skin of the Negro the curse of Noah pro- 
nounced against Canaan. These two explanations were comfort- 
ing to that class who claimed that they had a right to buy and sell 
the Negro ; and of whom the Saviour said, " For they bind heavy 
burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoul- 
ders ; but they themselves will not move them with one of their 
fingers." ^ But science has, of later years, attempted a solution of 
this problem. Peter Barr^re, in his treatise on the subject, takes 
the ground that the bile in the human system has much to do 
with the color of the skin. 3 This theory, however, has drawn the 
fire of a number of European scholars, who have combated it with 
more zeal than skill. It is said that the spinal and brain matter 
are of a dark, ashy color ; and by careful examination it is proven 
that the blood of Ethiopians is black. These facts w^ould seem to 
clothe this theory with at least a shadow of plausibility. But the 
opini')n of Aristotle, Strabo, Alexander, and Blumenbach is, that 
the climate, temperature, and mode of life, have more to do with 
giving color than any thing else. This is certainly true among 
animals and plants. There are many instances on record where 
dogs and wolves, etc., have turned white in winter, and then as- 
sumed a different color in the spring. If you start at the north 
and move south, you will find, at first, that the flowers are very 

' Pricharcl, pp. 188-219. - Matt. .x.\iii. 4. 

^ Discours sur la cause physicale de la couleur des nigres. 



20 IIISrORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

white and delicate ; but, as you move toward tlic tropics, tliey 
begin to take on deeper and riclier hues until they run into 
almost endless varieties. Guyot argues on the other side of the 
question to account for the intellectual diversity of the races of 
mankind. 

"While all the types of animals and of plants go on decreasing in perfec- 
tion, from the equatorial to the polar regions, in proportion to the tempera- 
tures, man presents to our view his purest, his most perfect type, at the very 
centre of the temperate continents, — at the centre of Asia, Europe, in the 
regions of Iran, of Armenia, and of the Caucasus; and, departing from thi.s 
geographical centre in the three grand directions of the lands, the types gradu- 
ally lose the beauty of their forms, in proportion to their distance, even to the 
extreme points of the southern continents, where we find the most deformed 
and degenerate laces, and the lowest in the scale of humanity.'' ' 

The learned professor seeks to carry out his famous geographi- 
cal argument, and, with great skill and labor, weaves his theory 
of the infltience of climate upon the brain and character of man. 
But while no scholar would presume to combat the theory that 
plants take on the most gorgeous hues as one nears the equator, 
and tliat the races of mankind take on a darker color in their 
march toward the equator, certainly no student of Oriental his- 
tory will assent to the unsupported doctrine, that the intensity of 
the climate of tropical countries affects the intellectual status of 
races. If any one be so prejudiced as to doubt this, let him turn 
to "Asiatic Researches," and learn that the dark races have made 
some of the most invaluable contributions to science, literature, 
civil-engineering, art, and architecture that the world has yet 
known. Here we find the cradle of civilization, ancient and remote. 

Even changes and differences in color are to be noted in 
almost every community. 

"As we go westward we observe the light color predominating over the 
dark; and then, again, when we come within the influence of damp from the 
sea-air, we find the shade deepened into the general blackness of the coast 
population." 

The artisan and farm-laborer may become exceedingly dark 
from exposure, and the sailor is frequently so affected by the 
weather that it is next to impossible to tell his nationality. 

'■ It is well known that the Biscayan women are a shining white, the 
inhabitants of Granada on the contrary dark, to such an e.xtent, that, in this 



' Earth and Man. Lecture ,x. pp. 254, 255. 



THE NEGRO JN THE LIGHT OF P/HLOLOGV. 2 1 

rctjion, the pictures of the blessed Virgin and other saints arc painted of the 
same color." ' 

The same writer calls attention to the fact, that the people on 
the Cordilleras, who live under the mountains towards the west, 
and are, therefore, exposed to the Pacific Ocean, are quite, or 
nearly, as fair in complexion as the Europeans ; whereas, on the 
contrary, the inhabitants of the opposite side, exposed to the 
burning sun and scorching winds, are copper-colored. Of this 
theory of cliniatcric influence we shall say more farther on. 

It is held by some eminent physicians in Europe and America, 
that the color of the skin depends upon substances e.vtcrnal to 
the cutis vera. Outside of the cutis are certain layers of a sub- 
stance various in consistence, and scarcely perceptible : here is 
the home and seat of color ; and these may be regarded as secre- 
tions from the vessels of the cutis. The dark color of the Negro 
principally depends on the substance interposed between the true 
skin and the scarf-skin. This substance presents different appear- 
ances : and it is described sometimes as a sort of organized net- 
work or reticular tissue ; at others, as a mere mucous or slimy 
layer ; and it is odd that these somewhat incompatible ideas are 
both conveyed by the term reticulum mucosum given to the inter- 
mediate portion of the skin by its orignal discoverer, Malpighi. 
There is, no doubt, something plausible in all the theories 
advanced as to the color and hair of the Negro ; but it is verily 
all speculation. One theory is about as valuable as another. 

Nine hundred years before Christ the poet Homer, speaking 
of the death of Memnon, killed at the siege of Troy, says, " He 
was received by his Ethiopians." This is the first use of the 
word Ethiopia in the Greek ; and it is derived from the roots «'9w, 
"to burn," and wU), "face." It is safe to assume, that, when 
God dispersed the sons of Noah, he fixed the " bounds of their 
habitation," and, that, from the earth and sky the various races 
have secured their civilization. He sent the different nations 
into separate parts of the earth. He gave to each its racial 
peculiarities, and adaptibility for the climate into which it went. 
He gave color, language, and civilization ; and, when by wisdom 
we fail to interpret his inscrutable ways, it is pleasant to know 
that "he worketh all things after the counsel of his own mind." 

' Blumenbach, p. 107. 



22 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER III. 

PRnriTIVE NEGRO CIVILIZATION. 

The Ascient and High Decree of N'ecro Civiuzatios. — Ecvpt, Greece, and Rome borrow 
FROM THE Negro the Civilizatios that made them Great. — Cause of the Decline and 
Fall of Negro Ciulizatios. — Co.nfoisdisg the Terms "Negro" and "African." 

IT is fair to presume that God gave all the races of mankind 
civilization to start with. We infer this from the known char- 
acter of the Creator. Before Romulus founded Rome, before 
Homer sang, when Greece was in its infancy, and the world 
quite young, "hoary Meroe " was the chief city of the Negroes 
along the Nile. Its private and public buildings, its markets and 
public squares, its colossal walls and stupendous gates, its gor- 
geous chariots and alert footmen, its inventive genius and ripe 
scholarship, made it the cradle of civilization, and the mother of 
art. It was the queenly city of Ethiopia, — for it was founded 
by colonies of Negroes. Through its open gates long and cease- 
less caravans, laden with gold, silver, ivory, frankincense, and palm- 
oil, poured the riches of Africa into the capacious lap of the city. 
The learning of this people, embalmed m the immortal hiero- 
glyphic, flowed adown the Nile, and, like spray, spread over the 
delta of that time-honored stream, on by the beautiful and vener- 
able city of Thebes, — the city of a hundred gates, another monu- 
ment to Negro genius and civilization, and more ancient than the 
cities of the Delta, — until Greece and Rome stood transfixed before 
the ancient glory of Ethiopia ! Homeric mythology borrowed its 
very essence from Negro hieroglyphics ; Egypt borrowed her light 
from the venerable Negroes up the Nile. Greece went to school 
to the Egyptians, and Rome turned to Greece for law and the 
science of warfare. England dug down into Rome twenty cen- 
turies to learn to build and plant, to establish a government, and 
maintain it. Thus the flow of civilization has been from the East 
— the place of light — to the West; from the Oriental to the 
Occidental. (God fi.ved the mountains east and west in Europe.) 



PRIMITIVE NEGRO CIVILIZATION. 23 

"Tradition universally represents the earliest men descending, it is true, 
from tlic Iiigh table-lands of this continent; but it is in the low and fertile 
plains lying at tlieir feet, with which we are already acquainted, that they unite 
themselves for the first time in natural bodies, in tribes, with fi.\ed habitations, 
devoting themselves to husbandry, building cities, cultivating the arts, — in a 
word, forming well-regulated societies. The traditions of the Chinese place 
the first progenitors of that people on the high table-land, whence the great 
rivers flow: they make them advance, station by station, as far as the shores 
of tlie ocean. Tlie people of the Brahmins come down from the regions of the 
Hindo-Khu, and from Cashmere, into the plains of the Indus and the Ganges; 
.Assyria and Bactriana receive their inhabitants from the table-lands of Arme- 
nia and Persia. 

" These alluvial plains, watered by their twin rivers, were better formed 
tlian all other countries of the globe to render the first steps of man, an infant 
still, easy in the career of civilized life. A rich soil, on whicli overflowing rivers 
spread every year a fruitful loam, as in Egypt, and one where the plough is 
almost useless, so movable and so easily tilled is it, a warm climate, finally, 
secure to the inhabitants of these fortunate regions plentiful harvests in return 
for light labor. Nevertheless, the conflict with the river itself and with the 
desert, — wliich. on the banks of the Euplirates.%is on those of the Nile and the 
Indus, is ever threatening to invade the cultivated lands, — the necessity of irri- 
gation, tlie inconstancy of the seasons, keep forethought alive, and give birth to 
the useful arts and to the sciences of observation. The abundance of resources, 
the absence of every obstacle, of all separation between the different parts of 
these vast plains, allow the aggregation of a great number of men upon one 
and the same space, and facilitate the formation of those mighty primitive 
states which amaze us by the grandeur of their proportions. 

'• Each of them finds upon its own soil all that is necessary for a brilliant 
exhibition of its resources. We see those nations come rapidly forward, and 
reach in the remotest antiquity a degree of culture of which the temples 
and the monuments of Egypt and of India, and the recently discovered palaces 
of Nineveh, are living and glorious witnesses. 

"Great nations, then, are separately formed in each of these areas, cir- 
cumscribed by nature within natural limits. Each has its religion, its social 
principles, its civilization severally. But nature, as we have seen, has sep- 
arated them; little intercourse is established between them; the social 
principle on which they are founded is exhausted by the very formation of 
the social state they enjoy, and is never renewed. A common life is wanting 
to them: they do not reciprocally share with each other their riches. With 
them movement is stopped: every thing becomes stable and tends to remain 
stationary. 

" Meantime, in spite of the peculiar seal impressed on each of these 
Oriental nations by the natural conditions in the midst of which thev live, they 
have, nevertheless, some grand characteristics common to all, some family traits 
that betray the nature of the continent and the period of human progress to 
which they belong, making them known on the one side as Asiatic, and on the 
other side as primitive."" • 

' Earth and M.an, pp. 300-303. 



24 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Is it asked what caused the dechne of all this glory of the 
primitive Negro ? why this people lost their position in the 
world's history ? Idolatry ! Sin ! ' 

Centuries have flown apace, tribes have perished, cities have 
risen and fallen, and even empires, whose boast was their dura- 
tion, have crumbled, while Thebes and Meroe stood. And it is a 
remarkable fact, that the people who built those cities are less 
mortal than their handiwork. Notwithstanding their degradation, 
their woes and wrongs, the perils of the forest and dangers of the 
desert, this remarkable people have not been blotted out. They 
still live, and are multiplying in the earth. Certainly they have 
been preserved for some wise purpose, in the future to be un- 
folded. 

But, again, what was tlie cause of the Negro's fall from his 
high state of civilization .■' It was forgetfulness of God, idolatry ! 
" Righteousness e.xalteth a nation ; but sin is a reproach to any 
people." 

The Negro tribes of Africa are as widely separated by mental, 
moral, physical, and social qualities as the Irish, Huns, Copts, and 
Druids are. Their location on the Dark Continent, their sur- 
roundings, and the amount of light that has come to them from 
the outside world, are the thermometer of their civilization. It 
is as manifestly improper to call all Africans Negroes as to call 
Americans Indians. 

" The Negro nations of .\frica differ widely as to their manner of hfe and 
their characters, both of mind and body, in different parts of that continent, 
according as they have existed under different moral and physical conditions. 
Foreign culture, tliough not of a high degree, has been introduced among the 
population of some regions; while from others it has been shut out by almost 
impenetrable barriers, beyond which the aboriginal people remain secludec' 
amid their mountains and forests, in a state of instinctive existence, — a state 
from which, history informs us, that human races have hardly emerged, until 
moved by some impulse from without. Neither Phoenician nor Roman culture 
seems to have penetrated into Africa beyond the Atlantic region and the 
desert. The activity and enthusiasm of the propagators of Islam have reached 
farther. In the fertile low countries beyond the Sahara, watered by rivers 
which descend northward from the central highlands, Africa has contained for 
centuries several Negro empires, originally founded by Mohammedans. The 
Negroes of this part of Africa are people of a very different description from 

' It is a remarkable fact, that the absence of salt m the food of the Eastern nations, espe- 
cially the dark nations or races, has been very deleterious. .\n African child will eat salt by the 
handful ; and, once tasting it, will cry for it. The ocean is the womb of nature ; and the Creator 
has wisely designed salt as the savor of life, the preservative element in human food. 



PRIMITIVE NEGRO CIVILIZATION. 25 

the black pagan nations farther towards the Soutli. 'I'hey have adopted many 
of the arts of civihzed society, and have subjected themselves to governments 
and political institutions. Tliey practise agriculture, and have learned the 
necessar)', and even some of the ornamental, arts of life, and dwell in towns of 
considerable extent ; many of which are said to contain ten thousand, and even 
tliirty tliousand inhabitants, — a circumstance which implies a considerable 
advancement in industry and the resources of subsistence. All these improve- 
ments were introduced into the interior of Africa three or four centuries ago; 
and we have historical testimony, that in the region where trade and agriculture 
now prevail the population consisted, previous to the introduction of Isl.im, of 
savages as w-ild and fierce as the natives farther towards the soutli, whither 
the missionaries of that religion have never penetrated. It hence appears that 
human society has not been in all parts of Africa stationary and unprogres- 
sive from age to age. The first impulse to civilization was late in reaching the 
interior of that continent, owing to local circumstances which arc easily under- 
stood ; but, when it had once taken place, an improvement has resulted which 
is, perhaps, proportional to the early progress of human culture in other more 
favored regions of the world." ■ 

But in our examination of African trilies we shall not confine 
ourselves to that class of people known as Negroes, but call 
attention to other tribes as well. And while, in this country, all 
persons with a visible admixture of Negro blood in them are con- 
sidered Negroes, it is technically incorrect. For the real Negro 
was not the sole subject sold into slavery: very many of the 
noblest types of mankind in Africa have, through the inicertain- 
ties of war, found their way to the horrors of the middle passage, 
and finally to the rice and cotton fields of the Carolinas and Vir- 
ginias. So, in speaking of the race in this country, in subsequent 
chapters, I shall refer to them as colored people or Negroes. 

■ Physical History of Mankind, vol. ii. pp. 45, 46. 



26 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE JN AMERICA, 



CHAPTER IV. 

NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA. 

BENIN: Its Location. — Its Discovery by the Portuguese.- — Introduction of the Catholic 
Religion. — The King as a Missionary. — His Fidelity to the Church purchased by a 
White Wife. — Decline of Religion. — Introduction of Slavery. — Suppression of the 
Trade dy the English Government. — Restoration and Peace. 

DAHOMEY: Its Location. — Origin of the Kingdom. — Meaning of the Name. — War. — Cap- 
ture of the English Governor, and his Death. — The Military Establishment. — 
Women as Soldiers. — Wars and their Objects. — Human Sacrifices. — The King .a 
Despot. — His Powers. — His Wives. — Polygamy. — Kingly Succession. — Coronation. — 
Civil and Criminal Law. — Revenue System. — Its Future. 

y0RUB.\: Its Location. — Slavery and it:; Abolition. — Growth of the People of .■\beokuta. 
— Missionaries and Teachers from Sierra Leone. — Prosperity and Peace attend the 
People. — Capacity of the People for Civilization. — Bishop Crowther. — His Influence. 

BENIN. 

THE vast territory stretching from the Volta River on the 
west to the Niger in the Gulf of Benin on the east, the 
Atlantic Ocean on the south, and the Kong Mountains on 
the north, embraces the three powerful Negro kingdoms of J5enin, 
Dahomey, and Yoruba. From this country, more than from any 
other part of Africa, were the people sold into American slavery. 
Two or three hundred years ago there were several very powerful 
Negro empires in Western Africa. They had social and political 
government, and were certainly a very orderly people. But in 
14S5 Alfonso de Aviro, a Portuguese, discovered Benin, the most 
easterly province ; qmd as an almost immediate result the slave- 
trade was begun. It is rather strange, too, in the face of the fact, 
that, when De Aviro returned to tiie court of Portugal, an ambas- 
sador from the Negro king of Benin accompanied him for the 
purpose of requesting the presence of Christian missionaries 
among this people. Portugal became interested, and despatched 
Fernando Po to the Gulf of Benin ; who, after discovering the 
island that bears his name, ascended the Benin River to Gaton, 
where he located a Portuguese colony. The Romish Church 
lifted her standard here. The brothers of the Society of Jesus, 
if they did not convert the king, certainly had him in a humor to 



NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA. 27 

bring all of his regal powers to bear upon his subjects to turn 
them into the Catholic Church. He actually took the contract 
to turn his subjects over to this Church ! But this shrewd sav- 
age did not agree to undertake this herculean task for nothing. 
He wanted a white wife. He told the missionaries that he would 
deliver his subjects to Christianity for a white wife, and they 
agreed to furnish her. Some priests were sent to the Island of 
St. Thomas to hunt the wife. This island had, even at that early 
day, a considerable white population. A strong appeal was made 
to the sisters there to consider this matter as a duty to the holy 
Church. It was set forth as a missionary enterprise. After some 
contemplation, one of the sisters agreed to accept the hand of the 
Negro king. It was a noble act, and one for which she should 
have been canonized, but we believe never was. 

The Portuguese continued to come. Gaton grew. The mis- 
sionary worked with a will. Attention was given to agriculture 
and commerce. But the climate was wretched. Sickness and 
death swept the Portuguese as the fiery breath of tropical light- 
ning. They lost their influence over the people. They estab- 
lished the slave-trade, but the Church and slave-pen would not 
agree. The inhuman treatment they bestowed upon the people 
gave rise to the gravest suspicions as to the sincerity of the mis- 
sionaries. History gives us the sum total of a religious effort 
that was not of God. There isn't a trace of Roman Catholicism 
in that country, and the last state of that people is worse than the 
former. 

The slave-trade turned the heads of the natives. Their cruel 
and hardened hearts assented to the crime of man-stealing. They 
turned aside from agricultural pursuits. They left their fish-nets 
on the seashore, their cattle uncared for, their villages neglected, 
and went forth to battle against their weaker neighbors. They 
sold their prisoners of war to slave-dealers on the coast, who gave 
them rum and tobacco as an exceeding great reward. When war 
failed to give from its bloody and remorseless jaws the victims for 
whom a ready market awaited, they turned to duplicity, treachery, 
and cruelty. " And men's worst enemies were those of their own 
household." The person suspicioned of witchcraft was speedily 
found guilty, and adjudged to slavery. The guilty and the inno- 
cent often shared the same fate. The thief, the adulterer, and the 
aged were seized by the rapacity that pervaded the people, and 
were hurled into the hell of slavery. 



2 8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Now, as a result of this condition of affairs, the population was 
depleted, the people grew indolent and vicious, and finally the 
empire was rent with political feuds. Two provinces was the 
result. One still bore the name of Benin, the other was called 
Waree. Tiie capital of the former contains about 38,000 inhab- 
itants, and the chief town and island of Waree only contain about 
16,000 of a population. 

Finally England was moved to a suppression of the slave- 
trade at this point. The ocean is very calm along this coast, 
which enabled her fleets to run down slave-vessels and make 
prizes of them. This had a salutary influence upon the natives. 
Peace and quietness came as angels. A spirit of thrift possessed 
the people. They turned to the cultivation of the fields and 
to commercial pursuits. On the river Bonny, and along other 
streams, large and flourishing [lalm-oil marts sprang up; and a 
score or more of vessels are needed to export the single article 
of palm-oil. The morals of the people are not what they ought 
to be ; but they have, on the whole, made wonderful improvement 
during the last fifty years. 

DAHOMEY. 

This nation is flanked by Ashantee on the west, and Yoruba 
on the east; running from the seacoast on the south to the Kong 
mountains on the north. It is one hundred and eighty miles in 
width, by two hundred in breadth. Whydah is the principal town 
on the seacoast. The story runs, that, about two hundred and 
seventy-five years ago, Tacudons, chief of the Foys, carried a siege 
against the city of Abomey. He made a solemn vow to the gods, 
that, if they aided him in pushing the city to capitulate, he would 
build a palace in honor of the victory. He succeeded. He laid 
the foundations of his palace, and then upon them ripped ojien the 
bowels of Da. He called the building Da-Oini, which meant Da's 
belly. He took the title of King of Dahomey, which has remained 
until the present time. The neighboring tribes, proud and am- 
bitious, overran the country, and swept Whydah and adjacent 
places with the torch and spear. Many whites fell into their 
hands as prisoners ; all of whom were treated with great consider- 
ation, save the English governor of the above-named town. They 
put him to death, because, as they charged, he had incited and 
excited the people of Dahomey to resist their king. 

This is a remarkable people. They are as cruel as they are 



NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA. 29 

cunning. Tlie entire population is converted into an army : even 
women are soldiers. Whole regiments of women are to be found 
in the army of the king of Dahomey, and they are the best foot- 
regiments in the kingdom. They are drilled at stated periods, 
are officered, and well disciplined. The army is so large, and is so 
constantly employed in predatory raids upon neighboring tribes, 
that the consuming element is greater than the producing. The 
object of these raids was threefold : to get slaves for iiuman sacri- 
fices, to pour the blood of the victims on the graves of tiicir ances- 
tors yearly, and to secure human skulls to pave the court of the 
king and to ornament the walls about the palace ! After a suc- 
cessful war, the captives arc brought to the capital of the king- 
dom. A large platform is erected in the great market space, 
encircled by a parapet about three feet high. The platform blazes 
with rich clothes, elaborate umbrellas, and all the e\-idences of 
kingly wealth and splendor, as well as the spoils taken in battle. 
The king occupies a seat in the centre of the platform, attended 
by his imperturbable wives. The captives, rum, tobacco, and cow- 
ries are now ready to be thrown to the surging mob below. They 
have fought gallantly, and now clamor for their reward. " Feed 
us, king!" they cry, "feed us, king I for we are hungry!" and 
as the poor captives are tossed to the mob they are despatched 
without ceremony ! 

But let us turn from this bloody and barbarous scene. The 
king is the most absolute despot in the world. He is heir-at-law 
to all his subjects. He is regarded as a demigod. It is unlawful to 
uidicate that the king eats, sleeps, or drinks. No one is allowed 
to approach him, except his nobles, who at a court levee disrobe 
themselves of all their elegant garments, and, prostrate upon the 
ground, they crawl into his royal presence. The whole people arc 
the cringing lickspittles of the nobles in turn. Every private in 
the army is ambitious to please the king by valor. The king is 
literally monarch of all he surveys. He is proprietor of the land, 
and has at his disposal every thing animate or inanimate in his 
kingdom. He has about three thousand wives.' Every man who 
would marry must buy his spouse from the king ; and, while the 
system of polygamy obtains everywhere throughout the kingdom, 
the subject must have care not to secure so many wives that it 



' The king of D.-ihomey is limited to 3,333 wives I It is hardly f.iir to suppose that his 
majesty feelb cramped under the ungenerous act that hmits the number of his wives. 



30 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

would appear that he is attempting to rival the king. The robust 
women are consigned to the military service. But the real con- 
dition of woman in this kingdom is slavery of the vilest type. 
She owns nothing. She is always in the market, and lives in 
a state of constant dread of being sold. When the king dies, a 
large number of his wives are sacrificed upon his grave. This 
fact inspires them to take good care of him ! In case of death, 
the king's brother, then his nephew, and so on, take the throne. 
An inauguration generally lasts si.x days, during which time hun- 
dreds of human lives are sacrificed in honor of the new monarch. 

The code of Dahomey is very severe. Witchcraft is punished 
with death ; and in this regard stalwart old Massachusetts bor- 
rowed from the barbarian. Adultery is punished by slavery or 
sudden death. Thieves are also sold into slavery. Treason and 
cowardice and murder are punished by death. The civil code is 
as complicated as the criminal is severe. Over every village, 
is a Caboceer, equivalent to our mayor. He can convene a court 
by prostrating himself and kissing the ground. The court con- 
venes, tries and condemns the criminal. If it be a death sen- 
tence, he is delivered to a man called the Milgan, or equivalent 
to our sheriff, who is the ranking officer in the state. If the crim- 
inal is sentenced to slavery, he is delivered to the Mayo, who is 
second in rank to the Milgan, or about like our turnkey or jailer. 
All sentences must be referred to the king for his approval ; and 
all executions take place at the capital, where notice is given of 
the same by a public crier in the market-places. 

The revenue system of this kingdom is oppressive. The 
majority of slaves taken in war arc the property of the king. A 
tax is levied on each person or slave exported from the kingdom. 
In relation to domestic commerce, a tax is levied on every article 
of food and clothing. A custom-service is organized, and the 
tax-collectors are shrewd and exacting. 

The religion of the people is idolatry and fetich, or supersti- 
tion. They have large houses where they worship snakes ; and 
so great is their reverence for the reptile, that, if any one kills 
one that has escaped, he is punished with death. But, above 
their wild and superstitious notions, there is an ever-present con- 
sciousness of a Supreme Being. They seldom mention the name 
of God, and then with fear and trembling. 

" The worship of God in the absurd symbol of the lower animals I do not 



NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA. 3 I 

wish to defend: but it is all that these poor savages can do; and is not that 
less impious than to speak of the Deity "ith blasphemous familiarity, as our 
illiterate preachers often do ? " ' 

But this jieoplc are not in a hopeless condition of degradation. 

"The Wcsleyan Missionary Society of England have had a mission- 
station at Badagry for some years, and not without some important and encour- 
aging tokens of success. . . . The king, it is thought, is more favorable to 
Christian missions now than he formerly was.''- 

And we say Amen ! 

YORUBA. 

This kingdom extends from the seacoast to the river Niger, 
by which it is separated from the kingdom of Nufi. It contains 
more territory than either Benin or Dahome}'. Its principal sea- 
port is Lagos. For many years it was a great slave-mart, and 
only gave up the traffic under the deadly presence of English 
guns. Its facilities for the trade were great. Portuguese and 
Spanish slave-traders took up their abode here, and, teaching the 
natives the use of fire-arms, made a stubborn stand for their lucra- 
tive enterprise; but in 1852 the slave-trade w-as stopped, and the 
slavers driven from the seacoast. The place came under the 
English flag ; and, as a result, social order and business enterprise 
have been restored and quickened. The slave-trade wrought 
great havoc among this people. It is now about fifty-five years 
since a few weak and fainting tribes, decimated by the slave-trade, 
fled to Ogun, a stream seventy-five miles from the coast, where 
they took refuge in a cavern. In the course of time they were 
joined by other tribes that fled before the scourge of slave-himt- 
ers. Their common danger gave them a commonality of inter- 
ests. They were, at first, reduced to very great want. They 
lived for a long time on berries, herbs, roots, and such articles of 
food as nature furnished without money and without price ; but, 
leagued together to defend their common rights, they grew bold, 
and began to spread out aromid their hiding-place, and engage in 
agriculture. Homes and villages began to rise, and the desert 
to blossom as the rose. They finally chose a leader, — a wise and 
judicious man by the natne of Shodeke ; and one himdred and 
thirty towns were united under one government. In 1853, less 
than a generation, a feeble people had grown to be nearly one 

' Savage Africa, p. 51. • Western Africa, p. 207. 



32 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

hundred thousand (100,000) ; and Abeokuta, named for their cave, 
contains at present nearly three hundred thousand souls. 

In 1839 some colored men from Sierra Leone, desirous of 
engaging in trade, purchased a small vessel, and called at Lagos 
and Badagry. They had been slaves in this country, and had been 
taken to Sierra Leone, where they had received a Christian educa- 
tion. Their visit, therefore, was attended with no ordinary inter- 
est. They recognized many of their friends and kindred, and 
were agreeably surprised at the wonderful change that had taken 
place in so short a time. They returned to Sierra Leone, only to 
inspire their neighbors with a zeal for commercial and missionary 
enterprise. Within three years, five hundred of the best colored 
people of Sierra Leone set out for Lagos and Badagry on the sea- 
coast, and then moved overland to Abeokuta, where they intended 
to make their home. In this company of noble men were mer- 
chants, mechanics, physicians, school-teachers, and clergymen. 
Their people had fought foi" deliverance from physical bondage : 
these brave missionaries nad come to deliver them from intel- 
lectual and spiritual bondage. The people of Abeokuta gave the 
missionaries a hearty welcome. The colony received new blood 
and energy. School-buildings and churches rose on every hand. 
Commerce was revived, and even agriculture received more skil- 
ful attention. Peace and and plenty began to abound. Every 
thing wore a sunny smile, and many tribes were bound together 
by the golden cords of civilization, and sang their Tc Dciiin 
together. Far-away England caught their songs of peace, and 
sent them agricultural implements, machinery, and Christian 
ministers and teachers. So, that, nowhere on the continent of 
Africa is there to be found so many renewed households, so many 
reclaimed tribes, such substantial results of a vigorous, Christian 
civilization. 

The forces that quickened the inhabitants of Abeokuta were 
not all objective, exoteric : there were subjective and inherent 
forces at work in the hearts of the people. They were capable 
of civilization, — longed for it ; and the first blaze of light from 
without aroused their slumbering forces, and showed them the 
broad and ascending road that led to the heights of freedom and 
usefulness. That they sought this road with surprising alacrity, 
we have the most abundant evidence. Nor did all the leaders 
come from abroad. Adgai, in the Yoruba language, but Crow- 
ther, in English, was a native of this country. In 1822 he was 



NEGRO KINGDOMS OF AFRICA. 33 

sold into slavery at the port of Badagry. The vessel that was to 
bear him away to the "land of chains and stocks" was captured 
by a British man-of-war, and taken to Sierra Leone. Here he 
came under the influence of Christian teachers. He proved to be 
one of the best pupils in his school. He received a classical 
education, fitted for the ministry, and then hastened back to his 
native country to carry the gospel of peace. It is rather remarka- 
ble, but he found his mother and several sisters still " in the gall 
of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity." The son and brother 
became their spiritual teacher, and, ere long, had the great satis- 
faction of seeing them "clothed, in their right mind, and sitting at 
the feet of Jesus." His influence has been almost boundless. A 
man of magnificent physical proportions, — tall, a straight body 
mounted by a ponderous head, shapely, with a kind eye, benevo- 
lent face, a rich cadence in his voice, — the " black Bishop " 
Crowther is a princely looking man, who would attract the atten- 
tion of cultivated people anywhere. He is a man of eminent 
piety, broad scholarship, and good works. He has translated the 
Bible into the Yoruba language, founded schools, and directed 
the energies of his people with a matchless zeal. His beautiful 
and beneficent life is an argument in favor of the possibilities of 
Negro manhood so long injured by the dehumanizing influences 
of slavery. Others have caught the inspiration that has made 
Bishop Crowther's life "as terrible as an army with banners" to 
the enemies of Christ and humanity, and are working to dissipate 
the darkness of that land of night. 



A ,. 



34 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE. 

Its Location and Extent. — Its F.\MO(.rs Kings. — The Origin of the Ash.\ntees Obscure. — 
The War with Denkera. — The Ashantees against the Field conquer two Kingdoms 

AND ANNEX THEM. — DeATH OF OSAl Tl^TU. — ThE EnVY OF THE KiNG OF DaHOMEV. — INVA- 
sion of the ashantee countitv uy the klng of d.\homey. — his defeat shaued by his 
Allies. — Akvvasi pursues the Army of Dahomey into its own Country. — Gets a Mor- 
tal Wound and suffers a Humu.iating Defeat. — The King of Dahomey sends the 
Royal Kudjoh his Congr.\tulations. — Kwamina deposed for attempting to introduce 
Mohammed..^nism into the Kingdom. — The Ash.\ntees conquer the Mohammedans. — 
Numerous Wars. — Invasion of the Fanti Country. — Death of Sir Charles McCarthy. 
— Treaty. — Peace. 

THE kingdom of Ashantee lies between tlie Kong Mountains 
and the vast country of the Fantis. The country occupied 
by the Ashantees was, at the first, very small ; but by a 
series of brilliant conquests they finally secured a territory of 
three hundred square miles. One of their most renowned kings, 
Osai Tutu, during the last century, added to Ashantee by con- 
quest the kingdoms of Sarem, Buntuku, Warsaw, Denkera, and 
Axim. Very little is known as to the origin of the Ashantees. 
They were discovered in the early part of the eighteenth century 
in the great valley between the Kong Mountains and the river 
Niger, from whence they were driven by the Moors and Moham- 
medan Negroes. They exchanged the bow for fire-arms, and 
soon became a warlike people. Osai Tutu led in a desperate 
engagement against the king of Denkera, in which the latter was 
slain, his army was put to rout, and large quantities of booty fell 
into the hands of the victorious Ashantees. The king of Axim 
unwittingly united his forces to those of the discomforted Den- 
kera, and, drawing the Ashantees into battle again, sustained 
heavy losses, and was jnit to flight. He was compelled to accept 
the most exacting conditions of peace, to pay the king of the 
Ashantees four thousand ounces of gold to defray the expenses of 
the war, and have his territory made tributary to the conqueror. 
In a subsequent battle Osai Tutu was surprised and killed. His 
courtiers and wives were made prisoners, with much goods. This 



THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE. 35 

enraged the Ashantees, and they reeked vengeance on the heads 
of the inhabitants of Krt)nianti, who laid the disastrous ambus- 
cade. They failed, however, to recover the body of their slain 
king; but many of his attendants were retaken, and numerous 
enemies, whom they sacrificed to the manes of their dead king at 
Kumasi. 

After the death of the noble Osai Tutu, dissensions arose 
among his followers. The tribes and kingdoms he had bound to 
his victorious chariot-wheels began to assert their independence. 
His life-work began to crumble. Disorder ran riot; and, after a 
few ambitious leaders were convinced that the throne of Ashantee 
demanded brains and courage, they cheerfully made way for the 
coronation of Osai Opoko, brother to the late king. He was 
equal to the e.\isting state of affairs. He proved himself a states- 
man, a soldier, and a wise ruler. He organized his army, and took 
the field in person against the revolting tribes. He reconquered 
all the lost provinces. He defeated his most valorous foe, the 
king of Gaman, alter driving him into the Kong Mountains. 
When his jealous underlings sought his overthrow by conspiracy, 
lie conquered them by an appeal to arms. His rule was attended 
by the most lasting and beneficent results. He died in 1742, and 
was succeeded by his brother, Osai Akwasi. 

The fame and military prowess of the kings of the Ashantees 
were borne on every passing breeze, and told by every fleeing fugi- 
tive. The whole country was astounded by the marvellous achieve- 
ments of this people, and not a little envy was felt among adjoining 
nations. The king of Dahomey especially felt like humiliating 
this people in battle. This spirit finally manifested itself in 
feuds, charges, comi)laints, and, laterally, by actual hostilities. 
The king of Dahomey felt that he had but one rival, the king of 
Ashantee. He felt quite sure of victory on account of the size, 
spirit, and discipline of his army. It was idle at this time, anil 
was ordered to the Ashantee border. The first engagement took 
place near the Volta. The king of Dahomey had succeeded in 
securing an alliance with the armies of Kawaku and Bouroii)-, 
but the valor and skill of the Ashantees were too much for the 
invading armies. If King Akwasi had simply maintained his 
defensive position, his victory would have been lasting; but, over- 
joyed at his success, be unwittingly pursued the enemy beyond 
the Volta, and carried war into the kingdom of Dahomey. Troops 
fight with great desperation in their own country. The Ashantee 



36 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

army was struck on its exposed flanks, its splendid companies of 
Caboceers went down before the intrepid Amazons. Back to tlie 
Volta, the boundary-line between the two empires, fled the routed 
Ashantees. Akwasi received a mortal wound, from which he died 
in 1752, when his nephew, Osai Kudjoh, succeeded to the throne. 
Three brothers had held the sceptre over this empire, but 
now it passed to another generation. The new king was worthy 
of his illustrious family. After the days of mourning for his 
royal uncle were ended, before he ascended the throne, several 
provinces revolted. He at once took the field, subdued his recal- 
citrant subjects, and made them pay a heavy tribute. He won 
other provinces by conquest, and awed the neighboring tribes 
until an unobstructed way was open to his invincible army across 
the country to Cape Palmas. His fame grew with each military 
manceuvre, and each passing year witnessed new triumphs. 
Fawning followed envy in the heart of the king of Dahomey ; 
and a large embassy was despatched to the powerful Kudjoh, con- 
gratulating him upon his military achievements, and seeking a 
friendly alliance between the two governments. Peace was now 
restored ; and the armies of Ashantee very largely melted into 
agricultural communities, and great prosperity came. But King 
Kudjoh was growing old in the service of his people ; and, as he 
could no longer give his personal attention to public affairs, dis- 
sensions arose in some of the remote provinces. With impaired 
vision and feeble health he, nevertheless, put an army into the 
field to punish the insubordinate tribes ; but before operations 
began he died. His grandson, Osai Kwamina, was designated as 
legal successor to the throne in 1781. He took a solemn vow 
that he would not enter the palace until he secured the heads of 
Akombroh and Afosee, whom he knew had excited and incited 
the people to rebellion against his grandfather. His vengeance 
was swift and complete. The heads of the rebel leaders were 
long kept at Kumasi as highly prized relics of the reign of King 
Kwamina. His reign was brief, however. He was deposed for 
attempting to introduce the Muhammedan religion into the king- 
dom. Osai Apoko was crowned as his successor in 1797. The 
Gaman and Kongo armies attached themselves to the declining 
fortunes of the deposed king, and gave battle for his lost crown. 
It was a lost cause. The new king could wield his sword as well 
as wear a crown. He died of a painful sickness, and was suc- 
ceeded by his son, Osai Tutu Kwamina, in iSoo. 



THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE. 2>7 

The new king was quite youthful, — only seventeen ; but he 
inherited splendid qualities from a race of excellent rulers. He 
re-organized his armies, and early won a reputation for courage, 
sagacity, and excellent ability, extraordinary in one so young. 
He inherited a bitter feeling against the Mohammedans, and 
made up his mind to chastise two of their chiefs, Ghofan and 
(ihobago, and make the territory of Banna tributary to Ashantee. 
1 le invaded their country, and burned their capital. In an engage- 
ment fought at Kaha, the entire Moslem army was defeated and 
captured. The king of Ghofan was wounded and made prisoner, 
antl died in the camp of the Ashantee army. Two more provinces 
were bound to the throne of Kwamina ; and we submit that this 
is an historical anomaly, in that a pagan people subdued an army 
that emblazoned its banner with the faith of t/tc one God ! 

The Ashantee cni[)ire had reached the zenith of its glory. Its 
flag waved in triumph from the Volta to Bossumpea, and the 
Kong Mountains had echoed the exploits of the veterans that 
formed the strength of its army. The repose that even this un- 
civilized people longed for was denied them by a most unfortunate 
incident. 

Asim was a province tributary to the Ashantee empire. Two 
of the chiefs of Asim became insubordinate, gave offence to the 
king, and then fled into the country of the Fantis, one of the most 
numerous and powerful tribes on the Gold Coast. The Fantis 
promised the fugitives armed protection. There was no extradi- 
tion treaty in those days. The king despatched friendly messen- 
gers, who were instructed to set forth the faults of the offending 
subjects, and to request their return. The request was contemptu- 
ously denied, and the messengers subjected to a painful death. 
The king of Ashantee invaded the country of the enemy, and 
defeated the united forces of Fanti and Asim. He again made 
them an offer of peace, and was led to believe it would be acccjjted. 
But the routed army was gathering strength for another battle, 
although Chibbu and Apontee had indicated to the king that the 
conditions of peace were agreeable. The king sent an embas.sy 
to learn when a formal submission would take place ; and they, 
also, were put to death. King Osai Tutu Kwamina took "the 
great oath," and vowed that he would never return from the seat 
of war or enter his capital without the heads of the rebellious chiefs. 

The Ashantee army shared the desperate feelings of their 
leader; and a war was begun, which for cruelty and carnage has 



38 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

no equal in the annals of the world's history. Pastoral communi- 
ties, hamlets, villages, and towns were swept by the red waves of 
remorseless warfare. There was no mercy in battle : there were 
no prisoners taken by day, save to be spared for a painful death at 
nightfall. Their groans, mingling with the shouts of the victors, 
made the darkness doubly hideous ; and the blood of the van- 
quished army, but a short distance removed, ran cold at the 
thoughts of the probable fate that waited them on the morrow. 
Old men and old women, young men and young women, the 
rollicking children whose light hearts knew no touch of sorrow, 
as well as the innocent babes clinging to the agitated bosoms of 
their mothers, — unable to distinguish between friend or foe, — 
felt the cruel stroke of war. All were driven to an inhospitable 
grave in the place where the fateful hand of war made them its 
victims, or perished in the sullen waters of the Volta. For nearly 
a hundred miles " the smoke of their torment " mounted the skies. 
Nothing was left in the rear of the Ashantee army, not even 
cattle or buildings. Pursued by a fleet-footed and impartial dis- 
aster, the fainting Fantis and their terrified allies turned their 
faces toward the seacoast. And why ? Perhaps this fleeing army 
had a sort of superstitious belief that the sea might help them. 
Then, again, they knew that there were many English on the Gold 
Coast ; that they had forts and troops. They trusted, also, that 
the 3'oung king of the Ashantees would not follow his enemy 
under the British flag and guns. They were mistaken. The two 
revolting chiefs took refuge in the fort at Anamabo. On came 
the intrepid king, thundering at the very gates of the English 
fort. The village was swept with the hot breath of battle. Thou- 
sands perished before this invincible army. The English soldiers 
poured hot shot and musketry into the columns of the advancing 
army ; but on they marched to victory with an impurturbable air, 
worthy of " t/u: o/J guard" under Ney at Waterloo. Preparations 
were completed for blowing up the walls of the fort ; and it 
would have been but a few hours until the king of Ashantee 
woultl have taken the governor's chair, had not the English capitu- 
latetl. During the negotiations one of the offending chiefs made 
good his escape to a little village called Cape Coast ; but the other 
was deli\'ered up, and, having been taken back to Kumasi, was 
tortured to death. Twelve thousand persons fell in the engage- 
ment at Anamabo, and thousands of lives were lost in other 
engagements. This took place in 1S07. 



THE A SHAN TEE EMPIRE. 39 

In iSi I the king of Ashantee sent an army to Elmina to pro- 
tect his subjects against i)reclatory bands of Fantis. Three or 
four battles were fought, and were invariably won by the Ashantee 
troo[)s. 

Barbarians have about as long memories as civilized races. 
They are a kind-hearted people, but very dangerous and ugly when 
they are led to feel that they have been injured. " The great 
oath" means a great deal; and the king was not happy in the 
thought that one of the insolent chiefs had found refuge in the 
town of Cape Coast, which was in the Fanti country. So in 1817 
he invaded this country, and called at Cape Coast, and reduced the 
jjlace to the condition of a siege. The English authorities saw 
the Fantis dying under their eyes, and paid the fine imposed 
by the King of Ashantee, rather than bury the dead inhabitants 
of the beleaguered town. The Ashantees retired. 

England began to notice the Ashantees. They had proven 
themselves to be a most heroic, intelligent, and aggressive people. 
The Fantis lay stretched between them and the seacoast. The 
frequent invasion of this country, for corrective purposes as the 
Ashantees believed, very seriously interrupted the trade of the 
coast ; and England began to feel it. The English had been 
tlefeated once in an attempt to assist the Fantis, and now thought 
it wise to turn attention to a pacific policy, looking toward the 
establishment of amicable relations between the Ashantees and 
themselves. There had never been any unpleasant relations be- 
tween the two governments, except in the instance named. The 
Ashantees rather felt very kindly toward England, and for pru- 
dential and commercial reasons desired to treat the authorities at 
the coast with great consideration. They knew that the English 
gave them a market for their gold, and an opportunity to purchase 
manufactured articles that they needed. But the Fantis, right 
under the English flag, receiving a rent for the ground on which 
the English had their fort and government buildings, grew so in- 
tolerably abusive towards their neighbors, the Ashantees, that the 
British saw nothing before them but interminable war. It was 
their desire to avoid it if possible. Accordingly, they sent an 
embassy to the king of the Ashantees, consisting of Gov. James, 
of the fort at Akra, a Mr. Bowdich, nephew to the governor-in- 
chief at Cape Coast, a Mr. Hutchinson, and the surgeon of the 
English settlement. Dr. Teddlie. Mr. Bowdich headed the em- 
bassy to the royal court, where they were kintlly received. A 



42 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

stream. The Ashantees came up with the courage and measured 
tread of a well-disciplined army. They made a well-directed 
charge to gain the opposite bank of the stream, but were repulsed 
by an admirable bayonet charge from Sir Charles's troops. The 
Ashantees then crossed the stream above and below the British 
army, and fell with such desperation upon its exposed and naked 
flanks, that it was bent into the shape of a letter A, and hurled 
back toward Cape Coast in dismay. Wounded and exhausted, 
toward evening Sir Charles fled from his exposed position to the 
troops of his allies under the command of the king of Denkera. 
He concentrated his artillery upon the heaviest columns of the 
enemy ; but still they came undaunted, bearing down upon the 
centre like an avalanche. Sir Charles made an attempt to 
retreat with his staff, but met instant death at the hands of 
the Ashantees. His head was removed from the body and sent 
to Kumasi. His heart was eaten by the chiefs of the army that 
they might imbibe his courage, while his flesh was dried and 
issued in small rations among the line-officers for the same pur- 
pose. His bones were kept at the capital of the Ashantee 
kingdom as national fetiches." 

Major Chisholm and Capt. Laing, learning of the disaster 
that had well-nigh swallowed up Sir Charles's army, retreated to 
Cape Coast. There were about thirty thousand troops remaining, 
but they were so terrified at the disaster of the day that they 
could not be induced to make a stand against the gallant Ashan- 
tees. The king of Ashantee, instead of following the routed 
army to the gates of Cape Coast, where he could have dealt it a 
death-blow, offered the English conditions of peace. Capt. Rick- 
etts met the Ashantee messengers at Elmina, and heard from 
them the friendly messages of the king. Tlie Ashantees only 
wanted the British to surrender Kudjoh Chibbu of the province 
of Denkera ; but this fugitive from the Ashantee king, while 
negotiations were pending, resolved to rally the allied armies and 
make a bold stroke. He crossed the Prah at the head of a con- 



^ The following telegram shocks the civilized world. It serves notice on the Christians of 
the civilized world, that, in a large missionary sense, they have come far short of their duty to 
the "nations beyond," who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. 

"Massacre or Maidens. London, Nov. lo, 1881. — .'\dvices from Cape Coast Castle 
report that the king of Ashantee killed two hundred young girls for the purpose of using their 
blood for mixing mortar for repair of one of the state buildings. The report of the massacre was 
received from a refugee chosen for one of the victims. Such wholesale massacres are known to be 
a custom with the king." — Cinn. Commercial. 



THE ASHANTEE EMPIRE. 43 

siderable force, and fell upon the Ashantec army in its cam]). 
The English were charmed by this bold stroke, and sent a reserve 
force ; but the whole army was again defeated by the Ashantees, 
and "came back to Cape Coast in complete confusion. 

The Ashantee army were at the gates of the town. Col. 
Southerland arrived with re-enforcements, but was beaten into 
the fort by the unyielding courage of the attacking force. A new 
king, Osai Ockote, arrived with fresh troops, antl won the confi- 
dence of the army by marching right under the British guns, and 
hissing defiance into the face of the foe. The conflict that fol- 
lowed was severe, and destructive to both life and property. All 
the native and British forces were compelled to retire to the fort ; 
while the Ashantee troops, inspired by the dashing bearing of 
their new king, closed in around them like tongues of steel. The 
invading army was not daunted by the belching cannon that cut 
away battalion after battalion. On they pressed for revenge and 
victory. The screams of fainting women and terrified children, 
the groans of the dying, and the bitter imprecations of desperate 
combatants, — a mingling medley, — swelled the great diapason 
of noisy battle. The eyes of the beleaguered were turned toward 
the setting sun, whose enormous disk was leaning against the far- 
away mountains, and casting his red and vermilion over the 
dusky faces of dead Ashantees and Fantis ; and, imparting a 
momentary beauty to the features of the dead white men who 
fell so far away from home and friends, he sank to rest. There 
was a sad, far-off look in the eye of the impatient sailor who kept 
his lonely watch on the vessel that lay at rest on the sea. Night 
was wished for, prayed for, yearned for. It came at last, and 
threw its broad sable pinions over the dead, the dying, and the 
living. Hostilities were to be renewed in the morning ; but the 
small-po.x broke out among the soldiers, and the king of Ashantee 
retired. 

Sir Xeill Campbell was appointed governor-general at Cape 
Coast. One of his first acts was to call for all the chiefs of the 
Fantis, and give them to understand that hostilities between 
themselves and the king of Ashantee must stop. He then 
required Osai Ockoto to deposit four thousand ounces of gold 
($72,000), as a bond to keep the peace. In case he pro\-oked 
hostilities, the seventy-two thousand dollars were to be used to 
purchase ammunition with which to chastise him. In 1S31 the 
king was obliged to send two of his royal family, Kwanta Missah, 



44 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

his own son, and Ansah, the son of the late king, to be held as 
hostages. These boys were sent to England, where they were 
educated, but are now residents of Ashantee. 

Warsaw and Denkera, interior provinces, were lost to the 
Ashantee empire ; but, nevertheless, it still remains one of the 
most powerful Negro empires of Western Africa. 

The king of Ashantee has a fair government. His power is 
well-nigh absolute. He has a House of Lords, who have a check- 
power. Coomassi is the famous city of gold, situated in the cen- 
tre of the empire. The communication through to the seacoast is 
unobstructed ; and it is rather remarkable that the Ashantees are 
the only nation in Africa, who, living in the interior, have direct 
communication with the Caucasian. They have felt the some- 
what elevating influence of Mohammedanism, and are not uncon- 
scious of the benefits derived by the literature and contact of the 
outside world. They are a remarkable people: brave, generous, 
industrious, and mentally capable. The day is not distant when 
the Ashantee kingdom will be won to the Saviour, and its 
inhabitants brought under the beneficent influences of Christian 
civilization. 



THE NEGRO TYPE. 



45 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE NEGRO TYPE. 

Climate the C.m^se. — His Geographical Theatre. — He is susceptidle to Christianity 

AND Civilization. 

IF the reader will turn to a map of Africa, the MountaiiLs of the 
Moon' will be found to run right through the centre of that 
continent. They divide Africa into two almost equal parts. 
In a dialectic sense, also, Africa is divided. The Mountains of the 
Moon, running east and west, seem to be nature's dividing line 
between two distinct peoples. North of these wontlerful moun- 
tains the languages are numerous and quite distinct, and laclcing 
affinity. For centuries these tribes have lived in the same lati- 
tude, under the same climatic influences, and yet, without a writ- 
ten standard, have preserved the idiomatic coloring of their tribal 
language without corruption. Thus they have eluded the fate that 
has overtaken all other races who without a written language, 
living together by the laws of affinity, sooner or later have found 
one medium of speech as inevitable as necessary. 

But coming south of the Mountains of the Moon, until we 
reach the Cape of Good Hope, there is to be found one great 
family. Nor is the difference between the northern and southern 
tribes only linguistic. The physiological difference between these 
people is great. They range in color from the dead black up to 
pure white, and from the dwarfs on the banks of the Casemanche 
to the tall and giant-like Vei tribe of Cape Mount. 

" The Fans which inliabit tlie mountain terraces are altogetlicr of a dif- 
ferent complexion from the seacoast tribes. Their hair is longer : that of the 
women hangs clown in long braids to their shoulders, while the men have tol- 
erably long two-pointed beards. It would be impossible to find such long hair 
among the coast tribes, even in a single instance. 

'■ In the low, swampy land at the mouth of tlie Congo, one meets with 
typical Negroes ; and there again, as one reaches a higher soil, one finds a dif- 
ferent class of people. 

" The Angolese resemble the Fula. They are scarcely ever black. Their 

' See Keith Johnson's Map of Africa, 1S63. 



46 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

hands and feet are exquisitely small ; and in every way tliey form a contrast 
with the shxves of tlie Portuguese, who, brought for the most part from the 
Congo, are brutal and debased. 

'•I have divided Africa into three grand types, — the Ethiopian, the inter- 
mediate, and the Negro. In the same manner the Negro may be divided into 
three sub-classes: — 

" The bronze-colored class : gracefully formed, with effeminate features, 
small hands and feet, long fingers, intelligent minds, courteous and polished 
manners. Such are the Mpongwe of the Gaboon, the Angolese, the Fanti of 
the Gold Coast, and most probably the Haoussa of the Niger, a tribe with 
which I am not acquainted. 

" The black-skinned class ; athletic shapes, rude manners, less intelligence, 
but always with some good faculties, thicker lips, broader noses, but seldom 
prognathous to any great degree. Such are the Wollof, the Kru-men, the 
Denga of Corisco, and the Cabinda of Lower Guinea, who hire themselves out 
as sailors in the Congo and in Angola precisely as do the Kru-men of North 
Guinea. 

" Lastly, the typical Negroes : an exceptional race even among the Negroes, 
whose disgusting type it is not necessary to re-describe. They are found chiefly 
along the coast between the Casemanche and Sierra Leone, between Lagos 
and the Cameroons, in the Congo swamps, and in certain swampy plains and 
mountain-hollows of the interior." ' 

That climate has much to do with physical and mental char- 
acter, we will not have to prove to any great extent. It is a fact 
as well established as any principle in pathology. Dr. Joseph 
Brown says, — 

" It is observed that the natives of marshy districts who permanently reside 
in them lose their whole bodily and mental constitution, contaminated by the 
poison they inhale. Their aspect is sallow and prematurely senile, so that chil- 
dren are often wrinkled, their muscles flaccid, their hair lank, and frequently 
pale, the abdomen tumid, the stature stunted, and the intellectual and moral 
character low and degraded. They rarely attain what in more wholesome 
regions would be considered old age. In the marshy districts of certain coun- 
tries, — for example, Egypt, Georgia, and Virginia, — the extreme term of life 
is stated to be forty in the latter place. ... In portions of Brittany which 
adjoin the Loire, the extreme duration of life is fifty, at which age the inhabit- 
ant wears the aspect of eighty in a healthier district. It is remarked that the 
inferior animals, and even vegetables, partake of the general deprivation: they 
are stunted and short-lived." 

In his " Ashango Land," Paul B. du Chaillu devotes a large 
part of his fifteenth chapter to the Obongos, or Dwarfs. Nearly 
all African explorers and travellers have been mucii amazed at 
the diversity of color and stature among the tribes they met. This 

* Savage Afiica, pp. 403, 404. 



THE NEGRO TYPE. 47 

diversity in physical and mc-ntal character owes its existence to 
the diversity and perversity of African chmate. 

Tlie Negro, who is but a fraction of the countless indi<;enous 
races of Africa, has been carried down to his low estate by the 
invincible forces of nature. Along the ancient volcanic tracts are 
to be found the Libyan race, with a tawny complexion, features 
quite Caucasian, and long black hair. On the sandstones arc to 
be found an intermediate type, darker somewhat than their pro- 
genitors, lijis thick, and nostrils wide at the base. Then comes 
the Negro down in the alluvia, with dark skin, woolly hair, and 
prognathous development. 

"The Negro forms an exceptional race in Africa. lie inliabils that im- 
mense tract of marshy land which lies between the mountains and the sea, 
from Senegal to Benguela, and the low lands of the eastern side in the same 
manner. He is found in the parts about Lake Tchad, in Sennaar, along the 
marshy banks of rivers, and in several isolated spots besides." ' 

The true Negro inhabits Northern Africa. When his coun- 
try, of which we know absolutely nothing, has been crowded, the 
nomadic i:)ortion of the population has poured it.self over the 
mountain terraces, and, descending into the swamps, has be- 
come degraded in body and mind. 

Technically speaking, we do not believe the Negro is a dis- 
tinct species. 

"It is certain that the woolly hair, the prognathous development, and the 
deep black skin of the typical Negro, are not peculiar to the African conti- 
nent." 2 

The Negro is found in the low, marshy, and malarious dis- 
tricts. We think the Negro is produced in a descending scale. 
The African who moves from the mountain regions down into the 
miasmatic districts may be observed to lose his stature, his com- 
plexion, his hair, and his intellectual vigor : he finally becomes 
the Negro. Pathologically considered, he is weak, sickly, and 
short-lived. His legs are slender and alinost calf-less : the head 
is developed in the direction of the passions, while the whole 
form is destitute of symmetry. 

'• It will be understood that the typical Negroes, with whom the slavers 
are supplied, represent the dangerous, the destitute, and diseased classes of 
African society. They may be compared to those which in England fill our 

' Savage Africa, p. 400. ' Savage .Africa, p. 412. 



48 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

jails, our workhouses, and our hospitals. So far from being equal to us, tlie 
polished inhabitants of Europe, as some ignorant people suppose, they are 
immeasurably below the Africans themselves. 

" The typical Negro is the true savage of Africa ; and I must paint the 
deformed anatomy of his mind, as I have already done that of his body. 

■• The typical Negroes dwell in petty tribes, where all are equal except the 
women, who are slaves ; where property is common, and where, consequently, 
there is no property at all ; where one may recognize the Utopia of philos- 
ophers, and observe the saddest and basest spectacles which humanity can 
afford. 

" The typical Negro, unrestrained by moral laws, spends his days in sloth, 
his nights in debauchery. He smokes hashish till he stupefies his senses or 
falls into convulsions ; he drinks palm-wine till he brings on a loathsome dis- 
ease ; he abuses children, stabs the poor brute of a woman whose hands keep 
him from starvation, and makes a trade of his own offspring. He swallows 
up his youth in premature vice ; he lingers through a manhood of disease, and 
his tardy death is hastened by those who no longer care to find him food. . . . 
If you wish to know what they have been, and to what we may restore them, 
look at the portraits which have been preserved of the ancient Egyptians : and 
in those delicate and voluptuous forms ; in those round, soft features ; in 
those long, almond-shaped, half-closed, languishing eyes ; in those full pout- 
ing lips, large smiling mouths, and comple.xions of a warm and copper-colored 
tint, — you will recognize the true African type, the women-men of the Old 
World, of which the Negroes are the base, the depraved caricatures." ■ 

But the Negro is not beyond the influences of civilization and 
Christianization. Hundreds of thousands have perished in the 
cruel swamps of Africa; hundreds of thousands have been de- 
voured by wild beasts of the forests ; hundreds of thousands have 
perished before the steady and murderous columns of stronger 
tribes ; hundreds of thousands have perished from fever, small- 
po.x, and cutaneous diseases ; hundreds of thousands have been 
sold into slavery ; hundreds of thousands have perished in the 
" middle-passage ; " hundreds of thousands have been landed in 
this New World in the West : and yet hundreds of thousands are 
still swarming in the low and marshy lands of Western Africa. 
Poor as this material is, out of it we have made, here in the United 
States, six million citizens ; and out of this cast-away material of 
Africa, God has raised up many children. 

To the candid student of ethnography, it must be conclusive 
that the Negro is but the most degraded and disfigured type of 
the primeval African. And still, with all his interminable woes 
and wrongs, the Negro on the west coast of Africa, in Liberia 

I Savage Africa, p. 430. 



THE NEGRO TYPE. ,49 

and Sierra Leone, as well as in the southern part of the United 
States, shows that centuries of savagehood and slavery have not 
drained him of all the elements of his manhood. History fur- 
nishes us with abundant and specific evidence of his capacity to 
civilize and Christianize. We shall speak of this at length in a 
subsequent chapter. 



50 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 

Patriarchal Government. — Construction of Villages. — Negro Architecture. — Election 
OF Kings. — Coronation Ceremony. — Succession. — African Queens. — Law, Civil and 
Criminal. — Priests. — Their Functions. — Marriage. — Warfare. — Agriculture. — Me- 
chanic Arts. — Blacksmiths. 

ALL the tribes on the continent of Africa are under, to a 
greater or less degree, the patriarchal form of government. 
It is usual for writers on Africa to speak of "kingdoms" 
and "empires;" but these kingdoms are called so more by com- 
pliment than with any desire to convey the real meaning that we 
get when the empire of Germany or kingdom of Spain is spoken of. 
The patriarchal government is the most ancient in Africa. It is 
true that great kingdoms have risen in Africa ; but they were the 
result of devastating wars rather than the creation of political 
genius or governmental wisdom. 

"Pangola is the child or vassal of Mpende. Sandia and ]\Ipende are the 
only independent chiefs from Kebrabasa to Zumbo, and belong to the tribe 
Manganja. The country north of the mountains, here in sight from the Zam- 
besi, is called Senga, and its inhabitants Asenga or Basenga ; but all appear to 
be of the same family as the rest of the Manganja and Maravi. Formerly all 
the Manganja were united under the government of their great chief, Undi, 
whose empire extended from Lake Shirwa to the River Loangwa ; but after 
Undi's death it fell to pieces, and a large portion of it on the Zambesi was 
absorbed by their powerful Southern neighbors, the Bamjai. This has been 
tlie inevitable fate of every African empire froin time immemorial. A chief of 
more than ordinary ability arises, and, subduing all his less powerful neighbors, 
founds a kingdom, which he governs more or less wisely till he dies. His suc- 
cessor, not having the talents of the conqueror, cannot retain the dominion, 
and some of the abler under-chiefs set up for themselves ; and, in a few years, 
the remembrance only of the empire remains. This, which may be considered 
as the normal state of African society, gives rise to frequent and desolating 
wars, and the people long in vain for a power able to make all dwell in peace. 
In this light a European colony would be considered by the natives as an 
inestimable boon to inter-tropical Africa. Thousands of industrious natives 
would gladly settle around it, and engage in that peaceful pursuit of agriculture 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 5 I 

and trade of wliich tlioy arc so fond ; and, iindistractcd by wars or nimors of 
wars, miglit listen to the purifying and ennobling truths of tlie gospel of Jesus 
Christ. The Manganja on the Zambesi, like their countrymen on tlie Shire, 
are fond of agriculture ; and, in addition to the usual varieties of food, culti- 
vate tobacco and cotton in quantities more than equal to their wants. To the 
question, 'Would they work for Europeans.'' an affirmative answer maybe 
given ; if the Europeans belong to the class which can pay a reasonable price 
for labor, and not to that of adventurers who want eniplovnient for themselves. 
All were particularly well clothed from Sandia's to Pangola's ; and it was 
noticed that all the cloth was of native manufacture, the product of their own 
looms. In Senga a great deal of iron is obtained from the ore, and manufac- 
tured very cleverly." > 

The above is a fair description of the internecine wars that 
have been carried on between the tribes in Africa, back " to a 
time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." 
In a preceding chapter we gave quite an extended account of four 
Negro empires. We call attention here to the villages of these 
people, and shall allow writers who have paid much attention to 
this subject to give their impressions. Speaking of a village of 
the Aviia tribe called Mandji, Du Chaillu says, — 

"It was the dirtiest village I had yet seen in Africa, and the inhabitants 
appeared to me of a degraded class of Negroes. The shape and arrangement 
of the village were quite different from any thing I had seen before. The 
place was in the form of a quadrangle, with an open space in the middle not 
more than ten yards square ; and the huts, arranged in a continuous row on 
two sides, were not more than eight feet high from the ground to the roof. 
The doors were only four feet high, and of about the same width, with sticks 
placed across on the inside, one above the other, to bar the entrance. The 
place for the fire was in the middle of the principal room, on each side of 
which was a little dark chamber; and on the floor was an orala, or stage, to 
smoke meat upon. In the middle of the yard was a hole dug in the ground 
for the reception of offal, from which a disgusting smell arose, the wretched 
inhabitants being too lazy or obtuse to guard against this by covering it with 
earth. 

"The houses were built of a framework of poles, covered with the bark of 
trees, and roofed with leaves. In the middle of the village stood the public 
shed, or palaver-house, — a kind of town-hall found in almost all West-African 
villages. A large fire was burning in it, on the ground ; and at one end of the 
shed stood a huge wooden idol, painted red arid white, and rudely fashioned in 
the shape of a woman. The shed was the largest building in the village, for 
it was ten feet high, and measured fifteen feet by ten. It is the habit of the 
lazy negroes of these interior villages — at least, the men — to spend almost 
the whole day lying down under the palaver-shed, feeding their morbid ima- 
ginations with tales of witchcraft, and smoking their condoquais." 



• Livingstone's E.xpedition to the Zambesi, pp. 216, 217. 



52 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

But all the villages of these poor children of the desert are 
not so untidy as the one described above. There is a wide differ- 
ence in the sanitary laws governing these villages. 

"The Ishogo villages are large. Indeed, what most strikes the traveller 
in coming from the seacoast to this inland country, is the large size, neatness, 
and beauty of the villages. They generally have about one hundred and fifty 
or one hundred and sixty huts, arranged in streets, which are very broad and 
kept remarkably clean. Each house has a door of wood which is painted in 
fanciful designs with red, white, and black. One pattern struck me as simple 
and effective ; it was a number of black spots margined with white, painted in 
regular rows on a red ground. But my readers must not run away with the 
idea that the doors are like those of the houses of civilized people ; they are 
seldom more than two feet and a half high. The door of my house was just 
twenty-seven inches high. It is fortunate that I am a short man, otherwise it 
would have been hard e-xercise to go in and out of my lodgings. The planks 
of which the doors are made are cut with great labor by native axes out of 
trunks of trees, one trunk seldom yielding more than one good plank. My 
hut, an average-sized dwelling, was twenty feet long and eight feet broad. It 
was divided into three rooms or compartments, the middle one, into which the 
door opened, being a little larger than the other two. . . . Mokenga is a beau- 
tiful village, containing about one hundred and sixty houses ; they were the 
largest dwellings I had yet seen on the journey. The village was surrounded 
by a dense grove of plantain-trees, many of which had to be supported by 
poles, on account of the weight of the enormous bunches of plantains they 
bore. Little groves of lime-trees were scattered everywhere, and the limes, 
like so much golden fruit, looked beautiful amidst the dark foliage that sur- 
rounded them. Tall, towering palm-trees were scattered here and there. 
Above and behind the village was the dark green forest. The street was the 
broadest I ever saw in Africa ; one part of it was about one hundred yards 
broad, and not a blade of grass could be seen in it. The Sycobii were building 
their nests everywhere, and made a deafening noise, for there were thousands 
and thousands of these litde sociable birds." ' 

The construction of houses in villages in Africa is almost uni- 
form, as far as our studies have led us.^ Or, rather, we ought to 
modify this statement by saying there are but two plans of con- 
struction. One is where the houses are erected on the rectilinear, 
the other is where they are built on the circular plan. In the more 
warlike tribes the latter plan prevails. The hillsides and elevated 
places near the timber are sought as desirable locations for vil- 
lages. The plan of architecture is simple. The diameter is 
first considered, and generally varies from ten to fifteen feet. A 
circle is drawn in the ground, and then long flexible sticks are 
driven into the earth. The builder, standing inside of the circle. 



' Ashango Land, pp. aSS, 289, 291, 29J. " Western Africa, p. 257 sq. 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. ^% 

hinds the sticks together at the top ; where they are secured 
together by the use of the "monkey-rope," a thick vine that 
stretches itself in great profusion from tree to tree in that coun- 
try. Now, the reader can imagine a large umbrella with the 
handle broken off even with the ribs when closed up, and without 
any cloth, — nothing but the ribs left. Now open it, and place it 
on the ground before you, and you have a fair idea of the hut up 
to the present time. A reed thatching is laid over the frame, and 
secured firmly by parallel lashings about fifteen inches apart. 
The door is made last by cutting a hole in the side of the hut 
facing toward the centre of the contemplated circle of huts.' The 
door is about eighteen inches in height, and just wide enough to 
admit the body of the owner. The sharp points, after the cut- 
ting, are guarded by plaited twigs. The door is made of quite a 
number of stout sticks driven into the ground at equal distances 
apart, through which, in and out, are woven pliant sticks. When 
this is accomplished, the maker cuts off the irregular ends to make 
it fit the door, and removes it to its place. Screens are often 
used inside to keep out the wind : they are made so as to be 
placed in whatever position the wind is blowing. Some of these 
houses are built with great care, and those with domed roofs are 
elaborately decorated inside with beads of various sizes and 
colors. 

The furniture consists of a few mats, several baskets, a milk- 
pail, a number of earthen pots, a bundle of assagais, and a few 
other weapons of war. Ne.\t, to guard against the perils of the 
rainy season, a ditch about two feet in width and of equal depth 
is niacin about the new dwelling. Now multiply this hut by five 
hundred, preserving the circle, and you have the village. The 
palaver-lwusc, or place for public debates, is situated in the cen- 
tre of the circle of huts. Among the northern and southern 
tribes, a fence is built around their villages, when they are called 
" kraals." The space immediately outside of the fence is cleared, 
so as to put an enemy at a disadvantage in an attack upon the 
village. Among the agricultural tribes, as, for example, the Kaf- 
firs, they drive their cattle into the kraal, and for the young 
build pens. 

The other method of building villages is to have one long 
street, with a row of houses on each side, rectangular in shape. 

■ Through the Dark Continent, vol. i. p. 489. 



54 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

They are about twenty-five or thirty feet in length, an., about 
twelve to fifteen feet in vi'idth. Six or eight posts are used to 
join the material of the sides to. The roofs are flat. Three 
rooms are allowed to each house. The two end rooms are larger 
than the centre one, where the door opens out into the street. 
Sometimes these rooms are plastered, but it is seldom ; and then 
it is in the case of the well-to-do class.' 

We said, at the beginning of this chapter, that the government 
in Africa was largely patriarchal ; and yet we have called atten- 
tion to four great kingdoms. There is no contradiction here, 
although there may seem to be ; for even kings are chosen by ballot, 
and a sort of a house of lords has a veto power over royal edicts. 

"Among the tribes which I visited in my explorations I found but one 
form of government, which may be called the patriarchal. There is not suffi- 
cient national unity in any of the tribes to give occasion for such a despotism 
as prevails in Dahomey, and in other of the African nationalities. I found the 
tribes of equatorial Africa greatly dispersed, and, in general, no bond of union 
between part.s of the same tribe. A tribe is divided up into numerous clans, 
and these again into numberless little villages, each of which last possesses an 
independent chief. The villages are scattered; are often moved for death or 
witchcraft, as 1 have already exiDlained in the narrative ; and not infrequently 
are engaged in war with each other. 

"The chieftainship is, to a certain extent, hereditary, the right of succes- 
sion vesting in the brother of the reigning chief or king. The people, however, 
and particularly the elders of the village, have a veto power, and can, for suffi- 
cient cause, deprive the lineal heir of his succession, and put in over him some 
one thought of more worth. In such cases the question is put to the vote of 
the village ; and, where parties are equally divided as to strength, there ensue 
sometimes long and serious palavers before all can unite in a choice. The 
chief is mostly a man of great influence prior to his accession, and generally an 
old man when he gains power. * 

" His authority, though greater than one would think, judging from the 
little personal deference paid to him, is final only in matters of every-day use. 
In cases of importance, such as war, or any important removal, the elders of 
the village meet together and deliberate in the presence of the whole popula- 
tion, whicli last finally decide the question. 

'■ The elders, who possess other authority, and are always in the counsels 
of the chief, are the oldest members of important families in the village. 
Respect is paid to them on account of their years, but more from a certain 
regard for 'family,' which the African has very strongly wherever I have 
known him. These families form the aristocracy." ^ 

Here are democracy and aristocracy blended somewhat. The 
king's power seems to be in deciding everyday affairs, while 

' Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. chap. vii. ' Equatorial Africa, pp. 3;;, 37S. 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 55 

tlie weighty matters vvhicli affect the whole tribe arc decided by 
the elders and the people. Mr. Reade says of such govern- 
iiieiU, — 

"Among these equatorial tribes the government is patriarch.il, wliich is 
almost equivalent to saying that there is no government at all. The tribes are 
divided into clans. Each clan inliabits a separ.ate village, or group of villages; 
and at the head of each is a patriarch, the parody of a king. They are distin- 
guished from the others by the grass-woven cap which they wear on tlieir 
heads, and by the staff which they carry in their hands. They are always rich 
and aged : therefore they are venerated ; but, though they can e.xert influence, 
they cannot wield power; they can advise, but they cannot command. In some 
instances, as in that of Quenqueza, King of the Kembo, the title and empty 
honors of royalty are bestowed upon the most inlluential patriarch in a district. 
Tliis is a vestige of higher civilization and of ancient empire which disappears 
as one descends among the lower tribes." ' 

"The African form of government is patriarchal, and, according to the 
temperament of the chief, despotic, or guided by the counsel of the elders of 
tlif tribe. Reverence for loyalty sometimes leads the mass of the people to 
submit to great cruelty, and even murder, at the hands of a despot or madman; 
but, on the whole, the rule is mild ; and the same remark applies in a degree to 
their religion." ^ 

When a new king is elected, he has first to repair to the pon- 
tiff's house, who — apropos of priests — is more important than the 
king himself. The king prostrates himself, and, with loud cries, 
entreats the favor of this high priest. At first the old man 
inside, with a gruff voice, orders him away, says he cannot be 
annoyed ; but the king enumerates the presents he has brought 
him, and finally the door opens, and the priest appears, clad in 
white, a looking-glass on his breast, and long white feathers in his 
head. The king is sprinkled, covered with dust, walked over, 
and then, finally, the priest lies upon him. He has to swear that 
he will obey, etc. ; and then he is allowed to go to the coronation. 
Then follow days and nights of feasting, and, among some tribes, 
human sacrifices. 

The right of succession is generally kept on the male side of 
the family. The crown passes from brother to brother, froin 
imcle to nephew, from cousin to cousin. Where there are no 
brothers, the son takes the sceptre. In all our studies on Africa, 
we have found only two women reigning. A woman by the 
name of Shinga ascended the throne of the Congo empire in 
1640. She rebelled against the ceremonies sought to be intro- 



• Savage Africa, p. 216. » Expedition to Zambesi, pp. 626, 627. 



56 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

duced by Portuguese Catholic priests, who incited her nephew to 
treason. Defeated in several pitched battles, she fled into the 
Jaga country, where she was crowned with much success. In 
1646 she won her throne again, and concluded an honorable 
peace with the Portuguese. The other queen was the blood- 
thirsty Tembandumba of the Jagas. She was of Arab blood, 
and a cannibal by practice. She fought many battles, achieved 
great victories, flirted with beautiful young savages, and finally 
was poisoned. 

The African is not altogether without law. 

"Justice appears, upon the whole, to be pretty fairly administered among 
the Makololo. A headman took some beads and a blanket from one of Iiis 
men who had been with us; the matter was brought before the chief; and he 
immediately ordered the goods to be restored, and decreed, moreover, that no 
headman should take the property of the men who had returned. In theory 
all the goods brouglit back belonged to the chief; the men laid them at his 
feet, and made a formal offer of them all ; he looked at the articles, and told 
the men to keep them. This is almost invariably the case. Tuba Mokoro, 
however, fearing lest Sekeletu might take a fancy to some of his best goods, 
exliibited only a few of his old and least valuable acquisitions. Masakasa liad 
little to show: he had committed some breach of native law in one of the 
villages on the way, and paid a heavy fine rather than have the matter brought 
to the doctor's ears. Each carrier is entitled to a portion of the goods in his 
bundle, though purchased by the chief's ivory; and they never hesitate to claim 
their rights : but no wages can be demanded from the chief if he fails to 
respond to the first application." ■ 

We have found considerable civil and criminal law among the 
different tribes. We gave an account of the civil and criminal 
code of Dahomey in the chapter on that empire. In the Congo 
country all civil suits are brought before a judge. He sits on a 
mat under a large tree, and patiently hears the arguments /w and 
con. His decisions are final. There is no higher court, and hence 
no appeal. The criminal cases are brought before the Cliitom^, 
or priest. He keeps a sacred fire burning in his house that is 
never suffered to go out. He is supported by the lavish and 
delicate gifts of the people, and is held to be sacred. No one 
is allowed to approach his house except on the most urgent busi- 
ness. He never dies, so say the people. When he is seriously 
sick his legal successor steals quietly into his house, and beats his 
brains out, or strangles him to death. It is his duty to hear all 
criminal cases, and to this end he makes a periodical circuit 

' Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi, pp. 307, 308. 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 57 

among the tribe. Murder, treason, aduUery, killing the escaped 
snakes from the fetich-house, — and often stealing, — are pun- 
ished by death, or by being sold into slavery. A girl who loses 
her standing, disgraces her family by an immoral act, is banished 
from the tribe. And in case of seduction the man is tied up and 
flogged. In case of adultery a large sum of money must be paid. 
If the guilty one is unable to pay the fine, then death or slavery 
is the penalty. 

"Adultery is regarded by the Africans as a kind of theft. It is a vice, 
therefore, and so common that one might write a Decameron of native tales 
like those of Boccaccio. And what in Boccaccio is more poignant and more 
vicious than this song of the Benga, vi^hich I have often heard tlieni sing, 
young men and women together, when no old men were present ? — 

' The old men young girls married. 
The young girls made the old men fools ; 
For they love to kiss the young men in the dark, 
Or beneath the green leaves of the plantain-tree. 
The old men then threatened the young men. 
And said, " You make us look like fools ; 

But we will stab you with our knives till your blood runs forth I " 
" Oh, stab us, stab us ! " cried the young men gladly, 
" For then your wives will fasten up our wounds." ' " ' 

The laws of marriage among many tribes are very wholesome 
and elevating. When the age of puberty arrives, it is the custom 
in many tribes for the elderly women, who style themselves 
Negcmba, to go into the forest, and prepare for the initiation of 
the igoiiji, or novice. They clear a large space, build a fire, which 
is kept burning for three days. They take the young woman into 
the fetich-house, — a new one for this ceremony, — where they go 
through some ordeal, that, thus far, has never been understood by 
men. When a young man wants a wife, there are two things 
necessary ; viz., he must secure her consent, and then buy her. 
The apparent necessary element in African courtship is not a 
thing to be deprecated by the contracting parties. On the other 
hand, it is the sine qua iwn of matrimony. It is proof positive 
when a suitor gives cattle for his sweetheart, first, that he is 
wealthy ; and, second, that he greatly values the lady he fain would 
make his bride. He first seeks the favor of the girl's parents. 
If she have none, then her next of kin, yis in Israel in the days 
of Boaz. For it is a law among many tribes, that a young girl 

* Savage .-Vfrica, p. 219. 



58 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

shall never be without a guardian. When the relatives are favor- 
ably impressed with the suitor, they are at great pains to sound 
his praise in the presence of the girl ; who, after a while, consents 
to see him. The news is conveyed to him by a friend or relative 
of the girl. The suitor takes a bath, rubs his body with palm-oil, 
dons his best armor, and with beating heart and proud, stride 
hastens to the presence of the fa.stidious charmer. She does not 
speak. He sits down, rises, turns around, runs, and goes through 
many exercises to show her that he is sound and healthy. The 
girl retires, and the an.xious suitor receives the warm congratula- 
tions of the spectators on his noble bearing. The fair lady con- 
veys her assent to the waiting lover, and the village rings with 
shouts of gladness. Next come the preliminary matters before 
the wedding. Marriage among most African tribes is a coeta- 
neous contract. The bride is delivered when the price is paid by 
the bridegroom. No goods, no wife. Then follow the wedding 
and feasting, firing of guns, blowing of horns, music, and 
dancing.' 

Polygamy is almost universal in Africa, and poor woman is 
the greater sufferer from the accursed system. It is not enough 
that she is drained of her beauty and strength by the savage 
passions of man : she is the merest abject slave everywhere. 
The young women are beautiful, but it is only for a brief season : 
it soon passes like the fragile rose into the ashes of premature 
old age. In Dahomey she is a soldier ; in Kafifir-land she tends 
the herds, and builds houses ; and in Congo without her industry 
man would starve. Everywhere man's cruel hand is against her. 
Everywhere she is the .slave of his unholy passions.- 

It is a mistaken notion that has obtained for many years, that 
the Negro in Africa is physically the most loathsome of all man- 
kind. True, the Negro has been deformed by degradation and 
abuse ; but this is not his normal condition. We have seen 
native Africans who were jet black, woolly-haired, and yet pos- 
sessing fine teeth, beautiful features, tall, graceful, and athletic. 

" In reference to the status of the Africans among the nations of the 
earth, we have seen nothhig to justify the notion that they are of a different 
' breed ' or ' species ' from the most civihzed. The African is a man with every 

' See Savage Africa, p. 207. Livingstone's Life-Work, pp. 47, 48. Uncivilized Races of 
Men, vol. i. pp. 71-S6 ; also Du ChaiUu and Denliam and Clappterton. 
^ Savage .Xfrica, pp. 424, 425. 



AFRICAN IDIOSYiXCRASIES. 59 

attribute of human kind. Centuries of barbarism liave had the same deterio- 
rating effects on Africans as Prichard describes them to liave had on certain 
of the Irish who were driven, some generations Ijatk, to the hills in Ulster and 
Connaught; and these depressing influences have had such moral and physical 
effects on some tribes, that ages probably will be required to undo what ages 
have done. This degradation, however, would hardly be given as a reason for 
liolding any race in bondage, unless the advocate liad sunk morally to the 
same low state. Apart from the frightful loss of life in the process by which, 
it is pretended, the Negroes are better provided for tlian in a state of liberty 
in their own country, it is this very system that perpetuates, if not causes, the 
unhajipy condition with which the comparative comfort of some of them in 
slavery is contrasted. 

" Ethnologists reckon the African as by no means the lowest of the human 
family. He is nearly as strong physically as the European : and, as a race, is 
wonderfully persistent among the nations of the earth. Neither the diseases 
nor the ardent spirits which proved so fatal to North-American Indians. South- 
Sea Islanders, and Australians, seem capable of annihilating the Negroes. 
Even when subjected to that system so destructive to human life, by which 
they are torn from their native soil, they spring up irrepressibly, and darken 
half the new continent. They, are gifted by nature with physical strength 
capable of withstanding the sorest privations, and a lightheartedness which, 
as a sort of compensation, enables them to make the best of the worst situa- 
tions. It is like that power which the human frame possesses of withstanding 
heat, and to an extent which we should never have known, had not an adven- 
turous surgeon gone into an oven, and burnt his fingers with his own watch. 
The Africans have wonderfully borne up under unnatural conditions that would 
have proved fatal to most races. 

" It is remarkable that the power of resistance under calamity, or, as some 
would say, adaptation for a life of servitude, is peculiar only to certain tribes 
on the continent of Africa. Climate cannot be made to account for the fact 
that many would pine in a state of slavery, or voluntarily perish. No Kroo- 
man can be converted into a slave, and yet he is an inhabitant of tlie low, 
unhealthy west coast ; nor can any of the Zulu or Kaffir tribes be reduced to 
bondage, though all these live on comparatively elevated regions. We have 
heard it stated by men familiar with some of the Kaffirs, that a blow, given 
even in play by a European, must be returned. A love of liberty is observable 
in all who have the Zulu blood, as the Makololo, tlie Watuta, and probably the 
Masai. I'.ut blood does not explain the fact. A beautiful Barotse woman at 
Naliele, on refusing to marry a man whom she did not like, was in a pet given 
by the headman to some Mambari slave-traders from Benguela. Seeing her 
fate, she seized one of their spears, and, stabbing herself, fell down dead."' ' 

Dr. David Livingstone is certainly entitled to our utmost con- 
fidence in all matters that he writes about. Mr. Archibald Forbes 
says he has seen Africans dead upon the field of battle that would 
measure nine feet ; and it was only a few months ago that we 

* Livingstone's Expedition to tiie Zambesi, pp. G25, 626. 



6c HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

had the privilege of seeing a Zulu who was eight feet and eleven 
inches in height. As to the beauty of the Negro, nearly all African 
travellers agree. 

" But if the women of Africa are brutal, the men of Africa are feminine. 
Their facL-s are smooth ; their breasts are frequently as full as those of Euro- 
pean women ; their voices are never gruff or deep ; their fingers are long; and 
they can be very proud of their rosy nails. While the women are nearly always 
ill-shaped after their girlhood, the men have gracefully moulded Hmbs, and 
always after a feminine type, — the arms rounded, the legs elegantly formed, 
without too much muscular development, and the feet delicate and small. 

" When I first went ashore on Africa, viz., at Bathurst, I thought all the 
men who passed me, covered in their long robes, were women, till I saw one 
of the latter sex, and was thereby disenchanted. 

" While no African's face ever yet reminded me of a man whom I had 
known in England, I saw again and again faces which reminded me of women; 
and on one occasion, in Angola, being about to chastise a carrcgadore, he sank 
bn his knees as I raised my stick, clasped his hands, and looked up imploringly 
toward me, — was so like a young lady I had once felt an affection for, that, in 
Spite of m\ self, I flung the stick away, fearing to commit a sacrilege. 

" Ladies on reading this will open their eyes, and suppose that either I 
have very bad taste, or that I am writing fiction. But I can assure them that 
among the Angolas, and the Mpongwe, and the IVIandingoes, and the Fula, 
I have seen men whose form and features would disgrace no petticoats, — not 
even satin ones at a drawing-room. 

" Wliile the women are stupid, sulky, and phlegmatic, the men are viva- 
cious, timid, inquisitive, and garrulous beyond belief. They make excellent 
domestic servants, are cleanly, and even tedious in the nicety with which they 
arrange dishes on a table or clothes on a bed. They have also their friend- 
ships after tlie manner of woman, embracing one another, sleeping on the same 
mat, telling one another their secrets, betraying them, and getting terribly jeal- 
ous of one another (from pecuniary motives) when they happen to serve the 
Same master. 

" They have none of that austerity, that reserve, that pertinacity, that per- 
severance, that strong-headed stubborn determination, or that ferocious courage, 
which are the common attributes of our sex. They have, on the other hand, 
that delicate tact, that intuition, that nervous imagination, that quick perception 
of character, which have become the proverbial characteristics of cultivated 
women. They know how to render themselves impenetrable ; and if they desire 
to be perfidious, they wear a mask which few eyes can see through, while at 
the same time a certain sameness of purpose models their character in similar 
moulds. Their nature is an enigma : but solve it, and you have solved the 
race. They are inordinatelv vain : they buy looking-glasses: they will pass 
hours at their toilet, in which their wives must act as femines dc chainbre ; 
they will spend all their money on ornaments and dress, in which they can 
display a charming taste. They are fond of music, of dancing, and are not 
insensible to the beauties of nature. They are indolent, and have little ambi- 
tion except to be admired and well spoken of. They are so sensitive that a 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 6 1 

harsh word will rankle in their hearts, and make them unhappy for a length of 
time ; and they will strip themselves to pay the griols for their flattery, and to 
escape their satire. Though naturally timid, and loath to shed blood, they wit- 
ness without horror the most revolting spectacles which their religion sanc- 
tions; and, though awed liy us their superiors, a real injury will transform their 
natures, and thev will take a speedy and merciless revenge. 

"According to popular belief, the Africans are treacherous and hostile. 
The fact is, that all Africans are supposed to be Negroes, and that which is 
criminal is ever associated with that which is hideous. But, with the exception 
of some Mohammedan tribes toward the north, one may travel all over Africa 
without risking one's life. They may detain you ; they may rob you, if you 
are rich ; they may insult you. and refuse to let you enter their country, if 
you are poor : but your life is always safe till you sacrifice it by some impru- 
dence. 

" In ancient times the blacks were known to be so gentle to strangers that 
many believed that the gods sprang from them. Homer sings of the Ocean, 
lather of the gods ; and says that, when Jupiter wishes to take a holida), he 
visits the sea, and goes to the bancjuets of the blacks, — a people humble, 
courteous, and devout." ■ 

W'c have quoted thus e.xtensively from Mr. Reade because he 
has given a fair account of the peoples he met. He is a good 
writer, but sometimes gets real funny! 

It is a fact that all unciviHzed races arc warHke. The tribes 
of Africa are a vast standing army. Fighting seems to be their 
employment. We went into this matter of armies so thoroughly 
in the fourth chapter that we shall not have much to say here. 
The bow and arrow, the spear and assagai were the primiti\'e 
weapons of African warriors ; but they have learned the use of 
fire-arms within the last quarter of a century. The shiekl and 
assagai are not, however, done away with. The young Prince 
Napoleon, whose dreadful death the reader may recall, was slain 
by an assagai. These armies are officered, disciplined, and drilled 
to great perfection, as the French and English troops have abun- 
dant reason to know. 

" The Zulu tribes are remarkable for being the only people in that ])art of 
Africa who have practised war in an European sense of the word. The otlier 
tribes are very good at bush-fighting, and arc exceedingly crafty at taking an 
enemy unawares, and coming on liim before he is prepared for tliem. Guerilla 
warfare is, in fact, their only mode of waging battle; and, as is necessarily the 
case in soch warfare, more depends on the exertion of individual combatants 
than on the scientific combinations of ma.sses. But the Zulu tribe have, since 
the time of Tchaka, the great inventor of military tactics, carried on war in a 
manner approaching the notions of civilization. 

* Savage .Africa, pp. 426, 427, 



62 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Their men are organized into regiments, eacli subdivided into companies, 
and each commanded by its own chief, or colonel ; while the king, as com- 
manding general, leads his forces to war, disposes them in battle-array, and 
personally directs their movements. They give an enemy notice that they are 
about to march against him, and boldly meet him in the open field. There is a 
military etiquette about them which some of our own people have been slow to 
understand. They once sent a message to the English commander that they 
would 'come and breakfast with him.' He thought it was only a joke, and was 
very much surprised when the Kaffirs, true to their promise, came pouring like 
a torrent over the hills, leaving him barely time to get his men under arms 
before the dark enemies arrived." ' 

And there are some legends told about African wars that 
would i^ut the "Arabian Nights" to the blush. == 

In Africa, as in districts of Germany and Holland, woman is 
burdened with agricultural duties. The soil of Africa is very 
rich,.' and consequently Nature furnishes her untutored children 
with much spontaneous vegetation. It is a rather remarkable 
fact, that the average African warrior thinks it a degradation for 
him to engage in agriculture. He will fell trees, and help move 
a village, but ic/// 7iot go into the field to work. The women — 
generally the married ones — do the gardening. They carry the 
seed on their heads in a large basket, a hoe on their shoulder, 
and a baby slung on the back. They scatter the seed over the 
ground, and then break up the earth to the depth of three or four 
inches. 

" Four or five gardens are often to be seen round a kraal, each situated 
so as to suit some particular plant. Various kinds of crops are cultivated by 
the Kaffirs, the principal being maize, millet, pumpkins, and a kind of spurious 
sugar-cane in great use throughout Southern Africa, and popularly known by 
the name of 'sweet-reed.' The two former constitute, however, the neces- 
saries of life, the latter belonging rather to the class of lu.vuries. The maize, 
or, as it is popularly called when the pods are severed from the stem, ' mealies,' 
IS the very staff of life to a Kaffir ; as it is from the mealies that is made the 
thick porridge on which the Kaffir chiefly lives. If a European hires a Kaffir, 
whether as guide, servant, or hunter, he is obliged to supply him with a stipu- 
lated quantity of food, of which the maize forms the chief ingredient. Indeed, 
so long as the native of Southern Africa can get plenty of porridge and sour 
milk, he is perfectly satisfied with his lot. When ripe, the ears of maize are 
removed from the stem, the leafy envelope is stripped off, and they are hung in 
pairs over sticks until tliey are dry enough to be taken to the storehouse." < 

^ Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. p. 94. 

^ Through tlie Dark Continent, vol. i. p. 344 sq. , also vol. ii. pp. 87, 88. 

' Livingstone's Zambesi, pp. 613-617. 

* Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. 1. p. 146. 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 63 

The cattle are cared for by the men, and women are not 
allowed to engage in the hunt for wild animals. The cattle 
among the mountain and sandstone tribes are of a fine stock ; 
but those of the tribes in the alluvia, like their owners, are small 
and sickly. 

The African pays more attention to his weapons of offensive 
warfare than he does to his wives ; but in many instances he is 
quite skilful in the handicrafts. 

"The Isliogo people are noted throughout the neighboring tribes for the 
superior quality and fineness of the bongos, or pieces of grass-cloth, whicli they 
manufacture. They are industrious and. skilful weavers. In walking down the 
main street of Mokenga, a number of ouaridjas, or houses without walls, are 
seen, each containing four or five looms, with the weavers seated before them 
weaving the cloth. In the middle of the floor of the ouandjav a wood-fire is 
seen burning; and the weavers, as you pass by, are sure to be seen smoking 
their pipes, and chatting to one another whilst going on with their work. The 
weavers are all men, and it is men also who stitch the bongos together to 
make denguis or robes of them ; the stitches are not very close together, nor 
is the thread very fine, but the work is very neat and regular, and the needles 
are of their own manufacture. The bongos are very often striped, and some- 
times made even in check patterns ; this is done by their dyeing some of the 
threads of the warp, or of both warp and woof, with various simple colors ; 
the dyes are all made of decoctions of different kinds of wood, e.\cept for 
black, when a kind of iron-ore is used. The bongos are employed as money 
in this part of .Africa. Although called grass-cloth by me, the material is not 
made of grass, but of the delicate and firm cuticle of palm leaflets, stripped 
off in a de.\terous manner with the fingers." ■ 

Nearly all his mechanical genius seems to be exhausted in the 
perfection of his implements of war; and Dr. Livingstone is of 
the opinion, that when a certain perfection in the arts is reached, 
the natives pause. This, we think, is owing to their far remove 
from other nations. Livingstone says, — 

"The races of this continent seem to have advanced to a certain point 
and no farther; their progress in the arts of working iron and copper, in pot- 
tery, basket-making, spinning, weaving, making nets, fish-hooks, spears, axes, 
knives, needles, and other things, whether originally invented by this people 
or communicated by another instructor, appears to have remained in the same 
rude state for a great number of centuries. This apparent stagnation of mind 
in certain nations we cannot understand ; but, since we have in the latter ages 
of the world made what we consider great progress in the arts, we have uncon- 
sciously got into the way of speaking of some other races in much the same 
tone as that used by the Celestials in the Flowery Land. These same Chinese 

' Ashango Land, pp. 290, 291, 



64 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

anticipated us in several most important discoveries by as many centuries as we 
may liave preceded others. In tlie knowledge of the properties of the magnet, 
the composition of gunpowder, the invention of printing, the manufacture of 
porcelain, of silk, and in the progress of literature, they were before us. But 
then the power of making further discoveries was arrested, and a stagnation ol 
the intellect prevented their advancing in the path of improvement or in- 
vention." 

Mr. Wood says, — 

"Tlie natives of Southern Africa are wonderful proficients in forging iron; 
and, indeed, a decided capability for the blacksmith's art seems to be inherent 
in the natives of Africa, from north to south, and from east to west. None of 
the tribes can do very much with the iron, but the little which they require is 
worked in perfection. As in the case with all uncivilized beings, the whole 
treasures of the art are lavished on their weapons ; and so, if We wish to see 
what an African savage can do with iron, we must look at his spears, knives, 
and arrows — the latter, indeed, being but spears in miniature." 

The blacksmith, then, is a person of some consequence in his 
village. He gives shape and point to the weapons by which game 
is to be secured and battles won. All seek his favor. 

" Among the Kaffirs, a blacksmith is a man of considerable importance, 
and is much respected by the tribe. He will not profane the mystery of his 
craft by allowing uninitiated eyes to inspect his various processes, and there- 
fore carries on his operations at some distance from the kraal. His first care 
is to prepare the bellows. The form which he uses prevails over a very large 
portion of Africa, and is seen, with some few modifications, even among the 
many islands of Polynesia. It consists of two leathern sacks, at the upper 
end of which is a handle. To the lower end of each sack is attached the hol- 
low horns of some animal, that of the cow or eland being most commonly 
used; and when the bags arc alternately inflated and compressed, the air 
passes out through the two horns. 

"Of course the heat of the fire would destroy the horns if they were 
allowed to come in contact with it; and they are therefore inserted, not into the 
fire, but into an earthenware tube which communicates with the fire. The 
use of valves is unknown ; but as the two horns do not open into the fire, but 
into the tube, the fire is not drawn into the bellows as would otherwise be the 
case. This arrangement, however, causes considerable waste of air. so that 
the bellows-blower is obliged to work much harder than would be the case if 
he were provided with an instrument that could conduct the blast directly to 
its destination. The ancient Egyptians used a bellows of precisely similar 
construction, except that they did not work them entirely by hand. They 
stood with one foot on each sack, and blew the fire by alternately pressing on 
them with the feet, and raising them by means of a cord fastened to their 
upper ends. 

"When the blacksmith is about to set to work, he digs a hole in the 
ground, in which the fire is placed; and then sinks the earthenware tube in a 
sloping direction, so that the lower end opens at the bottom of the hole, 



AFRICAN IDIOSYNCRASIES. 65 

while the upper end projects above llie level of the ground. The two horns 
are next inserted into the upper end of the earthenware tube ; and the bellows 
are then fastened in their places, so that the sacks are conveniently disposed 
for tlie hands of tlie operator, who sits between Ihcni. A charcoal-lire is then 
laid ill the hole, and is soon brought to a powerful heat by means of the bel- 
lows. A larger stone serves the purpose of an anvil, and a smaller stone does 
duty for a hammer. Sometimes the hammer is made of a conical piece of iron, 
but in most cases a stone is considered sufficient. The rough work of ham- 
mering the iron into shape is generally done by the chief blacksmith's assist- 
ants, of wliom he has several, all of whom will pound away at the iron in 
regular succession. The shaping and finishing the article is reserved by the 
smith for himself. Tlie other tools are few and simple, and consist of punches 
and rude pinchers made of two rods of iron. 

" With these instruments the Kaffir smith can cast brass into various orn.v 
ments. Sometimes he pours it into a cylindrical mould, so as to make a bar 
from whicli bracelets and similar ornaments can be hammered, and sometimes 
he makes studs and knobs by forming their shape in clay moulds."' 

Verily, the day will come when these warlike tribes shall beat 
their spears into pruning-hooks, and their assagais into plough- 
shares, and shall learn war no more ! The skill and cimning of 
their artificers shall be consecrated to the higher and nobler ends 
of civilization, and the noise of battle shall die amid the music of 
a varied industry ! 



' Uncivilized Races of Men, vol. i. pp. 97, gS. 



66 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 

Structure of African Languages. — The Mpongwe, Mandingo, and Gkebo. — Poetry: Eric, 
Idyllic, and Miscellaneous. — Keligions and Supekstitions. 

PHILOLOGICALLY the inhabitants of Africa are divided 
into two distinct families. The dividing line that Nature 
drew across the continent is about two degrees north of the 
equator. Thus far science has not pushed her investigations into 
Northern Africa ; and, therefore, little is known of the dialects of 
that section. But from what travellers have learned of jjortions 
of different tribes that have crossed the line, and made their way 
as far as the Cape of Good Hope, we infer, that, while there are 
many dialects in that region, they all belong to one common 
family. During the Saracen movement, in the second century of 
the Christian era, the Arab turned his face toward Central Africa. 
Everywhere traces of his language and religion are to be found. 
He transformed whole tribes of savages. He built cities, and 
planted fields ; he tended flocks, and became trader. He poured 
new blood into crumbling principalities, and taught the fingers of 
the untutored savage to war. His religion, in many places, put 
out the ineffectual fires of the fetich-house, and lifted the grovel- 
ling thoughts of idolaters heavenward. His language, like the 
new juice of the vine, made its way to the very roots of Negro 
dialects, and gave them method and tone. In the song and narra- 
tive, in the prayer and precept, of the heathen, the Arabic comes 
careering across each sentence, giving cadence and beauty to all. 

On the heels of the Mohammedan followed the Portuguese, 
the tried and true servants of Rome, bearing the double swords 
and keys. Not so extensive as the Arab, the influence of the 
Portuguese, nevertheless, has been quite considerable. 

All along the coast of Northern Guinea, a distance of nearly 
fifteen hundred miles, — from Cape Mesurado to the mouth of the 
Niger, — the Kree, Grebo, and Basa form one general family, and 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 67 

speak the Mandu language. On the Ivory Coast another language 
is spoken between Frisco and Dick's Cove. It is designated as 
the Avekwom language, and in its verbal and inflective char- 
acter is not closely related to the Mandu. The dialects of Popo, 
Dahomey, Ashantee, and Akra are resolvable into a family or 
language called the Fantyipin. All these dialects, to a greater 
or less extent, have incorporated many foreign words, — Dutch, 
French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, and even many words from 
Madagascar. The language of the Gold and Ivory Coasts we 
find much fuller than those on the Grain Coast. Wherever com- 
merce or mechanical enterprise imparts a quickening touch, we 
find the vocabulary of the African amplified. Susceptible, apt, 
and cunning, the coast tribes, on account of their intercourse with 
the outside world, have been greatly changed. We are sorry 
that the change has not always been for the better. Uncivilized 
sailors, and brainless and heartless speculators, have sown the 
rankest seeds of an effete Caucasian civilization in the hearts of 
the unsuspecting Africans. These poor people have learned to 
cheat, lie, steal ; are capable of remarkable diplomacy and treach- 
ery ; have learned well the art of flattery and extreme cruelty. 
Mr. Wilson says, — 

" Tlie Sooalielee, or Swahere language, spoken by the alioriginal inhabitants 
of Zanzibar, is very nearly allied to the Mpongwe, which is spoken on the 
western coast in very nearly the same parallel of latitude. One-fifth of the 
words of these two dialects are either the same, or so nearly so that they inav 
easily be traced to the sajne rooti" 

The Italics are our own. The above was written just a quarter 
of a century ago. 

"The language of Uyanzi seemed to us to be a mixture of almost all 
Central African dialects. Our great stock of native words, in all dialects, 
proved of immense use to me ; and in three days I discovered, after classi- 
fying and comparing the words heard from the Wy-anzi with other African 
wo/ds, that I was tolerably proficient, at least for all practical purposes, in 
the Kiyanzi dialect." ' 

Mr. Stanley wrote the above in Africa in March, 1877. It 
was but a repetition of the experiences of Drs. Livingstone and 
Kirk, that, while the dialects west and south-west of the Moun- 
tains of the Moon are numerous, and apparently distinct, they are 

^ Stanley's Through the Dark Continent, vok ii. pp. 320, 321 ; see, also, pp. 3, 7S, 123, 
245, 414. 



68 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

referable to one common parent. The Swaherc language has held 
its place from the beginning. Closely allied to the Mpongwe, it 
is certainly one of great strength and beauty. 

" This great family of languages — if the Mpongwe dialect may be taken 
as a specimen — is remarkable for its beauty, elegance, and perfectly philo- 
sophical arrangements, as well as for its almost indefinite expansibility. In these 
respects it not onlv differs essentially and radically from all the dialects north 
of the Mountains of the Moon, but they are such as may well challenge a 
comparison with any known language in the world." ' 

The dialects of Northern Africa are rough, irregular in struc- 
ture, and unpleasant to the ear. The Mpongwe we are inclined 
to regard as the best of all the dialects we have examined. It is 
spoken, with but slight variations, among the Mpongwe, Ayomba, 
Oroungou, Rembo, Camnia, Ogobay, Anenga, and Ngaloi tribes. 
A careful e.xaniination of several other dialects leads us to suspect 
that they, too, sustain a distant relationship to the Mpongwe. 

Ne.x't to this remarkable language comes the Bakalai, with 
its numerous dialectic offspring, scattered amongst the follow- 
ing tribes : the Balengue, Mebenga, Bapoukow, Kombe, Mbiki, 
Mbousha, Mbondemo, Mbisho, Shekiani, Apingi, Evili, with other 
tribes of the interior. 

The two families of languages we have just mentioned — the 
Mpongwe and the Bakalai — are distinguished for their system and 
grammatical structure. It is surprising that these unwritten lan- 
guages should hold their place among roving, barbarous tribes 
through so many years. In the Mpongwe language and its 
dialects, the liquid and semi-vowel r is rolled with a fulness and 
richness harmonious to the ear. The Bakalai and its branches 
have no r ; and it is no less true that all tribes that exclude this 
letter from their dialects are warlike, nomadic, and much inferior 
to the tribes that use it freely. 

The Mpongwe language is spoken on each side of the 
Gabun, at Cape Lopez, and at Cape St. Catharin in Southern 
Guinea ; the Mandingo, between Senegal and the Gambia ; and 
the Grebo language, in and about Cape Palmas. It is about 
twelve hundred miles from Gabun to Cape Palmas, about two 
thousand miles from Gabun to Senegambia, and about si.x hun- 
dred miles from Cape Palmas to Gambia. It is fair to presume 
that these tribes are sufficiently distant from each other to be 

* Western Africv, p. 455. 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 69 

called strangers. An examination of their languages may not 
fail to interest. 

It has been remarked somewhere, that a people's homes are 
the surest indications of the degree of civilization they have 
attained. It is certainly true, that deportment has much to do 
with the polish of language. The disposition, temperament, and 
morals of a people who have no written language go far toward 
giving their language its leading characteristics. The Grebo 
people are a well-made, quick, and commanding-looking peoi:)lc. 
In their intercourse with one another, however, they are unpol- 
ished, of sudden temper, and revengeful disposition.' Their 
language is consequently utonosyllabic. A great proportion of 
Grebo words are of the character indicated. A few verbs will 
illustrate. Kba, carry; la, kill; ya, bring; vnt, go; %va, walk; 
ni, do ; and so on. This is true of objects, or nouns. Gc, farm ; 
bro, earth ; wenli, sun ; tu, tree; gi, leopard ; na, fire ; yi, eye; bo, 
leg ; In, head ; nii, rain ; kai, house. The Grebo people seem to 
have no idea of syllabication. They do not punctuate ; but, 
speaking with the rapidity with which they mo\'e, run their words 
together until a whole sentence might be taken for one word. If 
anything has angered a Grebo he will say, '' E ya mu km ivjidi; " 
being interpreted, " It has raised a great bone in my throat." But 
he says it so quickly that he pronounces it in this manner, 
yamiikroiire. There are phrases in this language that are beyond 
the ability of a foreigner to pronounce. It has no contractions, 
and often changes the first and second person of the personal pro- 
noun, and the first and second person plural, by lowering or pitch- 
ing the voice. The orthography remains the same, though the 
significations of those words are radically different. 

The Mpongwe language is largely polysyllabic. It is burdened 
with personal pronouns, and its adjectives have numerous changes 
in addition to their degrees of comparison. We find no inflec- 
tions to suggest case or gender. The adjective inpolo, which 
means "large," carries seven or eight forms. While it is impossi- 
ble to tell whether a noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter, they 
use one adjective for all four declensions, changing its form to 
suit each. 

The following form of declensions will serve to ir.i])art a 
clearer idea of the arbitrary changes in the use of the adjective: 



^ Western .\frica, p. 456. 



70 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

< Singular, tiyare nipolu, a large cow. 
First Declension. j pi^,,.^]^ inyare impolu, large cows. 

iSini^ular, egara evolu, a large chest. 
Plural, gara volu, large chests. 
( Singular, idainbe ivolii, a large sheep. 
Third Declension. | p,^,;^,_ ij^,„^g ampolu, large sheep. 

( Singular, omamba ompolu, a large snake. 
Fourth Declension. | pj^^^j^ Unamba impolu, large snakes. ■ 

We presume it would be a difficult task for a Mpongwe to 
explain the arbitrary law by which such changes are made. And 
yet he is as uniform and strict in his obedience to this law as if 
it were written out in an Mpongwe grammar, and taught in 
every village. 

His verb has four moods ; viz., indicative, imperative, condi- 
tional, and subjunctive. The au.xiliary particle gives the indica- 
tive mood its grammatical being. The imperative is formed from 
the present of the indicative by changing its initial consonant 
into its reciprocal consonant as follows : — 

toiida, to love. 
ronda, love thou. 
dcnda, to do. 
Icnda, do thou. 

The conditional mood has a form of its own; but the conjunc- 
tive particles are used as au.xiliaries at the same time, and differ- 
ent conjunctive particles are used with different tenses. The 
subjunctive, having but one form, in a sentence where there are 
two verbs is used as the second verb.^ So by the use of the 
auxiliary particles the verb can form the infinitive and potential 
mood. The Mpongwe verb carries four tenses, — present, past 
or historical, perfect past, and future. Upon the principle of 
alliteration the perfect past tense, representing an action as com- 
pleted, is formed from the present tense by prefixing a, and by 
changing «-final into i: for example, tonda, "to love;" atondi, 
"did love." The past or historical tense is derived from the 
imperative by prefixing a, and by changing ^-final into i. Thus 
rojida, "love;" aivndi, "have loved." The future tense is con- 
structed by the aid of the auxiliary particle be, as follows : nn be 
tonda, " I am going to love." 

We have not been able to find a Mandingo grammar, except 
Mr. MacBrair's, which is, as far as we know, the only one in 



Wfstern .\fric.l, p. 470. - Equatorial .-Vfrica, p. 531. 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 7 1 

existence. We have had but little opportunity to study the 
structure of that language. Hut what scanty material we have 
at hand leads us to the conclusion that it is quite loosely put 
together. The saving element in its verb is the minuteness with 
which it defines the time of an action. The causative form is 
made by the use of a suffi.x. It does not use the verb " to go " or 
"come" in order to express a future tense. Numerous particles 
are useil in the substantive verb sense. The Mandingo language 
is rather smooth. The letters v and z are not in it. About one- 
fifth of the verbs and nouns commence with vowels, and the noun 
always terminates in the letter o. 

Here is a wide and interesting field for philologists : it should 
be cultivated. 

The African's nature is as sunny as the climate he lives in. 
He is not brutal, as many advocates of slavery have asserted. It 
is the unanimous testimony of all explorers of, and travellers 
through, the Dark Continent, that the element of gentleness pre- 
dominates among the more considerable tribes; that they have a 
keen sense of the beautiful, and are susceptible of whatever 
culture is brought within their reach. The Negro nature is not 
sluggish, but joyous and vivacious. In his songs he celebrates 
victories, and laughs at death with the complacency of the Greek 
Stoics. 

" Rich man and poor fellow, all men must die : 
Bodies arc only shadows. Why should I be sad ? " ' 

He can be deeply wrought upon by acts of kindness ; and 
bears a friendship to those who show him favor, worthy of a better 
state of society. When Henry M. Stanley (God bless him! 
nt)ble, brave soul !) was about emerging from the Dark Conti- 
nent, he made a halt at Kabinda before he ended his miraculous 
journev at Zanzibar on the Pacific Ocean. He had been accom- 
panied in his jierilous journey by stout-hearted, brave, and faith- 
ful natives. Their mission almost completed, they began to sink 
into that listlessness which is often the precursor of death. They 
had been true to their master, and were now ready to die as bravely 
as they had lived. Read Mr. Stanley's account without emotion 
if you can : — 

'"Do you wish to see Zanzibar, boys?' I asked. 

" ' .W\, it is far. Nay, speak not, master. We shall never see it,' they replied. 

' Savage Africa, p. 212. 



72 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

'"But you will die if you go on in this way. Wake up — shake your- 
selves — show yourselves to be men.' 

" ' Can a man contend with God ? Who fears death .' Let us die undis- 
turbed, and be at rest forever,' they answered. 

" Brave, faithful, loyal souls ! They were, poor fellows, surrendering them- 
selves to the benumbing influences of a listlessness and fatal indifference to 
life ! Four of them died in consequence of this strange malady at Loanda, 
three more on board her Majesty's sliip Industry, and one woman breathed 
her last the day after we arrived at Zanzibar. But in their sad death they had 
one consolation, in the words which they kept constantly repeating to them- 
selves — 

" ' We have brought our master to the great sea, and he has seen his white 
brothers. La il Allah, il Allah ! There is no God but God ! ' they said — and 
died. 

" It is not without an overwhelming sense of grief, a choking in the throat, 
and swiinming eyes, that 1 write of those days ; for my memory is still busy 
with the worth and virtues of the dead. In a thousand fields of incident, 
adventure, and bitter trials, they had proved their stanch heroism and their 
fortitude ; tliey had lived and endured nobly. I remember the enthusiasm with 
which they responded to my appeals; I remember their bold bearing during 
the darkest days ; I remember the Spartan pluck, the indomitable courage, with 
wliich they suffered in the days of our adversity. Their voices again loyally 
answer me, and again I hear them address each other upon the necessity of 
standing by the ' master.' Their boat-song, which contained sentiments similar 
to the following : — 

' The pale-faced stranger, lonely here, 

' In cities afar, where his name is dear, 

Your Arab truth and strength shall show; 
He trusts in us, row, Arabs, row ' — 

despite all the sounds which now surround me, still charms my listening 
ear. ' . . . 

" They were sweet and sad moments, those of parting. What a long, long, 
and true friendship was here sundered ! Through what strange vicissitudes of 
life had they not followed me ! What wild and varied scenes had we not seen 
together ! What a noble fidelity these untutored souls had exhibited 1 The 
chiefs were those who had followed me to Ujiji in 1871 ; they had been wit- 
nesses of tlie joy of Livingstone at the sight of me ; they were the men to 
whom I intrusted the safe-guard of Livingstone on his last and fatal journey, 
who had mourned by his corpse at Muilala, and borne the illustrious dead to 
the Indian Ocean. 

".'Xnd in a flood of sudden recollection, all the stormy period here ended 
rushed in upon my mind ; the whole panorama of danger and tempest through 
which these gallant fellows had so stanchly stood by me — these gallant fel- 
lows now parting from me. Rapidly, as in some apocalyptic vision, every 
scene of strife with Man and Nature, through which these poor men and 
women had borne me company, and solaced me by the simple symiMthy of 

* Tlnough the Daik Continent, vol. ii. pp. 470, 471. 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 11 

common suffering, came luirrying across my memory ; for each face before me 
was associated with some adventure or some peril, reminded me of some tri- 
umph or of some loss. What a wild, weird retrospect it was, — that mind's 
flash over the troubled past 1 so like a troublous dream ! 

"And for years and years to come, in many homes in Zanzibar, there will 
be told the great story of our journey, and the actors in it will be heroes 
among their kith and kin. For me too they are heroes, these poor, ignorant 
children of Africa, for, from the first deadly struggle in savage Ituru to the 
last staggering rush into Embomma, they had rallied to my voice like veterans, 
and in the hour of need they had never failed me. And thus, aided by their 
willing hands and by their loyal hearts, the expedition had been successful, and 
the three great problems of the Dark Continent's geography had been fairly 
settled." ' 

How many times we have read this marvellous narrative of 
Stanley's march through the Dark Continent, we do not know ; 
but we do know that every time we have read it with tears and 
emotion, have blessed the noble Stanley, and thanked God for 
the grand character of his black followers ! There is no romance 
equal to these two volumes. The trip was one awful tragedy 
from beginning to end, and the immortal deeds of his untutored 
guards are worthy of the famous Liglit Brigade. 

On the fourth day of August, 1877, Henry M. Stanley arrived 
at the village of Nsanda on his way to the ocean. He had in his 
command one hundred and fifteen souls. Foot-sore, travel-soiled, 
and hungry, his people sank down e.xhausted. He tried to buy 
food from the natives ; but they, with an indifference that was 
painful, told them to wait until market-day. A foraging party 
scoured the district for food, but found none. Starvation was 
imminent. The feeble travellers lay upon the ground in the camp, 
with death pictured on their du.sky features. Stanley called his 
boat-captains to his tent, and explained the situation. He knew 
that he was within a few days march of Embotiima, and that here 
were located one Englishman, one Frenchman, one Spaniard, and 
one Portuguese. He told the captains that he had addressed 
a letter to these persons for aid ; and that resolute, swift, and 
courageous volunteers were needed to go for the relief, — without 
which the whole camp would be transformed into a cotnmon 
graveyard. We will now quote from Mr. Stanley again in proof 
of the noble nature of the Negro : — 

" The response was not long coming ; for Uledi sprang up and said, ' O 
master, don't talk more ! I am ready now. See, I will only buckle on my belt, 

' Through the Dark Continent, vol. ii. pp. 482, 483. 



74 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and I shall start at once, and nothing will stop me. 1 will follow on the track 
like a leopard.' 

" ' And I am one,' said Kachdch^. ' Leave us alone, master. If there are 
white men at Embomma, we will find them out. We will walk and walk, and 
when we cannot walk we will crawl.' 

'"Leave off talking, men,' said Muini Pembd, 'and allow others to speak, 
won't you? Hear me, my master. I am your servant. I will outwalk the 
two. I will carry the letter, and plant it before the eyes of the white men.' 

" ' I will go too, sir,' said Robert. 

"'Good! It is just as I should wish it; but, Robert, you cannot follow 
these three men. You will break down, my boy.' 

'"Oh, we will carry him if he breaks down,' said Uledi. 'Won't we, 
Kachechd .' " 

" '/wj^AfiZ/rt/j.'' responded Kachdche decisively. 'We must have Robert 
along with us, otherwise the white men won't understand us.' " 

What wonderful devotion ! What sublime self-forgetfulness ! 
The world has wept over ^uch stories as Bianca and Heloise, and 
has built monuments that will stand, — 

" While Fame licr record keeps, 
Or Honor paints the hallowed spot 
Where V'alor proi4dly sleeps^'' — 

and yet these black heroes are unremembered. " I will follow 
the track like a leopard," gives but a faint idea of the strong will 
of Uledi ; and Kacheche's brave words are endowed with all the 
attributes of that heroic abandon with which a devoted general 
hurls the last fragment of wasting strength against a stubborn 
enemy. And besides, there is something so tender in these words 
that they seem to melt the heart. "We v^'ill walk and walk, and 
when we cannot walk we will crawl ! " We have never read but 
one story that approaches this narrative of Mr. Stanley, and that 
was the tender devotion of Ruth to her mother-in-law. We read it 
in the Hebrew to Dr. O. S. Stearns of Newton, Mass. ; and confess 
that, though it has been many years since, the blessed impres- 
sion still remains, and our confidence in humanity is strengthened 
thereby. 

Here are a few white men in the wilds of Africa, surrounded 
by the uncivilized children of the desert. They have money and 
valuable instruments, a large variety of gewgaws that possessed 
the power of charming the fancy of the average savage ; and 
therefore the whites would have been a tempting prey to the 
blacks. But not a hair of their head was harmed. The white 
men had geographical fame to encourage them in the struggle, — 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGIOX. 75 

friends and loved ones far away beyond the beautiful blue sea. 
These poor savages had nothing to steady their purposes save a 
paltry sum of money as day-wages, — no home, no friends; and 
yet they were as loyal as if a throne were awaiting them. No, 
no ! nothing waited on their heroic devotion to a magnificent 
cause but a lonely death when they had brought the " master " 
to the sea. When their stomachs, pinched by hunger; when their 
limbs, stiff from travel ; when their eyes, dim with the mists of 
death ; when every vital force was slain by an heroic ambition to 
serve the great Stanley ; when the fires of endeavor were burnt 
to feeble embers, — then, and only then, would these faithful 
Negroes fail in the fulfilment of their mission, so full of peril, and 
yet so grateful to them, because it was in the line of duty. 

Cicero urged virtue as necessary to effective oratory. The great 
majority of Negroes in Africa are both orators and logicians. A 
people who have such noble qualities as this race seems to possess 
has, as a logical necessity, the poetic element in a large degree. 

In speaking of Negro poetry, we shall do so under three dif- 
ferent heads ; viz., the Epic, Idyllic, Religious, or miscellaneous. 

The epic poetry of Africa, so far as known, is certainly worthy 
of careful study. The child must babble before it can talk, and 
all barbarians have a sense of the sublime in speech. Mr. Tainc, 
in his "History of English Literature," speaking of early Sa.von 
poetry, says, — 

" One poem nearly whole, and two or three fragments, are all that remain 
of this lay-poetry of England. The rest of the pagan current, German and 
barbarian, was arrested or overwhelmed, first by the influ.\ of the Christian 
religion, tlien by the conquest of the Norman-French. But what remains more 
tlian suffices to show the strange and powerful poetic genius of the race, and 
to exhibit beforehand the flower in the bud. 

" If there has ever been anywhere a deep and serious poetic sentiment, 
it is here. They do not speak : they sing, or rather they shout. Each little 
verse is an acclamation, which breaks forth like a growl ; their strong breasts 
heave with a groan of anger or enthusiasm, and a vehement or indistinct phrase 
or expression rises suddenly, almost in spite of them, to their lips. There is 
no art, no natural talent, for describing, singly and in order, the dififerent parts 
of an object or an event. The fifty rays of light which every phenomenon 
emits in succession to a regular and well-directed intellect, come to them at 
once in a glowing and confused mass, disabling them by their force and 
convergence. Listen to their genuine war-chants, unchecked and violent, as 
became their terrible voices ! To this day, at this distance of time, separated 
as they are by manners, speech, ten centuries, we seem to hear them still."' 

' History of English Literature, voK i. pp. ^8, 49. 



76 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

This glowing description of the poetry of the primitive and 
hardy Saxon gives the reader an excellent idea of the vigorous, 
earnest, and gorgeous effusions of the African. Panda was king 
of the Kaffirs. He was considered quite a great warrior. It 
took a great many isi-bongas to describe his virtues. His chief 
isi-botigas was " 0-Elephant." This was chosen to describe his 
strength and greatness. Mr. Wood gives an account of the song 
in honor of Panda : — 

" I. Thou brother of the Tchaks, considerate /order, 

2. A sivallo'w wliidi fied in the sky ; 

3. A swallow with a whiskered breast ; 

4. Whose cattle was ever in so huddled a crowd, 

5. They stumble for room when they ran. 

6. Thou false adorer of the valor of another, 

7. That valor thou tookest at the battle of Makonko. 

8. Of the stock of N'dabazita, ramrod of brass, 

9. Survivor alone of all other rods ; 

10. Others they broke and left this in the soot, 

11. Thinking to burn at some rainy cold day. 

12. Thigh of the bullock of Inkakavini, 

13. Always delicious if only 'tis roasted, 

14. It will always be tasteless if boiled. 

15. The woinan from Mankeba is delighted • 

16. She has seen the leopards of Jama, 

17. Fighting together between the Makonko. 
iS. He passed between the Jutuma and Ihliza, 

19. The Celestial who tliundered between the Makonko. 

20. I praise tliee, O king ! son of Jokwane, the son of Undaba, 

21. The merciless opponent of every conspiracy. 

22. Thou art an elephant, an elephant, an elephant. 

23. All glory to thee, tliou monarch who art black." 

" The first isi-bonga, in line I, alludes to the ingenuity with which Panda 
succeeded in crossing the river so as to escape out of the district where Din- 
gan exercised authority. In the second line, 'swallow which fled in the sky' 
is another allusion to the secrecy with which he managed his flight, which left 
no more track than the passage of a swallow through the air. Lines 4 and 5 
allude to the wealth, i.e., the abundance of cattle, possessed by Panda. Line 
6 asserts that Panda was too humble-minded, and thought more of the power 
of Dingan than it deserved; while line 7 offers as proof of this assertion, that, 
when they came to fight, Panda conquered Dingan. Lines 8 to 11 all relate to 
the custom of seasoning sticks by hanging them over the fireplaces in Kaffir 
huts. Line 14 alludes to the fact that meat is very seldom roasted by the 
Kaffirs, but is almost invariably boiled, or rather stewed, in closed vessels. 
In line 15 the ' woman from Mankebe' is Panda's favorite wife. In line 19. 
'The Celestial' alludes to the name of the great Zulu tribe over which Panda 
reigned; the word 'Zulu' meaning celestial, aid having much the same im- 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 77 

l)ort as the same word when employed by tlie Chinese to denote tlicir origin. 
Line 21 refers to tlie attempts of Panda's rivals to detlirone liim, and the inn-e- 
nious manner in which he contrived to defeat tlieir pkins by forming judicious 
aUianccs." 

There is a daring insolence, morbid vanity, and luige descrip- 
tion in this song of Panda, that malvc one feci lilvc admitting that 
the sable bard did his worI<: of flattery qnite cleverly. It should 
not be forgotten by the reader, that, in the translation of these 
songs, much is lost of their original beauty and perspicuity. The 
following song was composed to celebrate the war triumphs of 
Dinga, and is, withal, exciting, and possessed of good movement. 
It is, in some instances, much like the one quoted above : — 

" Tliou needy offspring of Umpikazi, 
Eycr of tlie cattle of men ; 
Bird of Maube, fieet as a bullet, 
Sleek, erect, of beautiful parts ; 
Thy cattle like the comb of the bees ; 
O head too large, too huddled to move ; 
Devourer of .Moselekatze, son of Machobana; 
Devourer of 'Swazi, son of Sobuza; 
Breaker of the gates of Machobana ; 
Devourer of Gundave of Machobana ; 
A monster in size, of mighty power; 
Devourer of Ungwati of ancient race; 
Devourer of the kingly Uomape ; 
Like heaven above, raining and shining." 

The poet has seen fit to refer to the early life of his hero, to 
call attention to his boundless riches, and, finally, to celebrate his 
war achievements. It is highly descriptive, and in the Kaffir 
language is quite beautiful. 

Tchaka sings a song himself, the ambitious sentiments of 
which would have been worthy of Alexander the Great or Napo- 
leon Bonaparte. He had carried victory on his spear throughout 
all Kaffir-land. Everywhere the tribes had bowed their submis- 
sive necks to his yoke ; everywhere he was hailed as king. But 
out of employment he was not happy. He sighed for more tribes 
to conquer, and thus delivered himself : — 

"Thou hast finished, finished the nations! 
Where will you go out to battle now.' 
Hey! where will you go out to battle now? 
Thou hast conquered kings ! 
Where are you going to battle now.' 



78 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Tlion hast finished, finished the nations ! 
Where are you going to battle now? 
Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah ! 
Where are you going to battle now.'" 

There is really something modern in this deep lament of the 
noble savage ! 

The following war song of the Wollof, though it lacks the 
sonorous and metrical elements of real poetry, contains true 
military aggressiveness, mixed with the theology of the fatalist. 

A WAR SONG. 

" I go in front. I fear not death. I am not afraid. If I die, I will take 
my blood to bathe my head. 

"The man who fears nothing marches always in front, and is never hit by 
the murderous ball. The coward hides himself behind a bush, and is killed. 

" Go to the battle. It is not lead that kills. It is Fate which strikes us, 
and which makes us die." 

Mr. Rcade says of the musicians he met up the Senegal, — 

"There arc three classes of these public minstrels, — i, those who play 
such vulgar instruments as the flute and drum; 2, those who pkay on the 
ballafond, which is the marimba of Angola and South America, and on the 
harp ; 3, those who sing the legends and battle-songs of their country, or who 
improvise satires or panegyrics. This last class are dreaded, thougli despised. 
They are richly rewarded in their lifetime, but after death they are not even 
given a decent burial. If they were buried in the ground, it would become 
barren; if in tlic river, the water would be poisoned, and the fish would die: 
so they are buried in hollow trees. 

The idyllic poetry of Africa is very beautiful in its gorgeous 
native dress. It rcciuires some knowledge of their mythology in 
order to thoroughly understand all their figures of speech. The 
following song is descriptive of the white man, and is the produc- 
tion of a Bushman. 

" In the 1)1 uc fiatiicc of tlic deep sea 
Dwclts a sliangc creature : 
His sicin as luliite as salt ; 
His liair tang aiut tangled as the sea-weed. 
He is more great ttiau the princes of the earth; 
He is clothed with the skins of fishes, — 
Fishes more beautiful than birds. 
His house is built of brass rods j 
His garden is a forest of tobacco. 
On his soil 7CihiU beads are scattered 
Lil:e sand-'rains on the seashore." 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGLON. 79 

The ftilknving- idyl, extemporized by one of Stanley's l)lnck 
soldiers, on the occasion of reaching Lake Nyanza, possesses more 
energy of movement, perspicuity of style, and warm, glowing 
imagery, than any song of its character we have yet met with from 
the lips of unlettered Negroes. It is certainly a noble song of 
triumph. It swells as it rises in its mission of praise. It breathes 
the same victorious air of the song of Miriam : " Sing yc to ike 
Lord, for he hath triiimplicd gloriously ; the horse and the rider 
hath lie throivii into the sea." And in the last verse the child- 
nature of the singer riots like " The May Queen " of Tennyson. 

THE SONG OF TRIUMPH. 

"Sing, O friends, sing; the journey is ended : 
Sing aloud, O friends ; sing to the great Nyanza. 
Sing all, sing loud, O friends, sing to the great sea; 
Give your last look to the lands behind, and then turn to the sea. 

Long time ago you left your lands, 

Your wives and children, your brothers and your friends; 

Tell me, have you seen a sea like this 

Since you left the great salt sea ? 

Chorus. 
Then sing, O friends ! sing; the journey is ended: 
Sing aloud, O friend ! sing to this great sea. 

This sea is fresh, is good and sweet; 
Your sea is salt, and bad, unfit to drink. 
This sea is like wine to drink for thir.-,ly men; 
The salt sea — bah ! it makes men sick. 

Lift up )-our heads, O men, and gaze around ; 
Try if you can see its end. 
See, it stretches moons away. 
This great, sweet, fresh-water sea. 

We come from Usukuma land, 
The I.md of pastures, cattle, sheep and goats, 
The land of braves, warriors, and strong men, 
And, lo ! tliis is the far-known Usukuma sea. 

Ye friends, ye scorned at us in other days. 

Ah, ha ! Wangwana. What say yc now .'' 

Ye have seen the land, its pastures and its herds, 

Ye now see the far-known L^sukuma se.i. 

Kaduma's land is just below; 

He is rich in cattle, sheep, and goats. 

The Msungu is rich in cloth and beads; 

His hand is open, and his heart is free. 



8o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

To-morrow the Msungu must make us strong 
With meat and beer, wine and grain. 
We shall dance and play the livelong day, 
And eat and drink, and sing and play." 

TIic religious and inisccUaucous poetry is not of the highest 
order. One of the most remarkable men of the Kaffir tribe was 
Sicana, a powerful chief and a Christian. He was a poet, and 
composed hymns, which he repeated to his people till they could 
retain them upon their memories. The following is a specimen 
of his poetical abilities, and which the people are still accustomed 
to sing to a low monotonous air : — 

" Ulin guba inkulu siambata tina 
Ulodali bom' unadali pezula, 
Umdala undala idala izula, 
Yebinza inquinquis zixeliela. 
Utika umkula gozizuline, 
Yebinza inquinquis nozilimele. 
Umze uakonana subiziele, 
Umkokeli ua sikokeli tina, 
Uenza infania zenza go bomi; 
Imali inkula subiziele, 
Wena wena q'aba inyaniza, 
Wena wena kaka linyaniza, 
Wena wena klati linyaniza; 
Invena inh'inani subiziele, 
Ugaze laku ziman' heba wena, 
Usanhia zaku ziman' heba wena, 
Umkokili ua, sikokeli tina: 
Ulodali bom' uadali pezula, 
Umdala uadala idala izula." 

/ Translation. 

"Mantle of comfort! God of love! 
The Ancient One on high ! 
Who guides the firmament above, 
The Iieavens, and starry sky; 

Creator, Ruler, Mighty One ; 

The only Good, All-wise, — 
To him, the great eternal God, 

Our fervent prayers arise. 

Giver of life, we call on him. 

On his high throne above. 
Our Rock of refuge still to be, 

Of safety and of love ; 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 8 1 

Our trusty shield, our sure defence, 

Our leader, still to be : 
We call upon our pitying; God, 

Who maizes the blind to see. 

We supplicate the Holy Lamb 

Whose blood for us was shed, 
Whose feet were pierced for guilty man, 

Whose hands for us have bled ; 

Even our God w'ho gave us life, 

From heaven, his throne above, 
The great Creator of the world. 

Father, and God of love." 

When any person is sick, the priests and devout people 
consult their favorite spirits. At Goumbi, in Equatorial Africa, 
this ceremony is quite frequent. Once upon a time the king 
foil sick. Ouengueza was the name of the afflicted monarch. 
Ilogo was a favorite spirit who inhabited the moon. The time to 
invoke the favor of this spirit is during the full moon. The moon, 
in the language of Equatorial Africa, is Ogouayli. Well, the 
people gathered in front of the king's house, and began the cere- 
mony, which consisted chiefly in singing the following song : — 

" Ilogo, ive ask thee ! 
Tell who has bewitched the king ! 

Ilogo, we ask thee, 

IVhat shall we do to cure the king? 

The forests are thine, Ilogo / 
The rivers are thine, Ilogo ! 

The moon is thine .' 
O moon ! O moon ! O moon ! 
Thou art the house of Ilogo / 
Shall the king diet O Ilogo ! 
O Ilogo .' O moon ! O moon .' " ' 

In African caravans or processions, there is a man chosen to 
go in front and sing, brandishing a stick somewhat after the man- 
ner of our band-masters. The song is rather an indifferent howl, 
with little or no relevancy. It is a position much sought after, 
and affords abundant opportunity for the display of the voice. 

' Equatorial .\(rica, pp. 44S, 449. 



82 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Such a person feels the dignity of the position. The following 
is a sample : — 

" Sliove him on ! 
But is he a good man ? 
No, I think he V a stingy fellow : 
Shove him on .' 

Let him drop in the ?-oad, then. 
N'o, he has a big stick : 
Shove him on ! 

Oh. matta-bicho ! matta-bicho J 
Who li'ill give me matta-bicho ? " 

Of this song Mr. Reade says, — 

'^ Matta-bicho \s a. hwnAz. compound meaning kill-worm; the natives sup- 
posing tliat their entrails are tormented by a small worm, which it is necessary 
to l:ill with raw spirits. From the frequency of their demand, it would seem 
to be the worm that ever gnaws, and that their thirst is the fire which is never 
quenched." 

The Griot, as we have already mentioned, sings for money. 
He is a most accomplished parasite and flatterer. He makes a 
study of the art. Here is one of his songs gotten up for the 
occasion. 

I. 

" The man who had not feared to pass the seas through a love of study 
and of science heard of the poor Griot. He had him summoned. He made 
him sing songs which made the echoes of the Bornou mountains, covered with 
palm-trees, ring louder and louder as the sounds flew over the summits of the 
trees. 

II. 

" The songs touched the heart of the great white man, and the dew of hi.s 
magnificence fell upon the Griot's head. Oh ! how can he sing the wonderful 
deeds of the Toubab.'' His voice and his breath would not be strong enough 
to sing that theme. He must be silent, and let the lion of the forest sing his 
battles and his victories. 

III. 

" Fatimata heard the songs of tlie Griot. She heard, too, the deeds wliicli 
the Toubab had accomplished. She sighed, and covered her head with her 
robe. Then she turned to her young lover, and she said, 'Go to the wars; let 
the flying ball kill thee ; for Fatimata loves thee no longer. The white man 
fills her thoughts.' " 

The most beautiful nursery song ever sung by any mother, in 
any language, may be heard in the Balengi county, in Central 
Africa. There is wonderful tenderness in it, — tenderness that 



LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION. 83 

would melt the coldest heart. It reveals a bright spot in the 
heart-life of this people.' 

" W'liy dost //toil 7i>L-t'p, my child? 
The sky is bright; the sun is shining: why dost thou weep f 
Go to thy father : he loves thee ; go, tell him why thou weefiest. 
What.' thou wee pest still! Thy father lo%>es thee; I caress tlice : yet still 

thou art sad. 
Tell me then, my child, why dost thou weep ? " 

It is not so very remarkable, when we give the matter 
thought, that the African mother should be so affectionate and 
devoted in her relations to her children. The diabolical system 
of polygamy has but this one feeble apology to offer in Africa. 
The wives of one man may quarrel, but the children always find 
loving maternal arms ready to shelter their heads against the 
wrath of an indifferent and cruel father. The mother settles all 
the disputes of the children, and cares for them with a zeal and 
tenderness that would be real beautiful in many American 
mothers ; and, in return, the children are very noble in their rela- 
tions to their mothers. " Curse me, but do not speak ill of my 
mother," is a saying in vogue throughout nearly all Africa. The 
old are venerated, and when they become sick they are abandoned 
to die alone. 

It is not our purpose to describe the religions and supersti- 
tions of Africa.^ To do this would occupy a book. The world 
knows that this poor people are idolatrous, — " bozv doivn to ivood 
and stone." They do not worship the true God, nor conform their 
lives unto the teachings of the Saviour. They worship snakes, 
the sun, moon, and stars, trees, and water-courses. But the bloody 
human sacrifice which they make is the most revolting feature of 
their spiritual degradation. Dr. Prichard has gone into this sub- 
ject more thoroughly than our time or space will allow. 

" Nowhere can the ancient African religion be studied better tlian in the 
kingdom of Congo. Christianity in Abyssinia, and Mohammedanism in North- 
ern Guinea, have become so mingled with pagan rites as to render it extremely 
difficult to distinguish between them. 

' On the intellectual faculties of the Negro, see Piichard, third ed., 1S37, vol, ii. p. 346, 
sect. 111. Peschel's Races of Men, p. 462, sq., especially Blunienbach's Life and Works, p. 305, sq. 
Western Africa, p. 379, — all of chap. xi. 

^ See Pilchard, fomth ed., 1S41, vol. 1. p. 197, sect. V. Moffat's Southern Africa; Uncivil- 
ized Races of Men, \ol, 1. pp. 1S3-219. 



84 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

'•The inhabitants of Congo, whom I take as a true type of the tribes of 
Southern Guinea generally, and of Southern Central Africa, believe in a 
supreme Creator, and in a host of lesser divinities. These last they represent 
by images : each has its temple, its priests, and its days of sacritice, as among 
the Greeks and Romans." ■ 

The false religions of Africa are but the lonely and feeble 
reachins; out of the human soul after the true God. 



' Savage .\frica, p. 2S;, sq. 



SIERRA LEONE. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SIERRA LEONE. 

Its Discovery and Si-toation. — Natural Beauty. — Foundisc of a Negro Colony. — The 
Sierra Leone Company. — Fever and Insubordination. — It becomes an Engusii Province. 

— CllARACTEK OF ITS InHAOITANTS. — CHRISTIAN MISSIONS, ETC. 

SIERRA LEONE was discovered and named by Piedro do 
Cintra. It is a peninsula, about thirty miles in length by 
about twenty-five in breadth, and is situated 8° and 30' north 
latitude, and is about 13^° west longitude. Its topography is rather 
queer. On the south and west its mountains bathe their feet in 
the Atlantic Ocean, and on the east and north its boundaries arc 
washed by the river and bay of Sierra Leone. A range of moun- 
tains, co-c.\tensivc with the peninsula, — forming its backbone, — 
rises between the bay of Sierra Leone and the Atlantic Ocean, 
from two to three thousand feet in altitude. Its outlines are as 
severe as Egyptian architecture, and the landscape view from east 
or west is charming beyond the power of description. Freetown 
is the cajiital, with about twenty thousand inhabitants, situated on 
the south side of Sierra Leone River, and hugged in by an amphi- 
theatre of beautiful hills and majestic mountains. 

" On the side of the hill [.says Mr. Reed] which rises behind the town 
is a charming scene, which I will attempt to describe. You have seen a rural 
hamlet, where each cottage is half concealed by its own garden. Now convert 
your linden into graceful palm, your apples into oranges, your gooseberry-bushes 
into b.nnanas, your thrush which sings in its wicker cage into a gray jiarrot 
whistling on a rail ; . . . sprinkle this with strange and powerful perfumes ; 
place in the west a sun flaming among golden clouds in a jirussian-bluo sea, 
dotted with white sails; imagine those mysterious and unknown sounds, those 
breathings o£ the earth-soul, with which the warm night of Africa rises into 
life,- — and then you will realize one of those moments of poetry which reward 
poor travellers for long days and nights of naked solitude." ■ 

In 1772 Lord Mansfield delivered his celebrated opinion on 
the case of the Negro man Sommersett, whose master, having 

* S.iv.ige .Africa, p. 25. 



86 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

abandoned him in a sick condition, afterwards sought to reclaim 
him. The decision was to the effect that no man, white or black, 
could set foot on British soil and remain a slave. The case was 
brouo-ht at the instance of Mr. Granville Sharp. The decision 
created universal comment. Many Negroes in New England, who 
had found shelter under the British flag on account of the procla- 
mation of Sir Henry Clinton, went to England. Free Negroes 
from other parts — Jamaica, St. Thomas, and San Domingo — 
hastened to breathe the free air of the British metropolis. Many 
came to want, and wandered about the streets of London, strangers 
in a strange land. Granville Sharp, a man of great humanity, 
was deeply affected by the sad condition of these people. He 
consulted with Dr. Smeathman, who had spent considerable time 
in Africa ; and they conceived the plan of transporting them to 
the west coast of Africa, to form a colony.' The matter was 
agitated in London by the friends of the blacks, and finally the 
government began to be interested. A district of about twenty 
square miles was purchased by the government of Naimbanna, 
king of Sierra Leone, on which to locate the proposed colony. 
About four hundred Negroes and sixty white persons, the greater 
portion of the latter being "women of the town," = were embarked 
on " The Nautilus," Capt. Thompson, and landed at Sierra Leone 
on the 9th of May, 1787. The climate was severe, the sanitary 
condition of the place vile, and the habits of the people immoral. 
The African fever, with its black death-stroke, reaped a harvest ; 
while the irregularities and indolence of the majority of the 
colonists, added to the deeds of plunder perpetrated by pre- 
datory bands of savages, reduced the number of the colonists 
to about sixty-four souls in 1791. 

The dreadful news of the fate of the colony was borne to the 
philanthropists in England. But their faith in colonization stood 
as unblanched before the revelation as the L'on Duke at Waterloo. 
An association was formed under the name of " St. George's Bay," 
but afterwards took the name of the " Sierra Leone Company," 
with a capital stock of one million two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars, with such humanitarians as Granville Sharp, Thornton, 
Wilberforce, and Clarkson among its directors. The object of 
the company was to push forward the work of colonization. One 

' Precis sur rEtablissement des Colonies de Sierra Lfona et de Boulama, etc. Par C. B. 
Wadstrom, pp. 3-2S. 

- Wadstriiin Essay on Colun.zalion, p. 220. 



SIERRA LEONE. 87 

hundred Europeans landed at Sierra Leone in the month of 
February, 1792, and were followed in March by eleven hundred 
and thirty-one Negroes. A large number of them had served in 
the British army during the Revolutionary War in America, and, 
accepting the offer of the British Government, took land in this 
colony as a reward for services performed in the army. Another 
fever did its hateful work; and fifty or sixty Juu-opeans, and many 
blacks, fell under its parching and consuming touch.' Jealous 
feuds rent the survivors, and idleness palsied every nerve of 
industr}- in the colony. In 1794 a French squadron besieged 
the place, and the people sustained a loss of about two hundred 
and fil'ty thousand dollars. Once more an effort was made to 
revive the place, and get its drowsy energies aroused in the dis- 
charge of necessary duties. Some little good began to show 
itself ; but it was only the tender bud of promise, and was soon 
trampled under the remorseless heel of five hundred and fifty 
insurrectionary maroons from Jamaica and Nova Scotia. 

The indifferent character of the colonists, and the hurtful 
touch of the climate, had almost discouraged the friends of the 
movement in England. It was now the year 1800. This vine- 
yard planted by good men yielded "nothing but leaves." No 
industry had been developed, no substantial improvement had 
been made, and the future was veiled in harassing doubts and 
fears. The money of the company had almost all been expended. 
The company barely had the signs of organic life in it, but the 
light of a beautiful Christian faith had not gone out across the 
sea in stalwart old England. The founders of the colony believed 
that good management would make the enterprise succeed : so 
they looked about for a master hand to guide the affair. On the 
8th of August, 1807, the colony was surrendered into the hands 
of the Crown, and was made an English colony. During the 
same year in which this transfer was made. Parliament declared 
the slave-trade piracy ; and a naval squadron was stationed along 
the coast for the purpose of suppressing it. At the first, many 
colored people of good circumstances, feeling that they would be 
safe under the English flag, moved from the United States to 
Sierra Leone. But the chief source of supply of population was 
the captured slaves, who were always unloaded at this place. 

' This led to the sending of 119 whites, along with a governor, as counsellors, physicians, 
soldiers, clerk's, overeeers, artificers, settlers, and servants. Of this company 57 died within the 
year, 22 returned, and 40 remained. See Wadstrom, pp. 121, sq. 



88 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

When the English Government took charge of Sierra Leone, the 
population was 2,000, the majority of whom were from the West 
Indies or Nova Scotia. In 181 1 it was nearly 5,000 ; in 1820 it 
was 12,000; it 1S33 it was 30,000; in 1835 it was 35,000; in 1844 
it was 40,000; in 1S69 it was 55,374, with but 129 white men. 
On the 31st of March, 1827, the slaves that had been captured 
and liberated by the English squadron numbered 11,878; of which 
there were 4,701 males above, and 1,875 under, fourteen years of 
age. There were 2,717 females above, and 1,517 under, the age 
of fourteen, besides 1,068 persons who settled in Freetown, work- 
ing in the timber-trade. 

With the dreadful scourge of slavery driven from the sea, the 
sanitary condition of the place greatly improved ; and with a 
vigorous policy of order and education enforced. Sierra Leone 
began to bloom and blossom as a rose. When the slaver dis- 
appeared, the merchant-vessel came on her peaceful mission of 
commerce. 

The annual trade-returns presented to Parliament show that 
the declared value of British and Irish produce and manufactures 
exported to the West Coast of Africa, arranged in periods of five 
years each, has been as follows : — 

EXPORTS FROM GREAT BRITAIN. 
1846-50. . . ;^2,773,4o8; or a yearly average of ^^554,68 1 
1851-55. . , 4,314,752; " " " 862,950 

1856-60. . . 5,582,941; " « " 1,116,588 

1861-63. • • 4,216,045; " " " 1,405,348 

IMPORTS. 

The same trade-returns show that the imports of African 
produce from the West Coast into Great Britain have been as 
follows. The "official value" is given before 1856, after that date 
the " computed real value " is given. 

Official value, 1851-55 . . . ^4,154,725 ; average, ^830,945 
Computed real value, 1S56-60 . . 9,376,251; " 1,875,250, 

1861-63. . 5,284,611; " 1,761,537 

The value of African produce has decreased during the last 
few years in consequence of the discovery of the petroleum or 
rock-oil in America. In 1864 between four and five thousand 
bales of cotton were shipped to England. 

It is to be borne in mind, that under the system which existed 
when Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Gold Coast settlements were 



SIERRA LEONE. 89 

maintained for the promotion of the slave-trade, the lawful com- 
merce was only ;^20,000 annually, and that now (he amount 
of tonnage employed in carrying legal merchandise is greater 
than was ever engaged in carrying slaves." W. Winwood Reade 
visited Sierra Leone during the Rebellion in America ; but, being 
somewhat prejudiced against the Negro, we do not expect any 
thing remarkably friendly. But we quote from him the view he 
took of the people he met there : — 

"The inhabitants of tlie colony m.ay be divided into four chisses ; — 

" First, The street-venders, who cry cassada-cakes, pahn-oil, pepper, 
pieces of beef, under such names as agcdee, aballa, akalarav, and wliich are 
tlierefore as unintelligible as the street-cries of London. Tliis is tlic coster- 
monger tyi)e. 

"Second, The small market-people, who live in frame houses, sell nails, 
fish-hooks, tape, thread, ribbons, etc., and who work at handicrafts in a small 
wa\'. 

" Third. The shopkeepers, who inhabit frame houses on stone foundations, 
and within which one may sec a sprinkling of mahogany, a small library of 
religious books, and an almost English atmosphere of comfort. 

" Lastly, The liberated Africans of the highest grade, who occupy two- 
story stone houses enclosed all around by spacious piazzas, the rooms furnished 
with gaudy richness; and the whole their own property, being built from the 
proceeds of their . . . thrift." 

When England abolished the slave-trade on the West Coast 
of Africa, Christianity arose with healing in her wings. Until 
slavery was abolished in this colony, missionary cnterjirises were 
abortive ; but when the curse was put under the iron heel of 
Ih-itish prohibition, the Lord did greatly bless the efforts of the 
missionary. The Episcopal Church — "the Church of England" 
— was the first on the ground in 1808; but it was some years 
before any great results were obtained. In 1833 this Church had 
638 communicants, 294 candidates for baptism, 684 sabbath- 
school pupils, and 1,388 children in day-schools. This Church 
carried its missionary work beyond its borders to the tribes that 
were "sitting in darkness ;" and in 1850 had built 54 seminaries 
and schools, had 6,600 pupils, 2,183 communicants, and 7,500 
attendants on public worship. It is jileasant to record that out 
of 61 teachers, 56 ivcrc native Africans! In 1865 there were 
sixteen missionary societies along the West Coast of Africa. 
Seven were American, six English, two German, and one West- 
Indian. These societies maintained 104 ICuropean or American 

■ See Livingstone's Zambesi, pp. 633, 634. 



90 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

missionaries, had i lo mission-stations, 13,000 scholars, 236 schools, 
19,000 registered communicants ; rejDresenting a Christian popu- 
lation of 60,000 souls. 

The Wesleyan Methodists began their work in 181 1; and in 
1831 they had two missionaries, 294 members in their churches, 
and 160 pupils in school. They extended their missions westward 
to the Gambia, and eastward toward Cape Coast Castle, Badagry, 
Abbeokuta, and Kumasi ; and in this connection, in 1850, had 44 
houses of worship, 13 out-stations, 42 day-schools, 97 teachers, 
4,500 pupils in day and sabbath schools, 6,000 communicants, 560 
on probation, and 14,600 in attendance on public worship. In 
1850 the population of Sierra Leone was 45,000; of which 36,000 
were Christians, against 1,734 Mohammedans. 

Sierra Leone represents the most extensive composite popula- 
tion in the world for its size. About one hundred different tribes 
are represented, with as many different languages or dialects. 
Bishop Vidal, under direction of the British Parliament, gave 
special attention to this matter, and found not less than one hun- 
dred and fifty-one distinct languages, besides several dialects, 
spoken in Sierra Leone. They were arranged under twenty-six 
groups, and yet fifty-four ai'e unclassified that are as distinct as 
German and French. " God makes the wrath of man to praise 
him, and the remainder thereof he will restrain." Through these 
numerous languages, poor benighted Africa will yet hear the gospel. 

Some years ago Dr. Ferguson, who was once governor of the 
Sierra Leone colony, and himself a colored man, wrote an ex- 
tended account of the situation there, which was widely circulated 
in England and America at the time. It is so manifestly just 
and temperate in tone, so graphic and minute in description, that 
we reproduce it in cxtcnso : — 

"I. Those most recently arrived are to be found occupying mud houses 
and small patclies of ground in the neighborhood of one or other of the vil- 
lages (the villages are about twenty in number, placed in different parts of the 
colony, grouped in three classes or districts; namely, mountain, river, and sea 
districts). The majority remain in their locations as agriculturists; but sev- 
eral go to reside in the neighborhood of Freetown, looking out for work as 
laborers, farm-servants, servants to carry wood and water, grooms, house- 
servants, etc. ; others cultivate vegetables, rear poultry and pigs, and supply 
eggs, for the Sierra Leone market. Great numbers are found offering for sale 
in the public market and elsewhere a vast quantity of cooked edible substances 
— rice, corn, and cassava cakes ; heterogeneous compounds of rice and corn- 
flower, yams, cassava, palm-oil, pepper, pieces of beef, mucilaginous vegetables, 



SIERRA LEONE. 9 1 

etc.. etc., under nanics quite unintellijjiljle to a stranger, sucli as aagedee. 
abulia, akalaray, cabona. etc., etc., cries wliich are shouted along tlie streets of 
Freetown from morn till niglit. These, the lowest grade of liberated Africans, 
are a harmless and well-disposed people ; there is no poverty among them, nor 
begging ; their habits are frugal and industrious ; their an.xiety to possess 
money is remarkable : but their energies are allowed to run riot and be wasted 
from the w-ant of knowledge requisite to direct them in jjroper channels. 

•'2. Persons of grade higher than those last descril)ed are to be found 
occupying frame houses: they drive a petty trade in the market, where they 
expose for sale nails, fish-hooks, door-hinges, tape, thread, ribbons, needles, 
pins, etc. Many of this grade also look out for the arrival of canoes from the 
country laden with oranges, kolas, sheep, bullocks, fowls, rice, etc., purchase 
the whole cargo at once at the water-side, and derive considerable profit from 
selling such articles by retail in the market and over the town. Many of this 
grade are also occujiied in curing and drying fish, an article which always sells 
well in the market, and is in great request by people at a distance from the 
water-side, and in the interior of the country. A vast number of this grade are 
tailors, straw-hat makers, shoemakers, cobblers, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, 
etc. Respectable men of this grade meet with ready mercantile credits amount- 
ing from twenty pounds to sixty pounds ; and the class is very numerous. 

'•3. Persons of grade higher than that last mentioned are found occupving 
frame houses reared on a stone foundation of from six to ten feet in height. 
These houses are very comfortable ; they are painted outside and in ; have 
piazzas in front and rear, and many of them all round ; a considerable sprin- 
kling of mahogany furniture of European workmanship is to be found in them: 
several books are to be seen lying about, chiefly of a religious character ; and a 
general air of domestic comfort pervades the whole, which, perhaps more than 
any thing else, bears evidence of the advanced state of intelligence at which 
they have arrived. This grade is nearly altogether occupied in shopkeeping, 
hawking, and otiier mercantile pursuits. At sales of prize goods, public auc- 
tions, and every other place affording a probability of cheap bargains, they are 
to be seen in great numbers, where they club together in numbers of from 
three to six, seven, or more, to purchase large lots or unbroken bales. And the 
scrupulous honesty with which the subdivision of the goods is afterwards 
made cannot be evidenced more thoroughly than this: that, common as such 
transactions are, they have never yet been known to become the subject of 
controversy or litigation. The principal streets of Freetown, as well as the 
approaches to the town, are lined on each side by an almost continuous range 
of booths and stalls, among which almost every article of merchandise is 
offered for sale, and very commonly at a cheaper rate than similar articles are 
sold in the shops of the merchants. 

" Two rates of profit are recognized in the mercantile transactions of the 
European merchants; namely, a wholesale and retail profit, the former varying 
from thirty to fifty per cent, the latter from fifty to one hundred per cent. The 
working of the retail trade in the hands of Europeans requires a considerable 
outlay in the shape of shop-rent, shopkeepers' and clerks" wages, etc. The 
lilierated .Africans were not slow in observing nor in seizing on the advantages 
which their peculiar position held out for the successful prosecution of the 
retail trade. 



92 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"Clubbing together, as before observed, and holding ready money in their 
hands, the merchants are naturally anxious to execute for them considerable 
orders on such unexceptionable terms of payment ; while, on the other hand, the 
liberated Africans, seeing clearly their advantage, insist most pertmaciously on 
the lowest possible percentage of wholesale profit. 

" Having thus become possessed of the goods at the lowest possible ready- 
money rate, their subsequent transactions are not clogged with the expense of 
shop-rents, shopkeepers' and clerks' wages and subsistence, etc., etc., expenses 
unavoidable to Europeans. They are therefore enabled at once to undersell 
the European retail merchants, and to secure a handsome profit to themselves ; 
a consummation the more easily attained, aided as it is by the extreme sim- 
plicity and abstemiousness of their mode of living, which contrast so favorably 
for them with the expensive and almost necessary luxuries of European life. 
Many of this grade possess large canoes, with which they trade in the upper 
l^art of the river, along shore, and in the neighboring rivers ; bringing down 
rice, palm-oil, cam-wood, ivory, hides, etc., etc., in exchange for British manu- 
factures. They are all in easy circumstances, readily obtaining mercantile 
credits from sixty pounds to two hundred pounds. Persons of this and the 
grade next to be mentioned evince great anxiety to become possessed of 
houses and lots in old Freetown. These lots are desirable because of their 
proximity to the market-place and the great thoroughfares, and also for the 
superior advantages which they afford for the establishment of their darling 
object, — 'a retail store.' Property of this description has of late years become 
much enhanced in value, and its value is still increasing, solely from the annu- 
ally increasing numbers and prosperity of this and the next grade. The town- 
lots originally granted to the Nova-Scotian settlers and the Maroons are, year 
after year, being offered for sale by public auction ; and in every case liberated 
Africans are the purchasers. A striking instance of their desire to possess 
property of this description, and of its increasing value, came under my imme- 
diate notice a few months ago. 

"The gentlemen of the Church Missionary Society having been for some 
time looking about in quest of a lot on which to erect a new chapel, a lot 
suitable for the purpose was at length offered for sale by public auction; and 
at a meeting of the society's local committee, it was resolved, in order to secure 
the purchase of the property in question, to offer as high as sixty pounds. 
The clergyman delegated for this purpose, at my recommendation, resolved, on 
his own responsibility, to offer, if necessary, as high as seventy pounds; but, 
to the surprise and mortification of us all, the lot was knocked down at upward 
of ninety pounds, and a liberated African was the purchaser. He stated very 
kindly that if he had known the society were desirous of purchasing the lot he 
would not have opposed them ; he nevertheless manifested no desire of trans- 
ferring to them the purchase, and even refused an advance of ten pounds on 
his bargain. 

" 4. Persons of the highest grade of liberated Africans occupy comfort- 
able two-story stone houses, enclosed all round with spacious piazzas. These 
houses are their own property, and are built from the proceeds of their own 
industry. In several of them are to be seen mahogany chairs, tables, sofas, 
and four-post bedsteads, pier-glasses, floor-cloths, and other articles indicative 
of domestic comfort and accumulating wealth. 



SIERRA LEONE. 93 

" Persons of this grade, like those List described, are almost wholly en- 
gaged in mercantile pursuits. Their transactions, however, are of greater 
magnitude and value, and their business is carried on with an externa! apjiear- 
ance of respectability commensurate with their superior pecuniary means : 
thus, instead of exposing their wares for sale in booths or stalls by the way- 
side, they are to be found in neatly fitted-up shops on the ground-floors of their 
stone dwelling-houses. 

" Many individual members of this grade have realized very considerable 
sums of moneys — sums which, to a person not cognizant of the fact, would 
appear to be incredible. From the studied manner in whicli individuals con- 
ceal their pecuniary circumstances from the world, it is difficult to ootain a 
correct knowledge of the wealth of the class generally. The devices to which 
they have recourse in conducting a bargain are often exceedingly ingenious ; 
and to be reputed rich might materially interfere with their success on such 
occasions. There is nothing more common than to liear a plea of poverty set 
up and most pertin.aciously urged, in extenuation of tlie terms of a purchase, 
by persons whose outward condition, comfortable well-furnished houses, and 
large mercantile credits, indicate any thing but poverty. 

" There are circumstances, however, the knowledge of which they cannot 
conceal, and which go far to exhibit pretty clearly tlie actual state of matters, 
such as. Firsts the facility witli which they raise large sums of casn prompt' 
at public auctions. Second, the winding up of the estates of deceased persons. 
(Peter Newland, a liberated African, died a short time before I left the colony: 
.uid his estate realized, in houses, merchandise, and casli, upward of fifteen 
hundred pounds.) Third, the extent of their mercantile credits. 1 am well 
acquainted with an individual of this grade w-ho is much courted and caressed 
by every European merchant in the colony, who has transactions in trade wiUi 
all of them, and whose name, shortly before my departure from the colony, 
stood on tlie debtor side of the books of one of the principal merchants to the 
.unount of nineteen hundred pounds, to which sum it h.ad been i educed from 
three thousand pounds during the preceding two months. A highly respectable 
female has now, and has had for several, years, the government contract for the 
sup])lying of fresh beef to the troops and the naval squadron ; and I liave not 
heard that on a single occasion there has been cause of complaint for negli- 
gence or non-fulfilment of the terms of the contract. Fourth, many of them 
at the present moment have their children being educated in England at their 
own expense. There is at .Sierra Leone a very fine regiment of colonial militia, 
more than eight-tenths of which are liberated Africans. The amount of prop- 
erty which they have acquired is ample guaranty for their loyalty, slioukl that 
ever be called in question. They turn out witli great alacrity and cheerfulness 
on all occasions for periodical drill. But perhaps the most interesting point of 
view in which the liberated Africans are to be seen, and that which will render 
their moral condition most intelligible to those at a distance, is where they sit 
at tte Quarter Sessions as petty, grand, and special jurors. They constitute 
a considerable part of the jury at every session ; and I have repeatedly lieard 
the highest legal authority in the colony express his satisfaction with their 
decisions." 



94 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

But this account was written at the early sunrise of civili- 
zation in Sierra Leone. Now civilization is at its noonday tide, 
and the hopes of the most sanguine friends of the liberated Negro 
have been more than realized. How grateful this renewed spot 
on the edge of the Dark Continent would be to the weary and 
battle-dimmed vision of Wilberforce, Sharp, and other friends of 
the colony ! And if they still lived, beholding the wonderful 
results, would they not gladly say, " Lord, now lettest thou thy 
servant depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes 
have seen thy salvation which thou hast ])repared before the face 
of all people ; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy 
people Israel " ? 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 95 



CHAPTER X. 

THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 

Liberia. — Its Location. — Extent. — Rivers and Mountains. — History of the First Colon*y. 

— The Noble Men who laid the Foundation of the Libekian Republic. — Native Tribes. 

— Translation of the New Testament into the Vei Language. — The Beginning and 
Triu.mi'H of Christian Missions to Liberia. — History of the Different Denominations 
ON THE Field. — A Missionary Republic of Negroes. — Testimony of Officers of the 
Royal Navy as to the Efficiency of the Republic in suppressing the Slave-Trade. — 
The W'ork of the Future. 

THAT section of country on the West Coast of Africa known 
as Liberia, extending from Cape Palmas to Cape Mount, is 
about three hundred miles coastwise. Along this line there 
are six colonies of Colored people, the majority of the original 
settlers being from the United States. The settlements are 
Cape Palmas, Cape Mesurado, Cape Mount, River Junk, Basa, 
and Sinon. The distance between them varies from thirty-five 
to one hundred miles, and the only means of communication is 
the coast-vessels. Cape Palmas, though we include it under the 
.general title of Liberia, was founded by a company of intelligent 
Colored people from Maryland. This movement was started by 
the indefatigable J. H. B. Latrobe and Mr. Harper of the Mary- 
land Colonization Society. This society purchased at Cape Pal- 
mas a territory of about twenty square miles, in which there was 
at that time — more than a half-century ago — a population of 
about four thousand souls. Within two years from the time of the 
first purchase, this enterprising society held deeds from friendly 
proprietors for eight hundred square miles, embracing the domin- 
ions of nine kings, who bound themselves to the colonists in 
friendly alliance. This territory spread over both banks of the 
Cavally River, and from the ocean to the town of Netea, which 
is thirty miles from the mouth of the river. In the immediate 
vicinity of Cape Palmas, — say within an area of twenty miles, — 
there was a native population of twenty-five thousand. Were we 
to go toward the interior from the Cape about forty-five or fifty 
miles, we should find a population of at least seventy thousand 



96 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

natives, the majority of whom we are sure are anxious to enjoy 
the blessings of education, trade, civilization, and Christianity. 
The country about Cape Palmas is very beautiful and fertile. The 
cape extends out into the sea nearly a mile, the highest place 
being about one hundred and twenty-five feet. Looking from 
the beach, the ground rises gradually until its distant heights are 
crowned with heavy, luxuriant foliage and dense forest timber. 
And to plant this colony the Maryland Legislature appropriated 
the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ! And the colony has 
done worthily, has grown rapidly, and at present enjoys all the 
blessings of a Christian community. Not many years ago it de- 
clared its independence. 

But Liberia, in the proper use of the term, is applied to all the 
settlements along the West Coast of Africa that were founded by 
Colored people from the United States. It is the most beautiful 
spot on the entire coast. The view is charming in approaching 
this country. Rev. Charles Rockwell says, — 

" One is struck with the dark green hue which the rank and lu.xuriant 
growth of forest and of field everywhere presents. In this respect it strongly 
resembles in appearance the dark forests of evergreens which line a portion 
of the coast of Eastern Virginia. ... At different points there are capes or 
promontories rising from thirty or forty to one or two hundred feet above the 
level of the sea; while at other places the land, though somewhat uneven, has 
not, near the sea, any considerable hills. In some places near the mouths 
of the rivers are thickly wooded marshes ; but on entering the interior of the 
country the ground gradually rises, the streams become rapid, and at the dis- 
tance of twenty miles or more from the sea, hills, and beyond them mountains, 
are often met with." 

The physical, social, and political bondage of the Colored peo- 
ple in America before the war was most discouraging. They 
were mobbed in the North, and sold in the Sotith. It was not 
enough that they were isolated and neglected in the Northern 
States : they were proscribed by the organic law of legislatures, 
and afflicted by the most burning personal indignities. They had 
a few friends ; but even their benevolent acts were often hampered 
by law, and strangled by caste-prejudice. Following the plans of 
Granville Sharp and William Wilberforce, Liberia was founded as 
a refuge to all Colored men who would avail themselves of its 
blessings. 

Colonization societies sprang into being in many States, and 
large sums of money were contributed to carry out the objects of 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 97 

these organizations. Quite a controversy arose inside of anti- 
slavery societies, and mucli feeling was evinced ; but the men 
who believed colonization to be the solution of the slavery ques- 
tion went forward without wavering, or doubting. In March, 1820, 
the first emigrants sailed for Africa, being eighty-six in number ; 
and in January, 1822, founded the town of Monrovia, named for 
President Monroe. Rev. Samuel J. Mills, w-hile in college in 
1806, was mo\-cd by the Holy Spirit to turn his face toward 
Africa as a missionary. His zeal for missionary labor touched 
the hearts of Judson, Newell, Nott, Hall, and Rice, who went to 
mission-fields in the East as early as 1812.' The American 
Colonization Society secured the services of the Rev. Samuel J. 
Mills and Rev. Ebenezer Burgess to locate the colony at Monro- 
via. Mr. Mills found an early, watery grave ; but the report of 
Mr. Burgess gave the society great hope, and the work wms 
carried forward. 

The first ten years witnessed the struggles of a noble band of 
Colored people, who were seeking a new home on the edge of a 
continent given over to the idolatry of the heathen. The funds 
of the society were not as large as the nature and scope of the 
work demanded. Emigrants went slowly, not averaging more 
than 170 per annum, — only 1,232 in ten years: but the average 
from the first of January, 1848, to the last of December, 1852, was 
S40 yearly ; and, in the single year of 1853, 782 emigrants arrived 
at Monrovia. In 1855 the population of Monrovia and Cape 
Palmas had reached about 8,000. 

Going south from Monrovia for about one hundred miles, and 
inland about twenty, the country was inhabited by the Bassa 
tribe and its branches ; numbering about 130,000 souls, and speak- 
ing a common language. "They were peaceful, domestic, and 
industrious ; and, after fully supplying their own wants, furnish a 
large surplus of rice, oil, cattle, and other articles of common use, 
for exportation." ^ This tribe, like the Veis, of whom we shall 
make mention subsequently, have reduced their language to a 
written system. The New Testament has been translated into 
their language by a missionary, and they have had the gospel 
these many years in their own tongue. 

The "Greybo language," spoken in and about Cape Palmas, 
has been reduced to a written form ; and twenty thousand copies 

• Ethiope, p. 197. " Foreign Travel and Life at Sea, vol. ii. p. .359. 



98 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of eleven different works have been printed and distributed. 
There are about seventy-five thousand natives within fifty miles 
of Cape Palmas ; and, as a rule, they desire to avail themselves of 
the blessings of civilization. . The Veis occupy about fifty miles 
of scacoast ; extending from Gallinas River, one hundred miles 
north of Monrovia, and extending south to Grand Mount. Their 
territory runs back from the scacoast about thirty miles, and they 
are about sixteen thousand strong. 

This was a grand place to found a Negro state, — a mission- 
ary republic, as Dr. Christy terms it. When the republic rose, 
the better, wealthier class of free Colored people from the United 
States embarked for Liberia. Clergymen, physicians, merchants, 
mechanics, and school-teachers turned their faces toward the new 
republic, with an earnest desire to do something for themselves 
and race; and history justifies the hopes and prayers of all sin- 
cere friends of Liberia. Unfortunately, at the first, many white 
men were more an.xious to get the Negro out of the country than 
to have him do well when out ; and, in many instances, some 
unworthy Colored people got transportation to Liberia, of whom 
Americans were rid, but of whom Liberians could not boast. But 
the law of the survival of the fittest carried the rubbish to the 
bottom. The republic grew and expanded in every direction. 
From year to year new blood and fresh energy were poured into 
the social and business life of the people ; and England, America, 
and other powers acknowledged the republic by sending resident 
ministers there. 

The servants of Christ saw, at the earliest moment of the con- 
ception to build a black government in Africa, that the banner of 
the cross must wave over the new colony, if good were to be 
expected. The Methodist Church, with characteristic zeal and 
aggressiveness, sent with the first colonists several members of 
their denomination and two "local preachers;" and in March, 
1833, the Rev. Melville B. Cox, an ordained minister of this 
church, landed at Monrovia. The mission experienced many 
severe trials ; but the good people who had it in charge held on 
with great tenacity until the darkness began to give away before 
the light of the gospel. Nor did the Board of the Methodist 
Missionary Society in America lose faith. They appropriated 
for this mission, in 1S51, $22,000; in 1852, $26,000; in 1853, 
$32,957; and in 1854, $32,957. In the report of the board of 
managers for 1851, the following encouraging statement occurs : — 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 99 

" All eves are now turned toward tliis new republic on tlic western coast 
of Africa as the star of hope to the colored people, both bond and free, in the 
United .States.' The republic is establishinj; and extending itself; and its 
Christian population is in direct contact with the natives, both Pagans and 
.Mohammedans. Thus the republic has, indirectly, a powerful missionary 
inlluence, and its moral and religious condition is a matter of grave concern to 
the Church. Hence the Protestant Christian missions in Liberia are essential 
to the stability and prosperity of the republic; and the stability and prosperity 
of the re])ublic are necessary to the protection and action of the missions. It 
will thus appear that the Christian education of the people is the legitimate 
work of the missions." 

At this time (185 1) they had an annual Conference, with 
three districts, with as many presiding elders, whose duty it 
was to visit all the churches and schools in their circuit. The 
Conference had 21 members, all of whom were colored men. 
The churches contained 1,301 members, of whom 115 were on 
probation, and 116 were natives. There were 20 week-day 
schools, with 839 pupils, 50 of whom were natives. Then there 
were seven schools among the natives, with 127 faithful attend- 
ants. 

Bishop Scott, of the General Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, was, by order of his Conference, sent on an 
official visit to Liberia. He spent more than two months among 
the missions, and returned in 1S53 much gratified with the results 
garnered in that distant field. 

'•The government of the republic of Liberia, which is formed on the 
model of our own, and is wholly in the hands of colored men, seems to be 
exceedingly well administered. I never saw so orderly a people. I saw but one 
into.xicated colonist while in the country, and 1 heard not one profane word. 
The sabbath is kept with singular strictness, and the churches crowded with 
attentive and orderly worshippers.'' ' 

The above is certainly re-assuring, and had its due influence 
atnong Christian people at the time it appeared. At an anni- 
versary meeting of the Methodist Cluu'ch, held in Cincinnati, O., 
in the same year, 1S53, Bishop Atnes gave utterance to senti- 
ments in regard to the character of the government of Liberia 
that quite shocked some pro-slavery pcojjle who held "hired 
pews" in the Methodist Church. His utterances were as brave 
as they were complimentary. 

' Bishop Scott's Letter in the Colonization Herald, October, 1S5J. 



lOO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"Nations reared under religious and political restraint are not capable of 
self-government, while those who enjoy only partially these advantages have 
set an example of such capability. We have in illustration of tliis a well- 
authenticated historical fact: we refer to the colored people of this countrv, 
who, though they have grown up under the most unfavorable circumstances, 
were enabled to succeed in establishing a sound republican government in 
Africa. They have given the most clear and indubitable evidence of their 
capability of self-government, and in this respect have shown a higher grade 
of manhood than the polished Frenchman liimself." ' 

The Presbyterian Board of Missions sent Rev. J. B. Pinny 
into the field in 1S33. In 1S37, missions were established among 
the natives, and were blessed with very good results. In 1850 
there were, under the management of this denomination, three 
congregations, with 116 members, two ordained ministers, and 
a flourishing sabbath-school. A high-school was brought into 
existence in 1852, with a white gentleman, the Rev. D. A. Wilson, 
as its principal. It was afterward raised into a college, and was 
always crowded. 

The American Protestant-Episcopal Church raised its mis- 
sionary standard in Liberia in 1836. The Rev. John Payne was 
at the head of this enterprise, assisted by si.x other clergymen, 
until 1850, when he was consecrated missionary bishop for Africa. 
He was a white gentleman of marked i^iety, rare scholarship, and 
large executive ability. The station at Monrovia was under the 
care of the Rev. Alexander Crummell, an educated and eloquent 
preacher of the Negro race. There was an excellent training- 
school for religious and secular teachers ; there are several board- 
ing-schools for natives, with an average attendance of a hundred ; 
and up to 1850 more than a thousand persons had been brought 
into fellowship with this church. 

The Foreign Missionary Board of the Southern Baptist Con- 
vention in 1845 turned its attention to this fruitful field. In 1855, 
ten years after they began work, they had 19 religious and 
secular teachers, 1 1 day-schools, 400 pupils, and 484 members in 
their churches. There were 13 mission-stations, and all the 
teachers were colored men. 

We have said, a few pages back in this chapter, that the 
Methodist Church was first on the field when the colony of 
Liberia was founded. We should have said one of the first ; 
because we find, in " Gammell's History of the American Baptist 

^ In Metliodist Missionary Advocate, 1853. 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. lOI 

Missions," that the Baptists were in this colony as missionaries 
in 1822; that under the direction of the Revs. Lot Carey and 
Collin Tcage, two intelligent Colored Baj^tists, a church was 
founded. Mr. Carey was a man of most exemplary character. 
He had received an education in Virginia, where he had resided 
as a freeman for some years, having purchased his freedom by his 
personal elforts, and where also he was ordained in 1821. 

"In -September, 1826, he was unanimously elected vice-agent of the 
colony ; and on the return of Mr. Ashmun to the United States, in 1S2S, he was 
appointed to discharge the duties of governor in the interim. ^ a taslc which 
he performed during the brief remnant of his life with wisdom, and with credit 
to himself. His death took place in a manner that was fearfully sudden and 
extraordinary. The natives of the country had committed depredations upon 
the property of the colony, and were threatening general hostilities. Mr. 
Carey, in his capacity as acting governor, immediately called out the military 
forces of the colony, and commenced vigorous measures for repelling the 
assault and protecting the settlements. He was at the magazine, engaged in 
superintending the making of cartridges, when, by the oversetting of a lamp, 
a large mass of powder became ignited, and produced an explosion wliich 
resulted in the death of Mr. Carey, and seven others who were engaged with 
him. In this sudden and awful manner perished an extraordinary man, — one 
who in a higher sphere might have developed many of the noblest energies of 
character, and who, even in the humble capacity of a missionary among his 
own benighted brethren, deserves a prominent place in the list of those who 
have shed lustre upon the African race. 

"At the period of Mr. Carey's death, the church of whicli he was the 
pastor contained a hundred members, and was in a highly flourishing condi- 
tion. It was committed to the charge of Collin Teage, who now returned from 
Sierra Leone, and of Mr. Waring, one of its members, who had lately been 
ordained a minister. The influences which had commenced with the inde- 
fatigable founder of the mission continued to be felt long after he had ceased 
to live. The church at Monrovia was increased to two hundred members; and 
the power of tlie gospel was manifested in other settlements of the Coloniza- 
tion Society, and even among the rude natives of the coast, of whom nearly 
a hundred were converted to Christianity, and united with the several churches 
of the colony." ' 

We regret that statistics on Liberia are not as full as desira- 
ble ; but we have found enough to convince us that the cause of 
religion, education, and republican government are in safe hands, 
and on a sure foundation. There are now more than three thou- 
sand members within their churches. The sabbath-schools have 
about eighteen hundred children, seven hundred of whom are 

' Gamniell's History of the American Baptist Missions, pp. 248, 249. 



I02 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

natives ; ' and in the day-schools are gathered about two thousand 
bright and promising pupils. 

Many noble soldiers of the cross have fallen on this field, 
where a desperate battle has been waged between darkness and 
light, heathenism and religion, the wooden gods of men and the 
only true God who made heaven and earth. Many have been 
mortally touched by the poisonous breath of African fever, and, 
like the sainted Gilbert Haven, have staggered back to home and 
friends to die. Few of the white teachers have been able to 
remain on the field. During the first thirty years of missionary 
effort in the field, the mortality among the white missionaries was 
terrible. Up to 1850 the Episcopal Church had employed twenty 
white teachers, but only three of them were left. The rest died, 
or were driven home by the climate. Of nineteen missionaries 
sent out b}' the Presbyterian Church up to 1850, nine died, seven 
returned home, and but three remained. The Methodist Church 
sent out thirteen white teachers : si.x died, six returned home, and 
but one remained. Among the colored missionaries the mor- 
tality was reduced to a minimum. Out of thirty-one in the 
employ of the Methodist Church, only seven died natural deaths, 
and fourteen remained in the service. On this subject of mor- 
tality. Bishop Payne says, — 

" It is now very generally admitted, that Africa must be evangelized chiefly 
by her own children. It should be our object to prepare them, so far as we 
may, for their great work. And since colonists afford the most advanced 
material for raising up the needed instruments, it becomes us, in wise co-opera- 
tion with Providence, to direct our efforts in the most judicious manner to 
them. To do this, the most important points should be occupied, to become in 
due time radiating centres of Christian influence to colonists and natives.'' ^ 

In thirty-three years Liberia gained wonderfully in population, 
and, at the breaking-out of the Rebellion in the United States, 
had about a hundred thousand souls, besides the three hundred 
thousand natives in the vast territory over which her govern- 
ment is recognized. Business of every kind has grown up. The 
laws are wholesome ; the law-makers intelligent and upright ; the 
army and navy are creditable, and the republic is in every sense 
a grand success. Mr. Wilson says, — 

' Edward W. Blyden, LL.D., president of Liberia College, a West Indian, is a scholar of 
marvellous erudition, a writer of rare abilities, a 5t:btle reasoner, a preacher of charming graces, 
and one of the foremost Negroes of the world. He is himself the best argument in favor of the 
Negro's capacity for Christian ci«Iization. He ranks amongst the world's greatest linguists. 

^ Report of Bishop Payne, June 6, 1853. 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 103 

"Trade is the chosen employment of the great mass of the Libcrians, and 
some of them have been decidedly successful in this vocation. It consists in 
the exchange of articles of American or European manufacture for the natural 
products of the country; of which palm-oil, cam-wood, and ivory arc the princi- 
pal articles. Cam-wood is a rich dye-wood, and is brought to Monrovia on the 
shoulders of the natives from a great distance. It is worth in the European 
and American markets from si.vty to eighty dollars per ton. The ivory of this 
region does not form an important item of commerce. Palm-oil is the main 
article of export, and is procured along the seacoast between Monrovia and 
Cape Palnias. The I.iberian merchants own a number of small vessels, built 
by themselves, and varying in size from ten or fifteen to forty or fifty tons. 
These are navigated by the Liberian sailors, and are constantly engaged in 
bringing, palm-oil to Monrovia, from whence it is again shipped in foreign 
vessels for Liverpool or New York. I made inquiry, during a sliort sojomn at 
this place in 1S52 on my way to this country, about the amount of property 
owned by the wealthier merchants of Monrovia, and learned that there were 
four or five who were worth from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand dollars, 
a large number who owned property to the amount of ten tliousand dollars, and 
perhaps twelve or fifteen who were worth as much as five thousand dollars. 
The property of some of these may have increased materially since that time. 

"The settlers along the banks of the St. Paul have given more attention to 
the cultivation of the soil. They raise sw^et-potatoes, cassava, and plantains, 
for their own use, and also supply the Monrovia market with the same, (jround- 
nuts and arrow-root arc also cultivated, but to a very limited extent. A few 
individuals have cultivated the sugar-cane w-ith success, and have manufactured 
a considerable quantity of excellent sugar and molasses. Some attention has 
been given to the cultivation of the coffee-tree. It grows luxuriantly, and bears 
most abundantly. The flavor of the coffee is as fine as any in the world ; and, 
if the Liberians would give the attention to it they ought, it would probably be 
as highly esteemed as any other in the world. It is easily cultivated, and 
requires little or no outlay of capital ; and we are surprised that it has not already 
become an article of export. The want of disposition to cultivate the soil is, 
perhaps, the most discouraging feature in the prospects of Lilieria. Mercan- 
tile pursuits are followed with zeal and energy, but comparatively few are will- 
ing to till the ground fur llie means of subsistence." 

Liberia had its first constitution in 1S25. It was drawn at the 
instance of the Colonization Society in the United States. It set 
forth the objects of the colony, defined citizenship, and declared 
the objects of the government. It remained in force inUil 1836. 
In 1839 a " Legislative Council " was created, and the constitu- 
tion amended to meet the growing wants of the government. In 
1847 Liberia declared herself an independent republic. The 
first article of the constitution of 1S47 reads as follows : — 

" .^RTICLE 1., Skction" t. All men are born equally free and independent, 
and among their natural, inherent and inalienable rights are the rights of enjoy- 
ing and defending life and liuertv." 



104 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

This section meant a great deal to &. people who had aban- 
doned their homes in the United States, where a chief justice of 
the Supreme Court had declared that "a Negro has no rights 
which a white man is bound to respect," — a country where the 
Federal Congress had armed every United-States marshal in all 
the Northern States with the inhuman and arbitrary power to 
, apprehend, load with chains, and hurl back into the hell of 
slavery, every poor fugitive who sought to find a home in a pro- 
fessedly free section of " the land of the free and tlic home of 
the brave." These brave black pilgrims, who had to leave "the 
freest land in the world " in order to get their freedom, did not 
intend that the solemn and formal declaration of principles con- 
tained in their constitution should be reduced to a reduetio ad 
absiirdur.i, as those in the American Constitution were by the 
infamous Fugitive-slave Law. And in section 4 of their constitu- 
tion they prohibit "the sum of all villanies " — slavery! The 
article reads : — 

'• There shall be no slavery within this republic. Nor shall any citizen of 
this republic, or any person resident therein, deal in slaves, either within or 
without this republic.'' 

They had no measure of compromise by which slavery could 
be carried on beyond certain limits "for highly commercial and 
business interests of a portion of their fellow-citizens." Libe- 
rians might have grown rich by merely suffering the slave-trade 
to be carried on among the natives. The constitution fixed a 
scale of revenue, and levied a tariff on all imported articles. A 
customs-service was introduced, and many reforms enforced which 
greatly angered a few avaricious white men whose profession as 
mcn-stealers was abolished bv the constitution. Moreover, there 
were others who for years had been trading and doing business 
along the coast, without paying any duties on the articles they 
exported. The new government incurred their hostility. 

In April, 1850, the republic of Liberia entered into' a treaty 
with England, and in article nine of said treaty bound herself to 
the suppression of the slave-trade in the following explicit lan- 
guage : — 

" Slavery and the slave-trade being perpetually abolished in the republic 
of Liberia, the republic engages that a law shall be passed declaring it to be 
piracy for any Liberian citizen or vessel to be engaged or concerned in the 
slave-trade.'' ' 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 1 05 

Notwithstanding the above treaty, the enemies of the republic 
circulated the report in England and America that the Liberian 
government was secretly engaged in the slave-trade. The friends 
of colonization in both countries were greatly alarmed by the 
rumor, and sought information in official quarters, — of men on 
the ground. The following testimony will show that the charge 
was malicious : — • 

'• Capt. Arabian, R.X., in one of his despatches says, ' Nothing had been 
done more to suppress the shive-trade in this quarter than the constant inter- 
course of the natives with these industrious colonists;' and again, 'Their char- 
acter is exceedingly correct and moral, their minds strongly impressed with 
religious feeling, and their domestic habits remarkably neat and comfortable.' 

• VV'hercver the influence of Liberia e.xtends, the slave-trade has been aban- 
doned by the natives.' 

" Lieut. Stott, R.N., in a letter to Ur. Hodgkin, dated July, 1840, says, it 
(Liberia) promises to be- the only successful institution on tlie coast of Africa, 
keeping in mind its objects ; viz., ' that of raising the African slave into a free 
man, the extinction of the slave-trade, and the religious and moral improve- 
ment of Africa;' and adds, 'The surrounding Africans are aware of the nature 
of the colony, taking refuge when persecuted by the few neighboring slave- 
traders. The remnant of a tribe has lately fled to and settled in the colony 
on land granted them. Between my two visits, a lapse of only a few days, four 
or five slaves souglit refuge from their master, who was about to sell, or had 
sold, tliem to the only slave-factory on the coast. The native chiefs in the 
neighborhood have that respect for the colonists that they have made treaties 
for the abolition of the slave-trade.' 

"Capt. Irving, R.N., in a letter to Dr. Ilodgkin, .Vug. 3, 1840. observes, 

• You ask me if they aid in the slave-trade ? I assure you, no ! and I am sure 
the colonists would feel themselves much hurt should they know such a ques- 
tion could possibly arise in England. In my opinion it is the best and safest 
plan for the e.xtinction of the slave-trade, and the civilization of .Africa; for it 
is a well-known fact, that wherever their flag flies it is an eye-sore to the slave- 
dealers.' 

" Capt. Herbert, R.N. : ' With regard to the present state of slave-taking 
in tlie colony of Liberia, I have never known one instance of a slave being 
owned or disposed of by a colonist. On the contrary, I have known them to 
render great facility to our cruisers in taking vessels engaged in that nelarious 
trafiic' 

"Cajit. Dunlop. who had abundant opportunities for becoming .acquainted 
with Liberia during the years 1848-50, says, ' I am perfectly satisfied no such 
thing as domestic slavery exists in any shape amongst the citizens of the 
republic' 

" Commodore Sir Charles Hotham, commander-in-chief of her British 
Majesty's squadron on the western coast of Africa, in a letter to the Secretary 
of the Admiralty, dated April 7, 1S47, and published in the Parliamentary 
Returns, says, 'On perusing the correspondence of my predecessors, I found 
a great difference of opinion existing as to the views and objects of the settlers ; 



I06 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

some even accusing the governor of lending himself to the slave-trade. After 
discussing the whole subject with officers and others best qualified to judge on 
the matter, I not only satisfied my own mind that there is no reasonable cause 
for such a suspicion, but further, that this establishment merits all the support 
we can give it ; for it is only through their means that we can hope to improve 
the African race.' Subsequently, in 1849, the same ofificer gave his testimony 
before the House of Lords, in the following language : ' There is no necessity 
for the squadron watching the coast between Sierra Leone and Cape Palmas, 
as the Liberian territory intervenes, and there the slave-trade has been extin- 
guished.' " ' 

The government was firmly and wisely administered, and its 
friends everywhere found occasion for great pleasure in its marked 
success. While the government had more than a quarter of a 
million of natives under its care, the greatest caution was exer- 
cised in dealing with them legally. The system was not so com- 
plicated as our Indian system, but the duties of the officers in 
dealing with the uncivilized tribes were as delicate as those of an 
Indian agent in the United States. 

'•The history of a single case will illustrate the manner in which Liberia 
e.xerts her influence in preventing the native tribes from warring upon each 
other. The territory of Little Cape Mount, Grand Cape Mount, and Gallinas 
was purchased, three or four years since, and added to the Republic. The 
chiefs, by the term of sale, transferred the rights of sovereignty and of soil to 
Liberia, and bound themselves to obey her laws. The government of Great 
Britain hatl granted to Messrs. Hyde, Hodge, & Co., of London, a contract 
for the supply of laborers from the coast of Africa to the planters of her West 
India colonies. This grant was made under the rule for the substitution of 
apprentices, to supply the lack of labor produced by the emancipation of the 
slaves. The agents of Messrs. Hyde, Hodge, & Co. visited Grand Cape 
Mount, and made an offer of ten dollars per head to the chiefs for each person 
they could supply as emigrants for this object. The offer e.xcited the cupidity 
of some of the chiefs ; and to procure the emigrants and secure the bounty one 
of them, named Boombo, of Little Cape Mount, resorted to war upon several of 
the surrounding tribes. He laid waste the countrv, burned the towns and vil- 
lages, captured and murdered many of the inhabitants, carried off hundreds of 
others, and robbed several factories in that region belonging to merchants in 
Liberia. On the 26th of February, 1853, President Roberts issued his procla- 
mation enjoining a strict observance of the law regulating passports, and for- 
bidding the sailing of any vessel with emigrants without first visiting the port 
of Monrovia, where each passenger should be examined as to his wishes. On 
the 1st of March the president, with two hundred men, sailed for Little Cape 
Mount, arrested Boombo and fifty of his followers, summoned a council of the 
other chiefs at Monrovia for his trial on the I4lh, and returned home with his 
prisoners. At the time appointed, the triil was held, Boombo was found 

' Colonization Her.ild, December, 1S52. 



THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. 107 

guilty of ^ high misdemeanor.^ and sentenced 'to make restitution, restora- 
tion, and reparation of goods stolen, people captured, and damages committed: 
to pay a fine of five lumdred dollars, and be imprisoned for two years.' When 
the sentence was pronounced, the convict shed tears, regarding the ingredient 
of imprisonment in his sentence to be almost intolerable. These rigorous 
measures, adopted to maintain the authority of the government and majesty of 
the laws, have had a salutary influence upon the chiefs. No outbreaks have 
since occurred, and but little apprehension of danger for the future is enter- 
tained." ■ 

The republic did a vast amount of good bfeore the Great 
Rebellion in the United States, but since emancipation its 
population has been fed by the natives who have been educated 
and converted to Christianity. Professor David Christy, the great 
colonizationist, said in a lecture delivered in 1855, — 

" If, then, a colony of colored men, beginning with less than a hundred, 
and gradually increasing to nine thousand, has in thirty years established an 
independent republic amidst a savage people, destroyed the slave-trade on si.\ 
hundred miles of the African coast, put down the heathen temples in one of 
its largest counties, afforded security to all the missions within its limits, and 
now casts its shield over three hundred thousand native inhabitants, what 
may not be done in the next thirty years by colonization and missions com- 
bined, were sufficient means supplied to call forth all tlieir energies.'" 

The circumstances that led to the founding of the Negro 
republic in the wilds of Africa perished in the fires of civil war. 
The Negro is free everywhere ; but the republic of Liberia 
stands, and should stand until its light shall have penetrated the 
gloom of Africa, and until the heathen shall gather to the bright- 
ness of its shining. May it stand through the ages as a Christian 
republic, as a faithfid light-house along the dark and trackless 
sea of African paganism ! 

' Ethiope, pp. 207, 20S. 



loS HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XI. 

RfiSUMfi. 

The Unity of the Human Family re-affirmed — God cave all Races of Men Civilization — 
The Antiquity of the Negro hevond Dispute — Idolatry the Cause of the Degradation 
OF the African Races. — He has always had a Place in History, though Incidental. — 
Negro Type caused dy Degradation. — Negro Empires an Evidence of Crude Ability for 
Self-Government. — Influence of the two Christian Governments on the West Coast 
upon the Heathen. — Oration on Early Christianity in Africa. — The Duty of Christi- 
anity to evangelize Africa. 

THE preceding ten chapters are introductory in their nature. 
We felt that tliey were necessary to a history of the Colored 
race in the United States. We desired to explain and ex- 
plode two erroneous ideas, — the curse of Canaan, and the theory 
that the Negro is a distinct species, — that were educated into our 
white countrymen during the long and starless night of the bond- 
age of the Negro. It must appear patent to every honest student 
of God's word, that the slavery interpretation of the curse of Canaan 
is without warrant of Scripture, and at war with the broad and 
catholic teachings of the New Testament. It is a sad commen- 
tary on American civilization to find even a few men like Helper, 
"Ariel," and the author of " The Adamic Race" still croaking 
about the inferiority of the Negro ; but it is highly gratifying to 
know that they no longer find an audience or readers, not even 
in the South. A man never hates his neighbors until he has in- 
jured them. Then, in justification of his unjustifiable conduct, 
he uses slander for argument. 

During the late war thousands of mouths filled with vitupera- 
tive wrath against the colored race were silenced as in the pres- 
ence of the heroic deeds of " the despised race," and since the 
war the obloquy of the Negro's enemies has been turned into the 
most fulsome praise. 

We stand in line and are in harmony with history and histo- 
rians — modern and ancient, sacred and profane — on the sub- 
ject of the unity of the human family. There are, however, a few 



RESUME. 109 

wlio differ; but tlicir wild, incoherent, and unscholarly theories 
deserve the mercy of our silence. 

It is our firm conviction, and it is not wholly unsupported by 
history, that the Creator gave all the nations arts and sciences. 
Where nations have turned aside to idolatry they have lost their 
civilization. The Canaanites, Jebusites, Mivites, etc., the idola- 
trous ' nations inhabiting the land of Canaan, were the descend- 
ants of Canaan ; and the only charge the Lord brought against 
them when he commanded Joshua to exterminate them was, that 
they were his enemies^ in all that that term implies. The sacred 
record tells us that they were a w^arlikc, powerful people, 3 living 
in walled cities, given to agriculture, and possessing quite a 
respectable civilization ; but they were idolaters — God's enemies. 

It is worthy of emphasis, that the antiquity of the Negro race 
is beyond dispute. This is a fact established b\- the most immu- 
table historical data, and recorded on the monumental brass and 
marble of the Oriental nations of the most remote period of time. 
The importance and worth of the Negro have given him a [ilaee 
in all the histories of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. His position, it 
is true, in all history up to the present day, has been accidental, 
incidental, and collateral ; but it is sufficient to show how he has 
been regarded in the past by other nations. His brightest days 
were when history was an infant ; and, since he early turned from 
God, he has found the cold face of hate and the hurtful hand of the 
Caucasian against him. The Negro type is the result of degrada- 
tion. It is nothing more than the lowest strata of the African 
race. Pouring over the venerable mountain terraces, an abundant 
stream from an abundant and unknown source, into the malarial 
districts, the genuine African has gradually degenerated into the 
typical Negro. His blood infected with the poison of his low 
habitation, his body shrivelled by disease, his intellect veiled in 
jxigan superstitions, the noblest yearnings of his soul strangled at 
birth by the savage passions of a nature abandoned to sensuality, 
— the poor Negro of Africa deserves more our pity than our 
contempt. 

It is true that the weaker tribes, or many of the Negroid type, 
were the chief source of supply for the slave-market in this 
country for many years; but slavery in the United States — a 
severe ordeal through which to pass to citizenship and civilization 

' Deut. xii. 2, 3, also 30th verse. ' Deut. vi. ig. ^ Deut. vii. 7. 



no HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

— had the effect of calling into life many a slumbering and dying 
attribute in the Negro nature. The cruel institution drove him 
from an extreme idolatry to an extreme religious exercise of his 
faith in worship. And now that he is an American citizen, — the 
condition and circumstances which rendered his piety appropriate 
abolished, — he is likely to move over to an extreme rationalism. 

The Negro empires to which we have called attention are an 
argument against the theory that he is without government ; 
and his career as a soldier' vifould not disgrace the uniform of an 
American soldier. Brave, swift in execution, terrible in the 
onslaught, tireless in energy, obedient to superiors, and clannish 
to a fault, — the abilities of these black soldiers are worthy of a 
good cause. 

On the edge of the Dark Continent, Sierra Leone and Liberia 
have sprung up as light-houses on a dark and stormy ocean of lost 
humanity. Hundreds of thousands of degraded Negroes have 
been snatched from the vile swamps, and Christianity has been 
received and appreciated by them. These two Negro settlements 
have solved two problems ; viz., the Negro's ability to administer 
a government, and the capacity of the native for the reception of 
education and Christian civilization. San Domingo and Jamaica 
have their lessons too, but it is not our purpose to write the 
history of the Colored people of the world. The task may be 
undertaken some time in the future, however. 

It must be apparent to the interested friends of languishing 
Africa, that there are yet two more problems presented for our 
solution ; and they are certainly difficult of solution. First, we 
must solve the problem of African geography; second, we must 
redeem by the power of the gospel, with all its attending bless- 
ings, the savage tribes of Africans who have never heard the 
beautiful song of the angels : "Glory to God in the Jiigliest, and on 
earth peace, good-will toward men." That this work will be done 
we do not doubt. We have great faith in the outcome of the 
missionary work going on now in Africa ; and we are especially 
encouraged by the wide and kindly interest awakened on behalf 
of Africa by the noble life-work of Dr. David Livingstone, and the 
thrilling narrative of Mr. Henry M. Stanley. 

It is rather remarkable now, in the light of recent events, that 
we should have chosen a topic at the close of both our academic 

' News comes to us from Egypt that Arabi Pacha's best artillerists are Negro soldiers. 



RESUME. I 1 1 

and theological course that we can sec now was in line with this 
work so near our heart. The first oration was on "The Footsteps 
of the Nation," the second was "Early Christianity in Africa." 
Dr. Livingstone had just fallen a martyr to the cause of geography, 
and the orators and preachers of enlightened Christendom were 
husy with the virtues and worth of the dead. It was on the tenth 
day of June, 1874, that we delivered the last-named oration ; and 
we can, even at this distance, recall the magnificent audience that 
greeted it, and the feeling with which we delivered it. We were 
the first Colored man who had ever taken a diploma from that 
venerable and world-famed institution (Newton Seminary, New- 
ton Centre, Mass.), and therefore there was much interest taken 
in our graduation. We were ordained on the following evening 
at Watcrtown, Mass. ; and the original poem written for the occa- 
sion by our pastor, the Rev. Granville S. Abbott, D.D., contained 
the following significant verses : — 

"Ethiopia's hands long stretching, 
Mightily have plead with God ; 
Plead not vainly : time is fetching 
Answers, as her faitli's reward. 

God is faithful, 
Yea, and Amen is his word. 

Countless prayers, so long ascending, 

Have their answer here and now ; 
Threads of purpose, wisely meeting 

In an ordination vow. 
Afric brother, 

To thy mission humbly bow." 

The only, and we trust sufficient, apology we have to offer *o 
the reader for mentioning matters personal to the author is, that 
we are deeply touched in reading the oration, after many years, in 
the original manuscript, preserved by accident. It is fitting that 
it should be produced here as bearing upon the subject in hand. 



EARLY CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA. 

OR.VTION BY GEORGE \V. WILLIAM.S, 

ON THE OCCASION OF HIS GRADU.'VTION FROM NEWTON THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY, NEWTON CENTRE, MASS., JUNE lo, 187^. 

Africa was one of the first countries to receive Christianity. Simon, a 
Cyrenian, from Africa, bore the cross of Jesus for him to Calvary. There was 



112 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

more in that singular incident than we are apt to recognize, for the time soon 
came when Africa did indeed take up the Saviour's cross. 

The African, in his gushing love, welcomed the new religion to his coun- 
try and to his lieart. He was willing to share its persecutions, and endure 
shame for the cross of Christ. 

Africa became the arena in which theological gladiators met in dubious 
strife. It was the scene of some of the severest doctrinal controversies of the 
early Church. Here men and women, devoted to an idea, stood immovable, 
indomitable as the pyramids, against the severest persecution. Her sons swelled 
the noble army of martyrs and confessors. The eloquence of their shed blood 
has been heard through the centuries, and pleads the cause of the benighted 
to-day. 

It was Africa that gave the Christian Church Athanasius and Origen, 
Cyprian, Tertullian, and Augustine, her greatest writers and teachers. Athana- 
sius, the missionary of monachism to the West, was the indefatigable enemy 
of Arianism, the bold leader of the catliolic party at Alexandria, at the early 
age of thirty (30) elevated to its bishopric, one of the most important sees in 
the East. Ever conscientious and bold, the whole Christian Church felt his 
influence, while emperors and kings feared his power. His life was stormy, 
because he loved tlie truth and taught it in all boldness. He hated his own life 
for the truth's sake. He counted all things but loss, that he might gain Christ. 
He was often in perils by false brethren , was driven out into the solitary places 
of the earth, — into the monasteries of the Thebaid ; and yet he endured as 
seeing Him who is invisible, looking for the reward of the promii^e, knowing 
that He who promised is faithful. 

Origen was an Alexandrian by birth and culture, an able preacher, a forci- 
ble writer, and a theologian of great learning. His influence while living was 
great, and was felt long after his death. 

In North Africa, Cyprian, the great writer of Church polity, a pastor and 
teaclier of rare gifts, was the first bishop to lay down his life for the truth's sake. 

The shadows of fifteen centuries rest upon his name; but it is as fade- 
less to-day as when a weeping multitude followed him to his martyrdom, and 
e.xclaimed, " Let us die with our holy bishop." 

• The weary centuries intervene, and yet the student of Church polity is 
fascinated and instructed by the brilliant teachings of Cyprian. His bitterest 
enemies — those who have most acrimoniously assailed him — have at length 
recognized in him the qualities of a great writer and teacher; and his puissant 
name, sending its influence along the ages, attracts the admiration of the eccle- 
siastical scholars of every generation. 

Tertullian, the leader of the Montanists, fiery, impulsive, the strong preacher, 
the vigorous writer, the bold controversialist, organized a sect which survived 
liini, though finally disorganized through the influence of Augustine, the master 
theologian of the early Church, indeed of the Church universal. 

Other fathers built theological systems that flourished for a season : but 
the system that Augustine established survived him. has survived the inter- 
vening centuries, and lives to-day. 

Africa furnished the first dissenters from an established church, — the 
Donatists. They were the Separatists and Puritans of the early Church. 

Their struggle was long, severe, but useless. They were condemned, not 



RESUME. I 1 3 

convinced; discomfited, not subdued; and tlie patient, suffering, indomitaljle 
spirit they evinced sliows what power there is in a little truth held in faith. 

Cliristianity had reached its zenith in Africa. It was her proudest hour. 
Paganism had been met and conquered. The Church had passed through a 
baptism of blood, and was now wholly consecrated to the cause of its Great 
Head. Here Christianity flowered ; here it brought forth rich fruit in the lives 
of its tenacious adherents. Here the acorn had become the sturdy oak, under 
which the soldiers of the cross pitched their tents. The African Church had 
triumphed gloriously. 

But, in the moment of signal victory, the Saracens poured into North 
-Africa, and Mohammedanism was established upon the ruins of Christianity. 

The religion of Christ was swept from its moorings, the saint was trans- 
formed into the child of the desert, and quiet settlements became bloody fields 
where brother shed brother's blood. 

Glorious and sublime as was the triumph of Christianity in North Africa, 
we must not forget that only a narrow belt of that vast country, on the Medi- 
terranean, was reached by Christianity. Its western and southern portions 
are yet almost wholly unknown. Her vast deserts, her mighty rivers, and her 
dusky children are yet beyond the reach of civilization ; and her forests have 
been the grave of many who would explore her interior. To-day England 
stands by the new-made grave of the indomitable Livingstone, — her courageous 
son, who, as a missionary and geographer spent his best days and laid down his 
life in the midst of Africa. 

For nearly three centuries Africa has been robbed of her sable sons. For 
nearly three centuries they have toiled in bondage, unrequited, in this youthful 
republic of the West. They have grown from a small company to be an exceed- 
ingly great people, — five millions in number. No longer chattels, they are 
human beings; no longer bondmen, they are freemen, with almost every civil 
disability removed. 

Their weary feet now press up the mount of science. Their darkened 
intellect now sweeps, unfettered, through the realms of learning and culture. 
With his Saxon brother, the African slakes his insatiable thirstings for knowl- 
fidge at the same fountain. In the Bible, he reads not only the one unalterable 
text, " Servants, obey your masters," but also, " Ye are all brethren." " God 
liath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the 
earth." " He is no respecter of persons." 

The Negro in this country has begun to enjoy the blessings of a free citi- 
zenship. Under the sunny sky of a Christian civilization he hears the clarion 
voices of progress about him, urging him onward and upward. From across 
the ocean, out of the jungles of Africa, come the voices of the benighted and 
])erishing. Every breeze is freighted with a Macedonian call, " Ye men of the 
African race, come over and help us ! " 

" Shall we, whose souls .ire lighted 
By wisdom from on liigh, — 
Shall we, to men benighted 
The lamp of life deny ? " 

God often permits evil on the ground of man's free agency, but he does 
not commit evil. 



114 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The Negro of this country can turn to his Saxon brothers and say, as 
Joseph said to his brelliren who wickedly sold him, "As for you, ye meant it 
unto evil, but God meant it unto good ; that we, after learning your arts and 
sciences, might return to Egypt and deliver the rest of our brethren who are 
yet in the house of bondage." 

That day will come ! Her chains will be severed by the sword of civiliza- 
tion and liberty. Science will penetrate her densest forests, and climb her 
loftiest mountains, and discover her richest treasures. The Sun of righteous- 
ness, and the star of peace, shall break upon her sin-clouded vision, and smile 
upon her renewed households. The anthem of the Redeemer's advent shall 
float through her forests, and be echoed by her mountains. Those dusky chil- 
dren of the desert, who now wander and plunder, will settle to quiet occupa- 
tions of industry. Gathering themselves into villages, plying the labors of 
handicraft and agriculture, they will become a well-disciplined society, instead 
of being a roving, barbarous horde. 

The sabbath bells will summon from scattered cottages smiling popula- 
tions, linked together by friendship, and happy in all the sweetness of domestic 
charities. Thus the glory of her latter day shall be greater than at the begin- 
ning, and Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God. 

It is our earnest desire and prayer, that the friends of missions 
in all places where God in his providence may send this history 
will give the subject of the civilization and Christianization of 
Africa prayerful consideration. The best schools the world can 
afford should be founded on the West Coast of Africa. The na- 
tive should be educated at home, and mission-stations should be 
planted under the very shadow of the idol-houses of the heathen. 
The best talent and abundant means have been sent to Siam, 
China, and Jajmn. Why not send the best talent and needful 
means to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cape Palmas, that native 
missionaries may be trained for the outposts of the Lord .' There 
is not a more promising mission-field in the world than Africa, 
and yet our friends in America take so little interest in this work ! 
The Lord is going to save that Dark Continent, and it behooves 
his servants here to honor themselves in doing something to has- 
ten the completion of this inevitable work ! Africa is to be re- 
deemed by the African, and the white Christians of this country 
can aid the work by munificent contributions. Will you do it, 
brethren 1 God help you ! 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. M5 



|3art EL 
SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES.' 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 
1619-1775. 

Intbodi-ction of the Fir!;t Slaves. — " The Treasurer" and the Ditch Mav-of-War. — The 
Correct Date. — The Numuer of Slaves. — Were there Twenty, or Foi:rteen ?— Lnir.A- 
TioN about the Possession of the Slaves. —Character of the Slaves imforted, anu 
the Character of the Colonists— Race Prejudices. — Legal Establishment of Slavery. 
— Who are Slaves for Life. —Duties on Imi-orted Slaves.— Political and Military 
PKOiiiriTiuNS against Negroes.— Personal Rights. — Criminal Laws against Slaves.— 
Emancipation. — How brought about. — Free Negroes. — Their Rights. — Moral and 
Religious Training.- Population. — Slavery firmly established. 

VIRGINIA was the mother of slavery as well as " the mother 
of Presidents." Unfortunate for her, unfortunate for the 
other colonies, and thrice unfortunate for the poor Colored 
people, who from 1619 to 1863 yielded their liberty, their toil, — 
unrequited, — their bodies and intellects to an institution that 
ground them to powder. No event in the history of North 
America has carried with it to its last analysis such terrible 
forces. It touched the brightest features of social life, and they 
faded under the contact of its poisonous breath. It affected legis- 
lation, local and national ; it made and destroyed statesmen ; it 
prostrated and bullied honest public sentiment ; it strangled the 
voice of tlie press, and awed the pulpit into silent acquiescence ; 
it organized the judiciary of States, and wrote decisions for judges ; 
it gave States their political being, and afterwards dragged them 



■ A Flemish favorite of Charles V. h.aving obtained of his kin; a p.itent, containing an exchi- 
sive right of importinj four thousand Negroes into America, soid it for twcnty-fivc thousand ducats 
to some Genoese meicliants, wlio first brouglit into a regular form the commerce for slaves between 
Africa and America. — Holmes's American Annals, vol. i. p. 35. 



Il6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

by the fore-hair through the stormy sea of civil war ; laid the 
parricidal fingers of Treason against the fair throat of Liberty, — 
and through all time to come no event will be more sincerely 
deplored than the introduction of slavery into the colony of Vir- 
ginia during the last days of the month of August in the year 
1619 ! 

The majority of writers on American history, as well as most 
histories on Virginia, from Beverley to Howison, have made a 
mistake in fixing the date of the introduction of the first slaves. 
Mr. Beverley, whose history of Virginia was printed in London in 
1772, is responsible for the error, in that nearly all subsequent 
writers — • excepting the laborious and scholarly Bancroft and the 
erudite Campbell — have repeated his mistake. Mr. Beverley, 
speaking of the burgesses having " met the Governor and Council 
at James Town in May 1620," adds in a subsequent paragraph, 
" In August following a Dutch Man of War landed twenty 
Negroes for sale ; which were the first of that kind that were 
carried into the country." ' By "August following," we infer that 
Beverley would have his readers understand that this was in 1620. 
But Burk, Smith, Campbell, and Neill gave 1619 as the date.- 
But we are persuaded to believe that the first slaves were landed 
at a still earlier date. In Capt. John Smith's history, printed in 
London in 1629, is a mere incidental reference to the introduction 
of slaves into Virginia. He mentions, under date of June 25, 
that the " governor and councell caused Burgesses to be chosen in 
all places," 3 which is one month later than the occurrence of this 
event as fixed by Beverley. Smith speaks of a vessel named 
" George" as having been "sent to Newfoundland " for fish, and, 
having started in May, returned after a voyage of "seven weeks." 
In the next sentence he says, " About the last of August came in 
a dutch man of warre that sold vs twenty Negars."4 Might not 
he have meant "about the end of last August " came the Dutch 
man-of-war, etc. .' All historians, except two, agree that these 
slaves were landed in August, but disagree as to the year. Capt. 
Argall, of whom so much complaint was made by the Virginia 
Company to Lord Delaware,5 fitted out the ship "Treasurer" at 
the expense of the Earl of Warwick, who sent him "an olde com- 
mission of hostility from the Duke of Savoy against the Span- 

' R. Beverley's History of Virgini,\, pp. 35, 36. = See Campbell, p. 144 ; Burk, vol. i. p. 326. 
2 Smith, vol. ii. pp. 3S, 39. -1 Smith's History of Virginia, vol. ii. p. 39. 

-^ Virj;inia Comiiany of London; p. 117, sq. 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. W] 

yards," for a "filibustering" cruise to the West Indies.' And, 
"after several acts of hostility committed, and some ])urchase 
gotten, she returns to Virginia at the end of ten months or there- 
abouts." ^ It was in the early autumn of l6i8,3 that Capt. Edward 
(a son of William) Brewster was sent into banishment by Capt. 
Argall ; and this, we think, was one of the last, if not the last 
official act of that arbitrary governor. It was certainly before 
this that the ship "Treasurer," manned "with the ablest men 
in the colony," sailed for " the Spanish dominions in the Western 
hemisphere." Under date of June 15, 1618, John Rolfc, speaking 
of the death of the Indian Powhatan, which took [ilace in April, 
says, " Some private differences happened betwixt Capt. Bruster 
and Capt. Argall," etc.+ Capt. John Smith's information, as 
secured from Master Rolfe, would lead to the conclusion that the 
difficulty which took place between Capt. Edward Brewster and 
Capt. Argall occurred in the spring instead of the autumn, as 
Neill says. If it be true that "The Treasurer" sailed in the early 
spring of 161.S, Rolfe's statement as to the time of the strife 
between Brewster and Argall would harmonize with the facts in 
reference to the length of time the vessel was absent as recorded 
in Burk's history. But if Neill is correct as to the time of the 
quarrel, — for we maintain that it was about this time that Argall 
left the colony, — then his statement would tally with Burk's 
account of the time the vessel was on the cruise. If, therefore, 
she sailed in October, 1618, being absent ten months, she was 
due at Jamestown in August, 1619. 

But, nevertheless, we are strangely moved to believe that 161 8 
was the memorable year of the landing of the first slaves in Vir- 
ginia. And we have one strong and reliable authority on our 
side. Stith, in his history of Virginia, fi.xes the date in 161 8.5 
On the same page there is an account of the trial and sentence of 
Capt. Brewster. The ship "Treasurer " had evidently left Eng- 
land in the winter of 16 18. When she reached the Virginia 
colony, she was furnished with a new crew and abundant supplies 
for her cruise. Neill says she returned with booty and "a certain 
number of negroes." Campbell agrees that it was some time 
before the landing of the Dutch man-of-war that " The Treasurer " 
returned to Virginia. He says, " She returned to Virginia after 

' Campbell, p. 144. ^ Burk, vol. i. p. 319. ^ Neill, p. 120. * Smith, vol. ii. p. 37. 

5 There were two vessels, The Treasurer and the Dutch man-of-war; but the latter, no 
doubt, put the first slaves ashore. 



Il8 inSTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

some ten months with her booty, which consisted of captured 
negroes, who were not left in Virginia, because Capt. Argall had 
gone back to England, but were put on the Earl of Warwick's 
plantation in the Somer Islands." ' 

During the last two and one-half centuries the readers of the 
history of Virginia have been mislead as to these two vessels, 
the Dutch man-of-war and "The Treasurer." The Dutch man-of- 
war did land the first slaves; but the ship "Treasurer" was the 
first to bring them to this country, in 1618. 

When in 1619 the Dutch man-of-war brought the first slaves 
to Virginia, Capt. Miles Kendall was deputy-governor. The 
man-of-war claimed to sail under commission of the Prince of 
Orange. Capt. Kendall gave orders that the vessel should not 
land in any of his harbors : but the vessel was without provisions ; 
and the Negroes, fourteen in number, were tendered for supplies. 
Capt. Kendall accepted the slaves, and, in return, furnished the 
man-of-war with the coveted provisions. In the mean while Capt. 
Butler came and assumed charge of the affairs of the Virginia 
Company, and dispossessed Kendall of his slaves, alleging that 
they were the property of the Earl of Warwick. He insisted 
that they were taken from the ship " Treasurer," ^ "with which 
the said Holland man-of-war had consorted." Chagrined, and 
wronged by Gov. Butler, Capt. Kendall hastened back to England 
to lay his case before the London Company, and to seek equity. 
The Earl of Warwick appeared in court, and claimed the Negroes 
as his property, as having belonged to his ship, " The Treasurer." 
Every thing that would embarrass Kendall was introduced by the 
earl. At length, as a final resort, charges were formally pre- 
ferred against him, and the matter referred to Butler for decision. 
Capt. Kendall did not fail to appreciate the gravity of his case, 
when charges were preferred against him in London, and the 
trial ordered before the man of whom he asked restitution ! The 
case remained in statu quo until July, 1622, when the court made 
a disposition of the case. Nine of the slaves were to be delivered 
to Capt. Kendall, "and the rest to be consigned to the company's 
use." This decision was reached by the court after the Earl of 
Warwick had submitted the case to the discretion and judicial 
impartiality of the judges. The court gave instructions to Capt. 
Bernard, who was then the governor, to see that its order was 

' Campbell, p. i.)4. - Btirk, Appendix, p. 316, Declaration of Virginia Company, 7tb May, 1623 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. I 19 

enforced. Hut while the order of the court was /// transitu, Ber- 
nard died. Tiie carl, learning of the event, immediately wrote a 
letter, representing that the slaves should not be delivered to 
Kendall; and an advantage being taken — purely technical — of 
the omission of the name of the captain of the Holland man-of- 
war, Capt. Kendall never secured his nine slaves. 

It should be noted, that while Rolfe, in Capt. Smith's history, 
fixes the number of slaves in the Dutch vessel at iwcnty, — as 
also does Beverley, — it is rather strange that the Council of 
Virginia, in 1623, should state that the commanding officer of the 
Dutch man-of-war told Capt. Kendall that " he had fourteen 
Negroes on boartl ! " ' Moreover, it is charged that the slaves 
taken by " The Treasurer " were divided up among the sailors ; 
and that they, having been cheated out of their dues, asked 
judicial interference.^ Now, these slaves from " The Treasurer " 
" were placed on the Earl of Warwick's lands in Bermudas, and 
there kept and detained to his Lortlship's use." There are several 
things apparent ; viz., that there is a mistake between the state- 
ment of the Virginia Council in their declaration of May 7, 
1623, about the number of slaves landed by the man-of-war, and 
the statements of Beverley and Smith. And if Stith is to be 
relied upon as to the slaves of "The Treasurer" having been 
taken to the " Earl of Warwick's lands in Bermudas, and there 
kept," his lordship's claim to the slaves Capt. Kendall got from 
the Dutch man-of-war was not founded in truth or ecpiity ! 

Whether the number was fourteen or twenty, it is a fact, 
beyond historical doubt, that the Colony of Virginia purchased 
the first Negroes, and thus opened up the nefarious traffic in 
human flesh. It is due to the Virginia Colony to say, that these 
slaves were forced upon them ; that they were taken in exchange 
for food given to relieve the hunger of famishing sailors ; that 
white servitude 3 was common, and many whites were convicts ■• 
from England ; and the extraordinary demand for laborers may 
have deadened the moral sensibilities of the colonists as to the 
enormity of the great crime to which they were parties. Women 
were sold for wives, 5 and sometimes were kidnapped ^ in England 
and sent into the colony. There was nothing in the moral atmos- 
phere of the colony inimical to the spirit of bondage that was 

' See Bulk, vol. i. p. 326. ^ Stith, Book III. pp. 153, 154. 

3 Beverley, 235, sq. ■* Campbell, 147. 

' Beverley, p. 248. ^ Court and Times of James First, ii. p. loS ; also, Neill p. 121. 



I20 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE hV AMERICA. 

manifest so early in tlie history of this people. England had" 
always held her sceptre over slaves of some character : villeins 
in the feudal era, stolen Africans under Elizabeth and under the 
house of the Tudors ; Caucasian children — whose German blood 
could be traced beyond the battle of Hastings — in her mines, 
factories, and mills ; and vanquished Brahmans in her Eastern 
possessions. How, then, could we expect less of these " knights " 
and "adventurers " who " degraded the human race by an exclusive 
respect for the privileged classes " .' ' 

The institution of slavery once founded, it is rather remarkable 
tliat its growth was so slow. According to the census of Feb. i6, 
1624, there were but twenty-two in the entire colony. ^ There 
were eleven at Flourdieu Hundred, three in James City, one on 
James Islar.d, one on the plantation opposite James City, four at 
Warisquoyak, and two at Elizabeth City. In 1648 the population 
of Virginia was about fifteen thousand, with a slave population of 
three hundred. j The cause of the slow increase of slaves was 
not due to any colonial prohibition. The men who were engaged 
in tearing unoffending Africans from their native home were some 
time learning that this colony was at this time a ready market for 
their helpless victims. Whatever feeling or scruple, if such ever 
existed, the colonists had in reference to the subject of dealing in 
the slave-trade, was destroyed at conception by the golden hopes 
of large gains. The latitude, the products of the soil, the demand 
for labor, the custom of the indenture of white servants, were 
abundant reasons why the Negro should be doomed to bondage 
for life. 

The subjects of slavery were the poor unfortunates that the 
strong push to the outer edge of organized African society, where, 
through neglect or abuse, they are consigned to the mercy of 
avarice and malice. We have already stated that the weaker 
tribes of Africa are pushed into the alluvial flats of that continent; 
where they have perished in large numbers, or have become the 
prey of the more powerful tribes, who consort with slave-hunters. 
Disease, tribal wars in Africa, and the merciless greed of slave- 
hunters, peopled the colony of Virginia with a class that was 
expected to till the soil. African criminals, by an immemorial 
usage, were sold into slavery as the highest penalty, save death ; 
and often this was preferred to bondage. Many such criminals 

' Bancroft, vol. i. 11.468. - Neill, p. 121. 3 Hist. Tracts, vol. ii. Tract viii. 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 12 1 

fouiid tlicir way into the colony. To be bondmen among neigh- 
boring tribes at home was dreaded beyond expression ; but to 
wear chains in a foreign land, to submit to the dehumanizing 
treatment of cruel taskmasters, was an ordeal that fanned into 
life the last dying ember of manhood and resentment. 

The character of the slaves imported, and the pitiable con- 
dition of the white servants, produced rather an anomalous result. 
"Male servants, and slaves of both se.\ " were bound together by 
the fellowship of toil. But the distinction "made between them 
in their clothes and food " " drew a line, not between their social 
condition, — for it was the same, — but between their nationality. 
I-'irst, then, was social estrangement, ne.xt legal difference, and 
last of all political disagreement and strife. In order to oppress 
the weak, and justify the unchristian distinction between God's 
creatures, the persons who would bolster themselves into respecta- 
bility must have the aid of law. Luther could march fearlessly to 
the Diet of Worms if every tile on the houses were a devil ; but 
Macbeth was conquered by the remembrance of the wrong he had 
done the virtuous Duncan and the unoffending Banquo, long before 
he was slain by Macduff. A guilty conscience always needs a 
multitude of subterfuges to guard against dreaded contingencies. 
So when the society in the Virginia Colony had made up its mind 
:hat the Negroes in their midst were mere heathen,- they stood 
ready to punish any member who had the temerity to cross the 
line drawn between the races. It was not a mitigating circum- 
stance that the white servants of the colony who came into 
natural contact with the Negroes were "disorderly persons," or 
convicts sent to Virginia by an order of the king of England. 
It w-as fixed by public sentiment and law that there should be 
no relation between the races. The first prohibition was made 
"September 17th, 1630." Hugh Davis, a white servant, was 
publicly flogged " before an assembly of Negroes and others," for 

defiling himself with a Negro. It was also required that he 

— ^ 
should confess as much on the following sabbath. 3^^^ 

In the winter of 1639, on the 6th of January, daring the 

incumbency of Sir Francis Wyatt, the General Assembly passed 

the first prohibition against Negroes. "All persons," doubtless 

including fraternizing Indians, "except Negroes," were required 

to secure arms and ammunition, or be subject to a fine, to be 

' Beverley, p. 236. - Campbell, p. 145. ' Hening, vol. i. p. 146; also p. 532. 



122 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

imposed by "the Governor and Council." ' Tlie records are too 
scanty, and it is impossible to judge, at this remote day, what was 
the real cause of this law. We have already called attention to 
the fact that the slaves were but a mere fraction of the summa 
sumniarum of the population. It could not be that the brave 
Virginians were afraid of an insurrection ! Was it another 
reminder that the " Negroes were heathen," and, therefore, not 
entitled to the privileges of Christian freemen .' It was not the 
act of that government, which in its conscious rectitude " can 
put ten thousand to flight," but was rather the inexcusable 
feebleness of a diseased conscience, that staggers off for refuge 

hen no man pursueth." 

Mr. Bancroft thinks that the " special tax upon female slaves " ' 
was intended to discourage the trafific") It does not so seem to us. 
(^It seems that the Virginia Assembly was endeavoring to establish 
friendly relations with the Dutch and other nations in order to 
secure " trade.'^ Tobacco was the chief commodity of the colo- 
nists. They intended by the act 3 of March, 1659,10 guarantee 
the most perfect liberty "to trade with " them. They required, 
however, that foreigners should " give bond and pay the impost of 
tenn shillings per hogshead laid upon all tobacco exported to any 
fforreigne dominions." The same act recites, that whenever any 
slaves were sold for tobacco, the amount of imposts would only 
be " two shillings per hogshead," which was only the nominal sum 
paid by the colonists themselves. This act was passed several 
A'ears before the one became a law that is cited by Mr. Bancroft. 
I It seems that much trouble had been experienced in determining 
who were taxable in the colony. It is very clear that the LIV^ 
Act of March, 1662, which Mr. Bancroft thinks was intended to 
discourage the importation of slaves by taxing female slaves, 
seeks only to determine who shall be taxable. It is a general law, 
declaring " that all male persons, of what age soever imported 
into this country shall be brought into lysts and be liable to the 
payment of all taxes, and all negroes, male and female being 
imported shall be accompted tythable, and all Indian servants male 
or female however procured being adjudged sixteen years of age 
shall be likewise tythable from which none shall be exempted." ^ 
Beverley says that "the male servants, and slaves of both sexes," 
were employed together. It seems that white women were so 

« Hening, vol. i. p 226. " Bancroft, vol. i. p. i;8. ' Hening, vol. i. p. 540. ' Ibid., vol. ii. p. 84. 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 123 

scarce as to be greatly respected. Ikit female Negroes and 
Indians were taxable ; although Indian children, unlike those of 
Negroes, were not held as slaves.' Under the LIV. Act there is 
but one class exempted from tax, — white females, and, we might 
add, persons under sixteen years of age.^ So what Mr. Bancroft 
mistakes as repressive legislation against the slave-trade is only 
an exemption of white women, and intended to encourage their 
coming into the colony, j 

VThc legal distinction'l)etween slaves and servants was, "slaves 
for life, and servants for a time." j Slavery existed from 1619 
until 1662, without any sanction in law. On the 14th of Decem- 
ber, 1662, the foundations of the slave institution were laid in the 
old law maxim, "Partus sequitnr veiitniin" — that the issue of 
slave mothers should follow their condition. 4 Two things were 
accomplished by this act ; viz., slavery received the direct sanction 
of statutory law, and it was also made hereditary^ On the 6th of 
March, 1655, — seven years before the time mentioned above, — 
an act was passed declaring that all Indian children brought into 
the colony by friendly Indians should not be treated as slaves, 5 
but be instructed in the trades.^ By implication, then, slavery 
existed legally at this time; but the act of 1662 was the first 
direct law on the subject. In 1670 a question arose as to whether 
Indians taken in war were to be servants for a term of years, or 
for life. The act passed on the subject is rather remarkable for 
the language in which it is couched ; showing, as it does, that it 
was made to relieve the Indian, and fix the term of the Negro's 
bondage beyond a reasonable doubt. " It is resolved and enacted 
that all servants not being christians imported into this colony 
by shipping shall be slaves for their lives ; but what shall come by 
land shall serve, if boyes or girles, until thirty yeares of age, if 
men or women twelve yeares and no longer." ? This remarkable 
act was dictated by fear and policy. No doubt the Indian was as 
thoroughly despised as the Negro ; but the Indian was on his 
native soil, and, therefore, was a more dangerous ^ subject. In- 
structed by the past, and fearful of the future, the sagacious colo- 
nists declared by this act, that those who "shall come by land " 
should not be assigned to servitude for life. While this act was 
passed to define the legal status of the Indian, at the same time, 

' Hening, vol. i. p. 396. ^ Burk, vol. ii. Appendix, p. xxiii. ^ Beverley, p. 235. 

* Hening, vol. ii. p. 170 ; see, also, vol. iii. p. 140. ' Beverley, p. 195. 

' Hening, vol. i. p. 396. ' Ibid., vol. ii. p. 2S3. ' Campbell, p. 160 ; also Bacon's Rebellion. 



124 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and with equal force, it determines the fate of the Negro who is so 
unfortunate as to find his way into the colony. "All servants not 
being christians imported into this colony by shipping shall be slaves 
for their lives." Thus, in 1670, Virginia, not abhorring the insti- 
tution, solemnly declared that "all servants not christians" — 
heathen Negroes — coming into her "colony by shipping" — 
there was no other way for them to come! — should "be slaves 
for their lives !" 

In 1682 the colony was in a flourishing condition. Opulence 
o-enerally makes men tyrannical, and great success in business 
makes them unmerciful. Although Indians, in special acts, had 
not been classed as slaves, but only accounted "servants for a 
term of years," the growing wealth and increasing number of the 
colonists seemed to justify them in throwing off the mask. The 
act of the 3d of October, 1670, defining who should be slaves, 
was repealed at the November session of the General Assembly 
of 1682. Indians were now made slaves,' and placed upon the 
same legal footing with the Negroes. The sacred rite of baptism - 
did not alter the condition of children — Indian or Negro — when 
born in slavery. And slavery, as a cruel and inhuman institution, 
flourished and magnified with each returning year. 

Encouraged by friendly legislation, the Dutch plied the slave- 
trade with a zeal equalled only by the enormous gains they reaped 
from the planters. It was not enough that faith had been broken 
with friendly Indians, and their children doomed by statute to 
the hell of perpetual slavery; it was not sufficient that the 
Indian and Negro were compelled to serve, unrequited, for their 
lifetime. On the 4th of October, 1705, "an act declaring the 
Negro, Mulatto, and Indian slaves, within this dominion, to be 
real estate," 3 was passed without a dissenting voice. Before this 
time they had been denominated by the courts as chattels : now 
they were to pass in law as real estate. There were, however, 
several provisos to this act. Merchants coming into the colony 
with slaves, not sold, were not to be affected by the act until the 
slaves had actually passed in a bond-fide sale. Until such time 
their slaves were contemplated by the law as chattels. In case a 
master died without lawful heirs, his slaves did not escheat, but 
were regarded as other personal estate or property. Slave prop- 



• Hening, voi. ii. pp. 490, 491. ^ Ibid., vol. ii. p. 260; see, also, vol. iii. p. 460. 

3 Ibid., vol. iii. p. 333. 



THE COLO.XY OF VIRGINIA. 1 25 

erty was liable to be taken in execution for the payment of debts, 
and was recoveral)le by a personal action." 

The only apolog;y for enslaving- the Negroes we can find in all 
the records of this colony is, that they " were heathen." Every 
statute, from the first to the last, during the period the colony was 
under the control of ICngland, carefully mentions that all persons 
— Indians and Negroes — who "arc not christians" are to be 
slaves. And their conversion to Christianity afterwards did not 
release them from their servitude.^ 

The act making Indian, Mulatto, and Negro slaves real prop- 
erty, passed in October, 1705, under the reign of Queen Anne, 
and by her approved, was "explained" and "amended" in 
February, 1727, during the reign of King George II. Whether 
the act received its being out of a desire to prevent fraud, like 
the "Statutes of Frauds," is beyond finding out. But it was an 
act that showed that slaverv had grown to be so conmion an 
institution as not to excite human sympathy. And the attempt 
to "explain" and "amend" its cruel provisions was but a faint 
[irecursor of the evils that followed. Innumerable lawsuits grew, 
out of the act, and the courts and barristers held to conflicting 
interpretations and constructions. Whether complaints were 
made to his Majesty, the king, the records do not relate ; or 
whether he was moved by feelings of humanity is quite as diffi- 
cult to understand. But on the 31st of October, 1751, he issued 
a proclamation repealing the act declaring slaves real cstate.3 
The proclamation abrogated nine other acts, and quite threw 
the colony into confusion. •* It is to be hoped that the king was 
animated by the noblest impulses in repealing one of the most 
dehumanizing laws that ever disgraced the government of any 
civilized people. The General Assembly, on the 15th of April, 
1752, made an appeal to the king, "humbly" protesting against 
the |)roclamation. The law-makers in the colony were inclined 
to doubt the king's prerogative in this matter. They called 
the attention of his Majesty to the fact that he had given the 
" Governor " " full power and authority with the advice and 
consent of the council " to make needful laws ; but they failed 

^ Henin;;. vol. iii. pp. 334, 335. ^ Ibid., vol. iii. p. 448; sec, also, vol. v. p. 54S. 

' Hildrctli, in his History of the United States, says that the law making " Negroes, Mubt- 
toes, and Indi.ins " real estate "continued to be ths law so long as Virginia remained a British 
colony." This is a mistake, as the reader can see. The law was repealed nearly a quarter of a 
century before V^irginia ceased to be a British colony. 

» Ilening, vol. v. p. 432, iq. 



126 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

to realize fully that his Majesty, in accordance with the proviso 
contained in the grant of authority made to the governor and 
council of the colony, was using his veto. They recited the 
causes which induced them to enact the law, recounted the 
benefits accruing to his Majesty's subjects from the conversion 
of human beings into real property,' and closed with a touching 
appeal for the retention of the act complained of, so that slaves 
" might not at the same time be real estate in some respects, personal 
in others, and bothe in others ! " History does not record that the 
brusque old king was at all moved by this earnest appeal and con- 
vincing argument of the Virginia Assembly. 

In 1699 the government buildings at James City were de- 
stroyed. The General Assembly, in an attempt to devise means 
to build a new Capitol, passed an act on the nth of April of the 
aforesaid year, fi.xing a "duty on servants and slaves imported " ^ 
into the colony. Fifteen shillings was the impost tax levied upon 
every servant imported, " not born in England or Wales, and 
twenty shillings for every Negro or other slave" thus imported. 
The revenue arising from this tax on servants and slaves was 
to go to the building of a new Capitol. Every slave-vessel 
was inspected by a customs-officer. The commanding officer of 
the vessel was required to furnish the names and number of the 
servants and slaves imported, the place of their birth, and pay 
the duty imposed upon each before they were permitted to be 
landed. This act was to be in force for the space of " three years 
from the publication thereof, and no longer." 3 But, in the 
summer of 1701, it was continued until the 25th day of Decem- 
ber, 1703. The act was passed as a temporary measure to secure 
revenue with which to build the Capitol. 4 Evidently it was not 
intended to remain a part of the code of the colony. In 1732 it 
was revived by an act, the preamble of which leads us to infer 
that the home government was not friendly to its passage. In 
short, the act is preceded by a prayer for permission to pass it. 
Whatever may have been the feeling in England in reference to 
levying imposts upon servants and slaves, it is certain the colonists 
were in hearty accord with the spirit and letter of the act. It 
must be clear to every honest student of history, that there never 
was, up to this time, an attempt made to cure the growing evils of 



' Beverley, p. 98. = Hening, vol. iii, pp. igj, 194. 

3 Hening, vol. iii. p. 195. « Bulk, vol. ii. Appendix, p. xxU. 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 127 

slavery. When a tax was im[ioscd upon slaves imported, the object 
in view was the reiilcnishins:; of the coffers of the colonial govern- 
ment. In 1734 another act was passed taxing imported slaves, 
because it had "been found very easy to tiie .subjects of this colony, 
and no way.s burthcnsonie to the traders in sla\'es." The addi- 
tional reason for continuing the law was, "that a competent reve- 
nue" might be raised " for preventing or lessening a poll-tax."' 
And in 1738, this law being "found, by experience, to be an easy 
expedient for raising a revenue towards the lessening a pooll- 
tax, always grievous to the people of this colony, and is in no way 
burthensom to the traders in slaves," it was re-enacted. In every 
instance, through all these years, the imposition of a tax on slaves 
imported into the colony had but one end in view, — the raising 
of revenue. In 1699 the end sought through the taxing of im- 
ported slaves was the building of the Capitol ; in 1734 it was to 
lighten the burden of taxes on the subjects in the colony ; but, in 
1740, the object was to get funds to raise and transport troops in 
his Majesty's service.- The original duty remained ; and an addi- 
tional levy of five per centum was rccpiired on each slave imported, 
over and above the twenty shillings required by previous acts. 

In 1742 the tax was continueil, because it was "necessary" 
"to discharge the public debts." j And again, in 1745, it vas 
Still believed to be necessary "for supporting the public 
expense." ■♦ The act, in a legal sense, expired by limitation, 
but in spirit remained in full force until revived by the acts of 
I75--53-5 III the spring of 1755 the General Assembly increased 
the tax on imported slaves above the amount previously fixed by 
law.*' The duty at this time was ten per centum on each slave 
sold into the colony. The same law was reiterated in 1757,7 and, 
when it had expired by limitation, was revived in 1759, to be in 
force for " the term of seven years from thence next following." ^ 

I'jicouraged by the large revenue derived from the tax 
imposed on servants and slaves imported into the colony from 
foreign parts, the General Assembly stood for the revival of the 
impost-tax. The act of 1699 required the tax at the hands of 
"the importer," and from as many persons as engaged in the 
slave-trade who were subjects of Great Britain, and residents of 
the colony ; but the tax at length became a burden to them. In 

* Hening, vol. iv. p. 394. = 15,^^^ vol. v, pp. 92, 93. ^ Ibid., vol. v. pp. 160, 161. 

* Ibid., vol. V. pp. 31S, 319. ' Ibid., vol. vi. pp. 217, 21S. " Ibid., vol. vii. p. 466. 
' Ibid., vol. vii. p. Si. » Ibid., vol. vii. p. 281. 



128 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

order to evade the law and escape the tax, they frequently went 
into Maryland and the Carolinas, and bought slaves, ostensibly 
for their own private use, but really to sell in the local market. 
To prevent this, an act was passed imposing a tax of twenty per 
centum on all such sales ; ' but there was a great outcry made 
against this act. Twenty per centum of the gross amount on 
each slave, paid by the person making the purchase, was a bur- 
den that planters bore with ill grace. The question of the reduc- 
tion of the tax to ten per centum was vehemently agitated. The 
argument offered in favor of the reduction was three-fold ; viz., 
"very burthensom to the fair purchaser," inimical " to the settle- 
ment and improvement of the lands" in the colony, and a great 
hinderance to "the importation of slaves, and thereby lessens the 
fund arising upon the duties upon slaves." - The reduction was 
made in May, 1760; and, under additional pressure, the addi- 
tional duty on imported slaves to be "paid by the buyer" was 
taken off altogether.3 But in 1766 the duty on imported slaves 
was revived ; 4 and in 1772 an act was passed reviving the 
"additional duty" on "imported slaves, and was continued in 
force until the colonies threw off the British yoke in 1775." 5 

In all this epoch, from 1619 down to 1775, there is not a scrap 
of history to prove that the colony of Virginia ever sought to 
prohibit in any manner the importation of slaves. That she 
encouraged the traffic, we have abundant testimony; and that 
she enriched herself by it, no one can doubt. 

During the period of which we have just made mention above, 
the slaves in this colony had no political or military rights. As 
early as 1639,'^ '^h'^ Assembly excused 'Cn^Ki from owning "or carry- 
ing arms; and in 1705 they were barred by a special act from 
holding or exercising "any office, ecclesiastical, civil, or military, 
or any place of publick trust or power," 7 in the colony. If found 
with a "gun, sword, club, staff, or other weopon," ^ they were 
turned over to the constable, who was required to administer 
"twenty lashes on his or her bare back." There was but one 
exception made. Where Negro and Indian slaves lived on the 
border of the colony, frequently harassed by predatory bands of 
hostile Indians, they could bear arms by first getting written 

' Hening, vol. vii. p. 338. -' Ibid., vol. vii. p. 363. ^ Ibid., vol. vii. p. 3S3. 

< Ibid., vol. viii. pp. 190, 191, 237, 336, 337. 5 Ibid., vol. viii. pp. 530, 532. 

^ Ibid., vol. i. p. 226. ^ Ibid., vol. iii. p. 251. 

' Ibid., vol. iii. p. 459 ; also vol. iv. p. 131, vol. vi. p. 109, and vol. ii. p. 4S1. 



THE COLUyy OF VIRGIMA. 1 29 

license from their master ; ' but even then they were kept under 
surveillance by the whites. 

Personal rights, we cannot sec that the slaves had any. They 
were not allowed to leave the plantation on which they were held 
as chattel or real estate, without a written certificate or pass from 
their master, which was only granted under the most urgent cir- 
cumstances.- If they dared lift a hand against any white man, 
or " Christian " (?) as they loved to call themselves, they were 
punished by thirty lashes ; and if a slave dared to resist his mas- 
ter while he was correcting him, he could be killed"; ami the 
master would be guiltless in the eyes of the law.3 If a slave 
remained on another plantation more than four hours, his master 
was liable to a fine of two hundred pounds of tabacco.4 And if 
any white person had any commercial dealings with a slave, he 
was liable to imprisonment for one month without bail, and com- 
pelled to give security in the sum of ten pounds.5 If a slave had 
earned and owned a horse and buggy, it was lawful to seize 
them ; " and the church-warden was charged with the sale of the 
articles. Even with the full permission of his master, if a .slave 
were found going about the colony trading any articles for his or 
master's profit, his master was liable to a fine of ten pounds ; 
which fine went to the church-warden, for the benefit of the poor 
of the parish in which the slave did the trading.7 

In all the matters ot law, civil and criminal, the slave had no 
rights. Under an act of 1705, Catholics, Indian and Negro slaves, 
were denied the right to appear as "witnesses in any cases 
whatsoever," "not being christians ;" ^ but this was modified 
somewhat in 1732, when Negroes, Indians, and Mulattoes were 
admitted as witnesses in the trial of slaves.' In criminal causes 
the slave could be arrested, cast into prison, tried, and con- 
demned, with but one witness against him, and sentenced with- 
out a jury. The solemnity and dignity of "trial by jury," of 
which Englishmen love to boast, was not allowed the criminal 
slave. '° And, when a slave was executed, a value was fixed upon 
him ; and the General Assembly was required to make an appro-. 
priation covering the value of the slave to indemnify the master." 
More than five slaves meeting together, "to rebel or make insur- 

' Hcning., vol. vi. p. no. ^ Ibid., vol. ii. p. 4S1. ' Ibid., vol. ii. p. 270. 

' Ibid., vol. ii. p. 493. 5 Ibid., vol. iii. p. 451. '" Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 459, 460. 

' Ibid., vol. viii. p. 360. ' Ibid., vol. iii. p. 298. 9 Ibid., vol. iv. p. 327. 

'" Ibid., vol. iii. p. 103. " Ibid., vol. iii. p. 270, and vol. iv. p. 12S. 



I30 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

rection " was considered " felony ; " and they were liable to " suf- 
fer death, and be utterly excluded the benefit of clergy ; " ' but, 
where one slave was guilty of manslaughter in killing another 
slave, he was allowed the benefit of clergy.^ In case of burglary 
by a slave, he was not allowed the benefit of the clergy, except 
"said breaking, in the case of a freeman, would be burglary." 3 
And the only humane feature in the entire code of the colony was 
an act passed in 1772, providing that no slave should be con- 
demned to suffer " unless four of the judges " before whom he is 
tried " concur." 4 

The free Negroes of the colony of Virginia were but little 
removed by law from their unfortunate brothers in bondage. 
Their freedom was the act of individuals, with but one single 
exception. In 17 10 a few recalcitrant slaves resolved to offer 
armed resistance to their masters, whose treatment had driven 
them to the verge of desperation. A slave of Robert Ruffin, of 
Surry County, entered into the plot, but afterwards revealed it to 
the masters of the rebellious slaves. As a reward for his services, 
the General Assembly, on the 9th of October, 1710, gave him his 
manumission papers, with the added privilege to remain in the 
colony. 5 For the laws of the colony required " that no negro, 
mulatto, or Indian slaves " should be set free "except for some 
meritorious services." The governor and council were to decide 
upon the merits of the services, and then grant a license to the 
master to set his slave at liberty.^ If any master presumed to 
emancipate a slave without a license granted according to the act 
of 1723, his slave thus emancipated could be token up by the 
church-warden for the parish in which the master of the slave 
resided, and sold "by public outcry." The money accruing from 
such sale was to be used for the benefit of the parish.? But if a 
slave were emancipated according to law, the General Assembly 
paid the master so much for him, as in the case of slaves executed 
by the authorities. But it was seldom that emancipated persons 
were permitted to remain in the colony. By the act of 1699 they 
were required to leave the colony within six months after they 
had secured their liberty, on pain of having to pay a fine of " ten 
pounds sterling to the church-wardens of the parish;" which 
money was to be used in transporting the liberated slave out of 

' Henin;, vol. iv. p. 126, and vol. vi. p. 104, sq. ^ Ibid., vol. viii. p. 139. 

3 Ibid., vol. viii. p. 522. ^ Ibid., vol. viii. p. 523. s Ibid., vol. iii. pp. 536, 537. 

•> Ibid., vol. iv. p. 132. ' Ibid., vol. vi. p. 112. 



THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA. 131 

the country.' If slave women came in possession of their free- 
dom, the law sought them out, and required of them to pay taxes ; ^ 
a burden from which their white sisters, and even Indian women, 
were exempt. 

If free Colored persons in the colony ever had the right of 
franchise, there is certainly no record of it. Wo infer, however, 
from the act of 1723, that previous to that time they had exercised 
the voting privilege. For that act declares "that no free negro 
shall hereafter have any vote at the election." .i Perhaps they had 
had a vote previous to this time ; but it is mere conjecture, unsup- 
]K)rtcd by historical proof. Being denied the right of suffrage did 
not shield them from taxation. All free Negroes, male and female, 
were compelled to pay ta.\cs.4 They contributed to the support 
of the colonial government, and yet they had no voice in the 
government. They contributed to the building of schoolhouses, 
but were denied the blessings of education. 

Free Negroes were enlisted in the militia service, but were 
not permitted to bear arms. They had to attend the trainings, 
but were assigned the most servile duties. 5 They built fortifica- 
tions, pitched and struck tents, cooked, drove teams, and in some 
instances were employed as musicians. Where free Negroes 
were acting as housekeepers, they were allowed to have fire- 
arms in their possession;'' and if they lived on frontier planta- 
tions, as we have made mention already, they were permitted to 
use arms under the direction of their employers. 
I In a moral and religious sense, the slaves of the colony of 
Virginia received little or no attention from the Christian Church. 
All intercourse was cut off between the races. Intermarrying of 
whites and blacks was prohibited by severe laws.7 And the most 
common civilities and amenities of life were frowned down when 
intended for a Negro. The plantation was as religious as the 
Church, and the Church was as secular as the plantation. The 
" white christians " hated the Negro, and the Church bestowed 
upon him a most bountiful amount of neglect.** Instead of receiv- 
ing religious instruction from the clergy, slaves were given to 
them in part pay for their ministrations to the whites, — for their 
"use and encouragement." 9 It was as late as 1756 before any 

' Hening, vol. iii. pp. S7, SS. = Ibid., vol. ii. p. 267. ' Ibid., vol. iv. pp. 133, 134. 

* Ibid., vol. iv. p. 133. 5 Ibid., vol. vii. p. 95 ; and vol. vi. p. 533. 

"■ Ibid., vol. iv. p. 131. 7 Ibid., vol. iii. p. S7. « Campbell, p. 529. 

' Bulk, vol. ii. Appendix, p. xiii. 



132 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

white minister had the piety and courage to demand instruction 
for the slaves." The prohibition against instruction for these 
poor degraded vassals is not so much a marvel after all. For in 
1670, when the white population was forty thousand, servants six 
thousand, and slaves two thousand, Sir William Berkeley, when 
inquired of by the home government as to the condition of educa- 
tion in the colony, replied : — 

'•The same course that is taken in England out of towns, — every man 
according to his abihty instructing his children. We have forty-eight parishes, 
and our ministers are well paid, and by my consent should be better ?y //^rj/ 
it'ouhi prav oftener and preach less. But of all other commodities, so of this, 
the worst are sent lis, and we had few that we could boast of, since the persecu- 
tion of Cromwell's tyranny drove divers worthy men hither. But I thank God, 
there are no free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have these hun- 
dred years : for learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into 
the world; and /;7«//«_^ has divulged them, and libels against the best govern- 
ment. God keep us from both ! " = 

Thus was the entire colony in ignorance and superstition, 
and it was the policy of the home government to keep out the 
light. The sentiments of Berkeley were applauded in official 
circles in England, and most rigorously carried out by his suc- 
cessor who, in 1682, with the concurrence of the council, put John 
Buckner under bonds for introducing the art of printing into the 
colony.3 This prohibition continued until 1733. If the whites 
of the colony were left in ignorance, what must have been the 
mental and moral condition of the slaves ? The ignorance of the 
whites made them the pliant tools of the London Company, and 
the Negroes in turn were compelled to submit to a condition "of 
rather rigorous servitude." -t This treatment had its reflexive 
infiuence on the planters. Men fear most the ghosts of their sins, 
and for cruel deeds rather e.xpect and dread " the reward in the 
life that nmv is." So no wonder Dinwiddie wrote the father of 
Charles James Fox in 1758: "We dare not venture to part with 
any of our white men any distance, as we must have a watchful 
eye over our negro slaves." 

In 1648, as we mentioned some pages back, there were about 
three himdred slaves in the colony. Slow coming at first, but at 
length they began to increase rapidly, so that in fifty years they 



^ Foot's Sketches, First Series, p. 291. - Henlng, vol. ii. p. 517. 

3 Hening, vol. ii. p. 518. •• Campbell, p. 3SJ. 



THE COLONY OF VIRGIXIA. 133 

had increased one hundred per cent. In 1671 they were two 
thousand strong, and all, up to that date, direct from Africa. In 
1 71 5 there were twenty-three thousand slaves against seventy -two 
thousand whites." By the year 1758 the slave population had 
increased to the alarming number of over one hundred thousand, 
which was a little less than the numerical strength of the whites. 
' During this period of a century and a half, slavery took deep 
root in the colony of Virginia, and attained unwieldy and alarming 
proportions. It had sent its dark death-roots into the fibre and 
organism of the political, judicial, social, and religious life of the 
people. It was crystallized now into a domestic institution. It 
existed in contemplation of legislative enactment, and had high 
judicial recognition through the solemn forms of law. The 
Church had proclaimed it a " sacred institution," and the clergy 
had covered it with the sanction of their ecclesiastical office. 
There it stood, an organized system, — the dark problem of the 
uncertain future : more terrible to the colonists in its awful, spec- 
tral silence during the years of the Revolution than the victorious 
suns of the French and Continental armies, which startled the 
English lion from his hurtful hold at the throat of white men's 
liberties — black men had no country, no liberty — in this new 
world in the West. But, like the dead body of the Roman mur- 
derer's victim, slavery was a curse that pursued the colonists ever- 
more. 



■ Clialmers's American Colonies, vol. ii. p. 7. 



134 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 
1628-1775. 

Settlement of New Yohk nv the Dutch in 1609. — Neckoes introduced into the Colony, 
1628. —The Tkade in Negroes inckeased.— Tobacco exchanged for Slaves and Mer- 
chandise. —Government ok the Colony. — New Netherland falls into the Hands of 
the English, Aug. 27, 1664. —Various Changes. — New Laws^ adopted. — Legislation. — 
First Representatives elected in 1683. — In 1702 Queen Anne instructs the Royal Gov- 
ernor IN Regard to the Importation of Slaves. — Slavery Restrictions. — Expedition to 
effect the Conquest of Canada unsuccessful.— Necro Riot. — Suppressed dy the Effi- 
cient Aid of Troops. — Fears of the Colonists. — Negro Plot of 1741. — The Rodf.ery 
OF Hogg's House. —Discovery of a Portion of the Goods. — The Arrest of Hughson, 
HIS Wife, and Irish Peggy. — Crimination and Recrimination. — The Breaking-out of 
Numerous Fires.— The Arrest of Spanish Negroes. — The Trial of Hughson. — Testi- 
mony of Mary Burton. — Hughson hanged.— The Arrest of many Others implicated in 
THE Plot. — The Hanging of C/Esar and Prince. — Quack and Cuffee eurned at the 
Stake. — The Lieutenant-Governor's Proclamation. — Many White Persons accused of 
BEING CoNspiR.^TORS.- Description of Huchson's Manner of Swearing those having 
Knowledge of the Plot. — Conviction and Hanging of the Catholic Priest Ury. — The 
Sudden and Unexpected Termination of the Trial. — New Laws more Stringent 
toward Slaves adopted. 

FROM the settlement of New York by the Dutch in 1609, 
down to its conquest by the English in 1664, there is no 
reliable record of slavery in that colony. That the institu- 
tion was coeval with the Holland government, there can be no 
historical doubt. During the half-century that the Holland flag 
waved over the New Netherlands, slavery grew to such proportions 
as to be regarded as a necessary evil. As early as 162S the iras- 
cible slaves from Angola," Africa, were the fruitful source of wide- 
spread public alarm. A newly settled country demanded a hardy 
and energetic laboring class. Money was scarce, the colonists 
poor, and servants few. The numerous physical obstructions 
across the path of material civilization suggested cheap but effi- 
cient labor. White servants were few, and the cost of securing 
them from abroad was a great hinderance to their increase. The 
Dutch had possessions on the coast of Guinea and in Brazil, and 

■ Biodhead's History of New York, vol. i. p. 1S4. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 135 

hence they found it cheap and convenient to import slaves to 
perform the labor of tlie colony.' 

The early slaves went into the pastoral communities, worked 
on the public highways, and served as valets in private families. 
Their increase was stealthy, their conduct insubordinate, and 
their presence a distressing nightmare to the apprehensive and 
conscientious. 

The West India Com[):iny had offered many inducements to 
its patroons.^ And its pledge to furni.sh the colonists with "as 
many blacks as they conveniently could," was scrupulously per- 
formed. 3 In addition to the slaves furnished by the vessels plying 
between Brazil and the coast of Guinea, many Spanish and Portu- 
guese prizes were brought into the Netherlands, where the slaves 
were made the chattel property of the com[)any. An urgent and 
extraordinary demand for labor, rather than the cruel desire to 
traffic in human beings, led the Dutch to encourage the bringing 
of Negro slaves. Scattered widely among the whites, treated often 
with the humanity that characterized the treatment bestowed upon 
the white servants, there was little said about slaves in this period. 
The majority of them were employed upon the farms, and led 
quiet anil sober lives. The largest farm owned by the company 
was "cultivated by the blacks ;" "^ and tliis fact was recorded as 
early as the 19th of April, 1638, by "Sir William Kieft, Director- 
General of New Netherland." And, although the references to 
slaves and slavery in the records of Amsterdam are incidental, 
yet it is plainly to be seen that the institutit)n was purely patri- 
archal during nearly all the period the Hollanders held the 
Netherlands. 

Manumission of slaves was not an infrequent event.5 Some- 
times it was done as a reward for meritorious services, and some- 
times it was prompted by the holy impulses of humanity and 
justice. The most cruel thing done, however, in this period, was 
to hold as slaves in the service of the company the children of 
Negroes who were lawfully manumitted. "All their children 
already born, or yet to be born, remained obligated to serve the 
company as slaves." In eases of emergency the liberated fathers 
of these bond children were required to serve " by water or by 
land " in the defence of the Holland government.'' It is gratifv- 



' O'Callaghan's History of New Netherlands, pp. 3S4, 3S5. - BrotJhcad, vol. i. p. 194. 

3 Ibid., vol. i. pp. 196, 197, * Dunlap's History of New York, vol. i. p. 58. 

5 O'Callaghan, p. 3S5. ^ Van Ticnhovcn. 



136 HISTORY OF THE yEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

ing, however, to find the recorded indignation of some of the best 
citizens of the New Netherlands against the enslaving of the chil- 
dren of free Negroes. It was severely denounced, as contrary to 
justice and in "violation of the law of nature." "How any one 
born of a free Christian mother " could, notwithstanding, be a 
slave, and be obliged to remain such, passed their comprehension.' 
It was impossible for them to explain it." And, although " they 
were treated just like Christians," the moral sense of the people 
could not excuse such a flagrant crime against humanity.^ 

Director-General Sir William Kieft's unnecessary war, "with- 
out the knowledge, and much less the order, of the XIX., and 
against the will of the Commonality there," had thrown the 
Province into great confusion. Property was depreciating, and a 
feeling of insecurity seized upon the people. Instead of being a 
source of revenue, New Netherlands, as shown by the books of the 
Amsterdam Chamber, had cost the company, from 1626 to 1644, 
inclusive, " over five hundred and fifty thousand guilders, deducting 
the returns received from there." It was to be expected that the 
slaves would share the general feeling of uneasiness and expect- 
ancy. Something had to be done to stay the panic so imminent 
among both classes of the colonists, bond and free. The Bureau 
of Accounts made certain propositions to the company calculated 
to act as a tonic upon the languishing hopes of the people. After 
reciting many methods by which the Province was to be rejuven- 
ated, it was suggested " that it would be wise to permit the 
patroons, colonists, and other farmers to import as many Negroes 
from the Brazils as they could purchase for cash, to assist them 
on their farms ; as (it was maintained) these slaves could do more 
work for their masters, and were less expensive, than the hired 
laborers engaged in Holland, and conveyed to New Netherlands, 
"by means of nuicli money and large promises." i 

Nor was the substitution of slave labor for white a temporary 
expedient. Again in 1661 a loud call for more slaves was heard. •» 
In the October treaty of the same year, the Dutch yielded to the 
seductive offer of the English, "to deliver two or three thousand 
hogsheads of tobacco annually ... in return for negroes and 
merchandise." At the first the Negro slave was regarded as a 
cheap laborer, — a blessing to the Province ; but after a while the 



' Hildretli, vol. i, p. 441 ; also Hoi. Doc, 111. p. 351 = Annals of Albany, vol. ii. pp. 5^-60. 
' O'Callaghan, p. 353. N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. ii. pp. 36S, 369. •• Brodhead, vol. i. p. 697. 



THE COLONY OF A/: If YORK. 137 

cupidity of the Englisli induced the Ilollanders to regard the 
Negro as a coveted, marketable chattel. 

"In its scheme of political administration, the West-India Companj' ex- 
hibited too often a mercantile and selfish spirit; and in encouraging commerce 
in Negro slaves, it established an institution which subsisted many generations 
after its authority had ceased." ■ 

The Dutch colony was governed by the Dutch and Roman 
law. The government was tripartite, — executive, legislative, and 
jiulicial, — all vested in, and exercised by, the governor and coim- 
cil. There seemed to be but little or no necessity for legislation 
on the slavery question. The Negro seemed to be a felt need in 
the Province, and was regarded with some consideration by the 
kind-hearted Hollanders. Benevolent and social, they desired to 
see all around them happy. The enfranchised African might and 
did obtain a freehold ; while the Negro who remained under an 
institution of patriarchal simplicity, scarcely knowing he was in 
bondage, danced merrily at the best, in "kermis," at Christmas 
and Pinckster.- There were, doubtless, a few cases where the 
slaves received harsh treatment from their masters ; but, as a rule, 
the jolly Dutch fed and clothed their slaves as well as their white 
servants. There were no severe rules to strip the Negroes of 
their personal rights, — such as social amusements or public feasts 
when their labors had been completed. Diu-ing this entire i)eriod, 
they went and came among their class without let or hinderance. 
They were married, and given in marriage ;> they sowed, and, in 
many instances, gathered an equitable share of the fruits of their 
labors. If there were no schools for them, there were no laws 
against an honest attempt to acquire knowledge at seasonable 
times. The Hollanders built their government upon the hearth- 
stone, believing it to be the earthly rock of ages to a nation that 
would build wisely for the future. And while it is true that they 
regarded commerce as the life-blood of the material existence of a 
people, they nevertheless found their inspiration for multifarious 
duties in the genial sunshine of the family circle. A nation thus 
constituted could not habilitate slavery with all the hideous 
features it wore in Virginia and Massachusetts. The slaves could 
not escape the good influences of the mild government of the 
New Netherlands, nor could the Hollanders withhold the bright- 
ness and goodness of their hearts from their domestic slaves. 

' Brodhead, vol. i. p. 746. = Ibid., vol. i. p. 74S. ' Valentine's M.inu.il for 1S61, pp. 640-O64. 



138 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

On the 27th of August, 1664, New Netherlands fell into the 
hands of the English; and the city received a new name, — New 
York, after the famous Duke of York. When the English colors 
were run up over Fort Amsterdam, it received a new name, " Fort 
James." In the twenty-four articles in which the Hollanders 
surrendered their Province, there is no direct mention of slaves or 
slavery. The only clause that might be construed into a reference 
to the slaves is as follows : " IV. If any inhabitant have a mind 
to remove himself, he shall have a year and six weeks from this 
day to remove himself, wife, children, servants, goods, and to 
dispose of his lands here." There was nothing in the articles of 
capitulation hostile to slavery in the colony. 

During the reign of Elizabeth, the English government gave 
its royal sanction to the slave-traffic. "In 1562 Sir John Hawk- 
ins, Sir Lionel Duchet, Sir Thomas Lodge, and Sir William 
Winter" — all "honorable men" — became the authors of the 
greatest curse that ever afflicted the earth. Hawkins, assisted by 
the aforenamed gentlemen, secured a ship-load of Africans from 
Sierra Leone, and sold them at Hispaniola. Many were murdered 
on the voyage, and cast into the sea. The story of this atrocity 
coming to the ears of the queen, she was horrified. She sum- 
moned Hawkins into her presence, in order to rebuke him for his 
crime against humanity. He defended his conduct with great 
skill and eloquence. He persuaded her Royal Highness that it 
was an act of humanity to remove the African from a bad to a 
better country, from the influences of idolatry to the influences 
of Christianity. Elizabeth afterwards encouraged the slave- 
trade. 

So when New Netherlands became an English colony, slavery 
received substantial official encouragement, and the slave became 
the subject of colonial legislation. 

The first laws under the English Government were issued 
under the patent to the Duke of York, on the 1st of March, 
1665, and were known as "the Duke's Laws." It is rather 
remarkable that they were fashioned after the famous " Massa- 
chusetts Fundamentals," adopted in 1641. Tbese laws have the 
following caption : " Laws collected out of the several laws noiu in 
force in his majesty's American colonies and plantations." The 
first mention of slavery is contained in a section under the 
caption of "Bond Slavery." 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 1 39 

"No Cliristian sliall be kept in Honclslavery, villenage, or Captivity, Except 
Such wlio sliall be Judged thereunto by Authority, or such as willing have sold 
or shall sell themselves, In which Case a Record of Such servitude shall be 
entered in the Court of Sessions held for that Jurisdiction where Such Masters 
shall Inhabit, provided that nothing in the Law Contained shall be to the preju- 
dice of Master or Dame who have or shall by any Indenture or Covenant take 
Apprentices for Terme of Years, or other Servants for Term of years or Life." ' 

By turning to the first chapter on Massachusetts, the reader 
will observe that the above is the Massachusetts law of 1641 
with but a very slight alteration. We find no reference to 
slavery directly, and the word slave docs not occur in this code at 
all. Article 7, under the head of " Capital Laws," reads as fol- 
lows : " If any person forcibly stealeth or carrieth away any man- 
kind he shall he [nit to death." 

On the 27th of January, 1683, Col. Thomas Dongan was sent 
to New York as its governor, and charged with carrying out 
a long list of instructions laid down by his Royal Highness 
the Duke of York. Gov. Dongan arrived in New York during 
the latter part of August ; and on the 13th of September, 1683, the 
council sitting at Fort James promulgated an order calling upon 
the people to elect representatives. On the 17th October, 1683, 
the General Assembly met for the first time at Fort James, in the 
city of New York. It is a great misfortune that the journals of 
both houses are lost. The titles of the Acts passed have been 
preserved, and so far we are enabled to fairly judge of the charac- 
ter of the legislation of the new assembly. On the ist Novem- 
ber, 16S3, the Assembly passed "An Act for natumliziui^ all those 
of foreign nations at present inhabiting within this province and 
professing Christianity, and for encouragement for others to come 
and settle within the same." ^ This law was re-enacted in 1715, 
and provided, that " nothing contained in this Act is to be con- 
strued to discharge or set at liberty any servant, bondman or 
slave, but only to have relation to such persons as are free at the 
making hereof." 3 

So the mild system of domestic slavery introduced by the 
Dutch now received the sanction of positive British law. Most 
of the slaves in the Province of New York, from the time they 
were first introduced, down to 1664, had been the property of the 
West-India Company. As such they had small plots of land to 

' New York Hist. Coll., vol. i. pp. 322, 323. ^ Journals of Legislative Council, vol. i. p xii. 
^ Bradford's Laws, p. 125. 



I40 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

work for tlieir own benefit, and were not without hope of emanci- 
pation some day. But under the English government the condi- 
tion of the slave was clearly defined by law and one of great 
hardships. On the 24th of October, 1684, an Act was passed in 
which slavery was for the first time regarded as a legitimate 
institution in the Province of New York under the English 
government.' 

The slave-trade grew. New York began to feel the necessity 
of a larger number of slaves. In 1702 her "most gracious 
majesty," Queen Anne, among many instructions to the royal 
governor, directed that the people " take especial care, that God 
Almighty be devoutly and duly served," and that the " Royal 
African Company of England " " take especial care that the said 
Province may have a constant and sufificient supply of merchanta- 
ble Negroes, at moderate, rates." ^ It was a marvellous zeal that 
led the good cjucen to build up the Church of England alongside 
of the institution of human slavery. It was an impartial zeal 
that sought their mutual growth, — the one intended by our divine 
Lord to give mankind absolute liberty, the other intended by man 
to rob mankind of the great boon of freedom ! But with the 
sanction of statutory legislation, and the silent accjuicscence of 
the Church, the foundations of the institution of slavery were 
firmly laid in the approving conscience of a selfish public. 
Dazzled by prospective riches, and unscrupulous in the methods 
of accumulations, the people of the Province of New York clam- 
ored for more exacting laws by which to govern the slaves. 3 
Notwithstanding Lord Cornbury had received the following 
instructions from the crown, " you shall endeavor to get a law 
passed for the restraining of any inhuman severity ... to find 
out the best means to facilitate and encourage the conversion of 
Negroes and Indians to the Christian religion," the Colonial 
Assembly (the same year, 1702) passed severe laws against the 
slaves. It was '^ An Act for regulating slaves" but was quite 
lengthy and specific. It was deemed "not lawful to trade zvitk 
negro slaves" and the violation of this law was followed by fine 
and imprisonment. " N^ot above three slaves may meet together:" 
if they did they were liable to be whipped by a justice of the 
peace, or sent to jail. "A eoinmon lohipper to be appointed" 



' Journals, etc., N.Y., vol. i. p. xiii. " Dunlap's Hist, of N.V., vol. i. p. 260. 

5 Booth's Hist, of N.Y., vol. i. p. 270-272. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 14 1 

showed that the justices had iimre physical exercise than they 
cared for. 'M slave not to strike a fircDiau" indicated that the 
slaves in New York as in Virginia were accounted as heathen. 
" Penalty for concealing slaves," and the punishment of Negroes 
for stealing, etc., were rather severe, but only indicated the temper 
of the people at that time.' 

The recommendations to have Negro and Indian slaves bap- 
tized gave rise to considerable discussion and no little alarm. As 
was shown in the chapter on Virginia, the proposition to bap- 
tize slaves did not meet with a hearty indorsement from the 
master-class. The doctrine had obtained in most of the colonies, 
that a man was a freeman by virtue of his membership in a 
Christian church, and hence eligible to office. To escape the 
logic of this position, the dealer in human fiesh sought to bar 
the door of the Church against the slave. But in 1706 "An 
Act to encourage the haptir:iug of Negro, Indian, and innlatto 
slaves," was passed in the hope of cjuieting the public mind on 
this question. 

'•Wllercas divers of Iier Majesty's good Subjects, Inhabitants of this 
Colony, now are, and have lieen willing that such Negroe, Indian, and Mulatto 
Slaves, who belong to them, and desire the same, should be baptized, but are 
deterred and hindered therefrom by reason of a groundless Opinion that hath 
spread itself in this Colony, that by the baptizing of such Negro, Indian, or 
Mulatto Slave, they would become free, and ought to be set at liberty. In order 
therefore to put an end to all such Doubts and scruples as have, or hereafter at 
any time may arise about the same — 

''Be it enacted, &^c., that the baptizing of a Negro, Indian, or Mulatto Slave 
shall not be any cause or reason for the setting them or any of them at liberty. 

"■ And be it. &^c., that all and every Negro, Indian, Mulatto and Mestee 
bastard child and children, who is, are, and shall be born of any Negro, Indian, 
or Mestee, shall follow the state and condition of the mother and be esteemed, 
reputed, taken and adjudged a slave and slaves to all intents and purposes 
whatsoever. 

'■ Provided always, and ie it, &c., That no slave whatsoever in this colony 
shall at any time be admitted as a witness for or against any freeman in any 
case, matter or cause, civil or criminal, whatsoever." ^ 

' On the 22d of March, i6So, the following proclamation was issued: "Whereas, several 
inhabitants witliin this city have and doe dayly harbour, entertain and countenance Indian and 
neger slaves in their houses, and to tliem sell and deliver wine, rum, and other strong liquors, 
for which they receive money or goods which by ihe said Indian and negro slaves is pilfered, 
purloyned, and stolen from their several masters, by which the publick peace is broken, and the 
damage of the master is produced, etc., therefore they are prohibited, etc. ; and if neger or Indian 
slave make application for these forbidden articles, immediate information is to be given to his 
master or to the mayor or oldest alderman." — Dunlai-, vol. ii. Appendix, p. c.xxviii. 
' Bradford Laws, p. 8i. 



142 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

So when the door of the Christian Church was opened to the 
Negro, he was to appear at the sacred altar with his chains on. 
Though emancipated from the bondage of Satan, he nevertheless 
remained the abject slave of the Christian colonists. Claiming 
spiritual kinship with Christ, the Negro could be sold at the 
jDleasure of his master, and his family hearthstone trodden down 
by the slave-dealer. The humane feature of the system of slavery 
under the simple Dutch government, of allowing slaves to acquire 
an interest in the soil, was now at an end. The tendency to manu- 
mit faithful slaves called forth no approbation. The colonists 
grew cold and hard-fisted. They saw not God's image in the 
slave, — only so many dollars. There were no strong men in 
the pulpits of the colony who dared brave the avaricious spirit of 
the times. Not satisfied with colonial legislation, the municipal 
government of the city of New York passed, in 1710, ■ an ordinance 
forbidding Negroes, Indians, and Mulatto slaves from appearing 
"in the streets after nightfall without a lantern with a lighted 
candle in it."- The year before, a slave-market was erected 
at the foot of Wall Street, where slaves of every description were 
for sale. Negroes, Indians, and Mulattoes ; men, women, and 
children ; the old, the middle-aged, and the young, — all, as sheep 
in shambles, were daily declared the property of the highest 
cash-bidder. And what of the few who secured their freedom .' 
Why, the law of 1712 declared that no Negro, Indian, or Mulatto 
that shall hereafter be set free "shall hold any land or real estate, 
but the same shall escheat." 3 - There was, therefore, but little for 
the Negro in either state, — bondage or freedom. There was 
little in this world to allure him, to encourage him, to help him. 
The institution under which he suffered was one huge sepulchre, 
and he was buried alive. 

The poor grovelling worm turns under the foot of the pedes- 
trian. The Negro winched under his galling yoke of British 
colonial oppression. 

A misguided zeal and an inordinate desire of conquest had 

^ The ordinance referred to was re-enacted on the 22d of April, 1731, and reads as follows: 
" No Negro, Mulatto, or Indian slave, above the age of foui-teen, shall presume to appear in any of 
the streets, or in any other place of this city on the south side of Fresh Water, in the night time, 
above an hour after sunset, without a lanthorn and candle in it (unless in company with his owner 
or some white belonging to the family). Penalty, the watch-house that night; next day, prison, 
until the owner pays 45 , and before discharge, the slave to be whipped not exceeding forty lashes," 
— DuNL-iiP, vol. ii. Appendix, p. clxiii. 

^ Booth, vol. i. p. 271. 3 Hurd's Bondage and Freedom, vol. i. p. 2S1. 



THE COLOXY OF NEW YORK. 1 43 

led the Legislature to appropriate ten thousand pounds sterling 
toward an expedition to effect the conquest of Canada. Acadia 
had just fallen into the hands of Gov. Francis Nicholson without 
firing a gun, and the news had carried the New Yorkers off their 
feet. " On to Canada ! " was the shibholcth of the adventurous 
colonists ; and the expedition started. Eight transports, with 
eight hundred and sixty men, perished amid the treacherous rocks 
and angry waters of the St. Lawrence. The troops that had 
gone overland returned in chagrin. The city was wrapped in 
gloom : the Legislature refused to do any thing further; and here 
the dreams of conquest vanished. The city of New York was 
thrown on the defensive. The forts were repaired, and every 
thing put in readiness for an emergency. Like a sick man the 
colonists started at every rumor. On account of bad faith the 
Iroquois were disposed to mischief. 

In the feeble condition of the colonial government, the Negro 
grevir restless. At the first, as previously shown, the slaves were 
very few, but now, in 1712, were quite numerous. The Negro, 
the Quaker, and the Papist were a trinity of evils that the colo- 
nists most dreaded. The Negro had been badly treated ; and an 
attemjit on liis part to cast off the yoke was not improbable, in 
the mind of the master-class. The fears of the colonists were at 
length realized. A Negro riot broke out. A house was burned, 
and a number of white persons killed ; and, had it not been for 
the prompt and efficient aid of the troops, tiie city of New York 
would have been reduced to ashes. 

Now, what was the condition of the slaves in the Christian 
colony of New York t They had no family relations : for a long 
time they lived together by common consent. They had no prop- 
erty, no schools, and, neglected in life, were abandoned to burial 
in a common ditch after death. They dared not lift their hand to 
strike a Christian or a Jew. Their testimony was excluded by 
the courts, and the power of their masters over their bodies 
extended sometimes to life and limb. This condition of affairs 
yielded its bitter fruit at length. 

" Here we see tlie effects of that blind and wicked policy which induced 
England to pamper her merchants and increase her revenues, by positive 
instructions to the governours of her colonies, strictly enjoining them (for the 
good of the African company, and for the emoluments expected from the 
assiento contract), to fix upon America a vast negro population, lorn from their 
homes and brought hither by force. New York was at this time tilled with 



144 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

negroes ; every householder who could afford to keep servants, was surrounded 
by blacks, some pampered in indolence, all carefully kept in ignorance, and 
considered, erroneously, as creatures whom the white could not do without, 
yet lived in dread of. They were feared, from their numbers, and from a con- 
sciousness, however stifled, that they were injured and might seek revenge or 
a better condition." • 

The Negro plot of 1741 furnishes the most interesting and 
thrilling chapter in the history of the colony of New York. Un- 
fortunately for the truth of history, there was but one historian ^ 
of the affair, and he an interested judge ; and what he has written 
should be taken cum graiio salis. His book was intended to 
defend the action of the court that destroyed so many innocent 
lives, but no man can read it without being thoroughly convinced 
that the decision of the court was both illogical and cruel. There 
is nothing in this country to equal it, e.xcept it be the burning of 
the witches at Salem. But in stalwart old England the Popish 
Plot in 1679, started by Titus Oates, is the only occurrence in 
human history that is so faithfully reproduced by the Negro plot. 
Certainly history repeats itself. Sixty-two years of history stretch 
between the events. One tragedy is enacted in the metropolis of 
the Old World, the other in the metropolis of the New World. 
One was instigated by a perjurer and a heretic, the other by an 
indentured servant, in all probability from a convict ship. The 
one was suggested by the hatred of the Catholics, and the other 
by hatred of the Negro. And in both cases the evidence that con- 
victed and condemned innocent men and women was wrung from 
the lying lips of doubtful characters by an overwrought zeal on 
the part of the legal authorities. 

Titus Oates, who claimed to have discovered the " Popisli 
Plot" was a man of the most execrable character. He was the 
son of an Anabaptist, took orders in the Church, and had been 
settled in a small living by the Duke of Norfolk. Indicted for 
perjury, he effected an escape in a marvellous manner. While a 
chaplain in the English navy he was convicted of practices not fit 
to be mentioned, and was dismissed from the service. He next 
sought communion with the Church of Rome, and made his way 
into the Jesuit College of St. Omers. After a brief residence 
among the students, he was deputed to perform a confidential 
mission to Spain, and, upon his return to St. Omers, was dis- 
missed to the world on account of his habits, which were very 

' Dunlap, vol, i. p. 323. - Judge Daniel Horsemanden. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 1 45 

distasteful to Catholics. He boasted that ho had only joined 
them to get their secrets. Such a man as this started the cry of 
the Popish Plot, and threw all England into a state of consterna- 
tion. A chemist by the name of Tongue, on the 12th of August, 
1678, had warned the king against a plot that was directed at his 
life, etc. But the king did not attach any importance to the state- 
ment until Tongue referred to Titus Gates as his authority. The 
latter proved himself a most arrant liar while on the stand : but 
the people were in a credulous state of mind, and Gates became 
the hero of the hour ; ' and under his wicked influence many souls 
were hurried into eternity. Read Hume's account of the Popish 
Plot, and then follow the bloody narrative of the Negro plot of 
New York, and see how the one resembles the other. 

" Some myst^ious design was still suspected in every enterprise and pro- 
fession: arbitrary power and Popery were apprehended as the scope of all 
projects : each breath or rumor made the people start with anxiety : their ene- 
mies, they thought, were in their very bosom, and had gotten possession of 
their sovereign's confidence. While in this timorous, jealous disposition, the 
cry of a ;*/('/ all on a sudden strucl< their ears : they were wakened from their 
.slumber, and like men affrightened and in the dark, took every figure for a 
spectre. The terror of each man became the source of terror to another. 
And a universal panic being diffused, reason and argument, and common-sense 
and common humanity, lost all influence over them. From this disposition of 
men's minds we are to account for the progress of the Popish Plot, and the 
credit given to it: an event which would otherwise appear prodigious and 
altogether inexplicable." ^ 

Gn the 28th of February, 1741, the house of one Robert 
Hogg, Esq., of New-York City, a merchant, was robbed of some 
fine linen, medals, silver coin, etc. Mr. Hogg's house was situ- 
ated on the corner of Bi-oad and Mill Streets, the latter some- 
times being called Jew's Alley. The case was given to the officers 
of the law to look up. 

The population of New-York City was about ten thousand, 
about two thousand of whom were slaves. Gn the i8th of March 
the chapel in the fort took fire from some coals carelessly left by 
an artificer in a gutter he had been soldering. The roof was of 
shingles ; and a brisk wind from the south-east started a fire, that 
was not observed until it had made great headway. In those 
times the entire populace usually turned out to assist in extin- 
guishing fires ; but this fire being in the fort, the fear of an 



» Hume, vol. vi. pp. 171-212. ^ Ibid., vol. vi. p. 171 



146 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

explosion of the magazine somewhat checked their usual celerity 
on such occasions. The result was, that all the government build- 
ings in the fort were destroyed. A militia officer by the name of 
Van Home, carried away by the belief that the fire was purposely 
set by the Negroes, caused the beating of the drums and the post 
ing ot the " night watch." And for his vigilance he was nick- 
named "Major Drum." The "Major's'' apprehensions, however, 
were contagious. The fact that the governor reported the true 
cause of the fire to the Legislature had but little influence in dis- 
possessing the people of their fears of a Negro plot. The ne.xt 
week the chimney of Capt. Warren's house near the fort took 
fire, but was saved with but slight damage. A few days after this 
the storehouse of a Mr. Van Zandt was found to be on fire, and 
it was said at the time to have been occasioned by the care- 
lessness of a smoker. In about three days after,»two fire-alarms 
were sounded. One was found to be a fire in some hay in a cow- 
stable near a Mr. Quick's house. It was soon extinguished. The 
other alarm was on account of a fire in the kitchen loft of the 
dwelling of a Mr. Thompson. On the next day coals were dis- 
covered under the stables of a Mr. John Murray on Broadway. 
On the next morning an alarm called the people to the residence 
of Sergeant Burns, near the fort ; and in a few hours the dwelling 
of a Mr. Hilton, near Fly Market, was found to be on fire. But 
the flames in both places were readily extinguished. It was 
thought that the fire was purposely set at Mr. Hilton's, as a 
bundle of tow was found near the premises. A short time before 
these strange fires broke out, a Spanish vessel, partly manned by 
Spanish Catholic Negroes, had been brought into the ])ort of New 
York as a prize. All the crew that were Negroes were hurried 
into the Admiralty Court ; where they were promptly condemned 
to slavery, and an order issued for their sale. The Negroes 
pleaded their freedom in another country, but had no counsel to 
defend them. A Capt. Sarly purchased one of these Negroes. 
Now, Capt. Sarly's house adjoined that of Mr. Hilton's; and so, 
when the latter's house was discovered to be on fire, a cry was 
raised, " The Spanish Negroes ! The Spanish ! Take up the Span- 
ish Negroes ! " Some persons took it upon themselves to ques- 
tion Capt. Sarly's Negro about the fires, and it is said that he 
behaved in an insolent manner ; whereupon he was sent to jail. 
A magistrate gave orders to the constables to arrest and incar- 
cerate the rest of the Spanish Negroes. The magistrates held a 



THE COLONY OF NFAV YORK. 147 

meeting the same day, in the afternoon ; and, wliile tliey were 
deliberating about the matter, another fire broi<.e out in Col. 
Phillipes's storehouse. Some of the white peojile cried "Negro! 
Negro! "and "Cuff Phillipes ! " Poor Cuff, startled at the cry, 
ran to his master's house, from whence he was dragged to jail by 
an excited mob. Judge Ilorsemanden says, — 

" Many people luul such terrible apprehensions on this occasion that several 
Negroes (many of whom had assisted to put out the fire) who were met in the 
streets, were hurried away to jail ; and when they were there they were contin- 
ued some time in confinement before the magistrates could spare time to 
e.xamine into their several cases." ■ 

Let the reader return now to the robbery committed in Mr. 
Hogg's house on the 28th of February. The ofificcrs thought they 
had traced the stolen goods to a public house on the North River, 
kept by a person named John Hughson. This house had been 
a place of resort for Negroes ; and it was searched for the articles, 
but nothing was found. Hughson had in his service an indentured 
servant, — a girl of sixteen years, — named Mary Burton. She 
intimated to a neighbor that the goods were concealed in Hugh- 
son's house, but that it would be at the expense of her life to 
make this fact known. This information was made known to the 
sheriff, and he at once apprehended the girl and produced her 
before Alderman Banker. This benevolent officer promised the 
£rirl her freedom on the trround that she should tell all she knew 
about the missing property. For prudential reasons the Alder- 
man ordered Mary Burton to be taken to the City Hall, corner 
Wall and Nassua Streets. On the 4th of March the justices 
met at the City Hall. In the mean while John Hughson and his 
wife had been arrested for receiving stolen goods. They were 
now examined in the presence of Mary Burton. Hughson ad- 
mitted that some goods had been brought to his house, produced 
them, and turned them over to the court. It appears from tlie 
testimony of the Burton girl that another party, dwelling in the 
house of the Hughson's, had taken part in receiving the stolen 
articles. She was a girl of bad character, called Margaret Soru- 
biero, alias Solinburgh, alias Kerry, but commonly called Peggy 
Carey. This woman had lived in the home of the Hughsons for 
about ten months, but at one time during this period had remained 
a short while at the house of John Rommes, near the new Bat- 

* Ilorsemandcn's Xcgro Plot, p. 29. 



» 



148 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tery, but had returned to Hughson's again. The testimony of 
Mary Burton went to show that a Negro by the name of Ceesar 
Varick, but called Ouin, on the night in which the burglary was 
committed, entered Peggy's room through the window. The next 
morning Mary Burton saw "speckled linen" in Peggy's room, 
and that the man Varick gave the deponent two pieces of silver. 
She further testified that Varick drank two mugs of punch, and 
bought of Hughson a jiair of stockings, giving him a lump of 
silver; and that Hughson and his wife received and hid away the 
linen.' Mr. John Varick (it was spelled Vaarck then), a baker, 
the owner of Caisar, occupied a house near the new Battery, the 
kitclien of which adjoined the yard of John R(jmme's house. He 
found some of Robert Hogg's property under his kitchen floor, 
and delivered it to the mayor. Upon this revelation Romme fled 
to New Jersey, but was subsequently captured at Brunswick. He 
had followed shoemaking and tavern-keeping, and was, withal, a 
very suspicious character. 

Up to this time nothing had been said about a Negro plot. It 
was simply a case of burglary. Hughson had admitted receiving 
certain articles, and restored them ; Mr. Varick had found others, 
and deli\ered them to the mayor. 

The reader will remember that the burglary took place on the 
2Sth of February ; that the justices arraigned the Hughsons, 
Mary Burton, and Peggy Carey on the 4th of March ; that the 
first fire broke out on the l8th, the second on the 25th, of March, 
the third on the ist of April, and the fourth and fifth on the 4th 
of April ; that on the 5th of April coals were found disposed so 
as to burn a haystack, and that the day following two houses were 
discovered to be on fire. 

On the iith of April the Common Council met. The follow- 
ing gentlemen were present : John Cruger, Esq., mayor ; the 
recorder, Daniel Horsemanden ; aldermen, Gerardus Stuyvesant, 
William Romaine, Simon Johnson, John Moore, Christopher 
Banker, John Pintard, John Marshall ; assistants, Henry Bogert, 
Isaac Stoutenburgh, Philip Minthorne, George Brinckerhoff, Robert 
Benson, and Samuel Lawrence. Recorder Horsemanden sug- 



' As far back as 16S4 the following was passed against the entertainment of slaves: "No 
person to countenance or entertain any negro or Indian slave, or sell or deliver to them any strong 
liquor, without liberty from his master, or receive from them any money or goods ; but, upon any 
offer made by a slave, to reveal tlie same to the owner, or to the mayor, under penalty of ^5." — 
DuNLAP, vol. ii. Appendix, ]>. cxxxiii. 



THE COLONY OF NFAV YORK. I49 

gested to the council that the governor be requested to offer 
rewards for the apprehension of the incendiaries and all persons 
implicated, and that the city pay the cost, etc. It was accordingly 
resolved that the lieutenant-governor be requested to offer a 
reward of one hundred pounds current money of the Province to 
any vvhite person, and pardon, if concerned ; and twenty pounds, 
freedom, and, if concerned, pardon to any slave (the master to be 
paid twenty-five pounds) ; and to any free Negro, Mulatto, or 
Indian, forty-five pounds and pardon, if ct)nccrned. The mayor 
and the recorder (Horsemanden), called upon Licut.-Gov. Clark, 
and laid the above resolve before him. 

The city was now in a state of great excitement. The air 
was pcojiled with the wildest rumors. 

On Monday the 13th of April each alderman, assistant, and 
constable searched his ward. The militia was called out, and 
sentries posted at the cross-streets. While the troops were 
patrolling the streets, the aldermen were examining Negroes in 
reference to the origin of the fires. Nothing was found. The 
Negroes denied all knowledge of the fires or a plot. 

On the 2ist of April, 1741, the Supreme Court convened.' 
Judges Frederick Phillipse and Daniel Horsemanden called the 
grand jury. The members were as follows : Robert Watts, mer- 
chant, foreman ; Jeremiah Latouche, Joseph Read, Anthony Rut- 
gers, John M'Evers, John Cruger, jun., John Merrit, y\doniah 
Schuyler, Isaac DePeyster, Abraham Ketteltas, David Provoo.st, 
Rene Hett, Henry Beeckman, jun., David van Home, George 
Spencer, Thomas Duncan, and Winant Van Zandt, — all set down as 
merchants, — a respectable, intelligent, and influential grand jury ! 
Judge Phillipse informed the jury that the people "have been put 
into many frights and terrors," in regard to the fires ; that it was 
their duty to use " all lawful means " to discover the guilty parties, 
for there was "much room to suspect" that the fires were not 
accidental. He told them that there were many persons in jail 
upon whom suspicion rested ; that arson was felony at common 
law, even though the fire is extinguished, or goes out itself ; that 
arson was a deep crime, and, if the perpetrators were not appre- 
hended and punished, " who can sav he is safe, or where will it 
end ? " The learnetl judge then went on to deliver a moral lecture 
against the wickedness of selling "penny drams" to Negroes, 

* Horsenianden's Negro Plot, p. 33. 



ISO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

without the consent of their masters. In conclusion, he charged 
the grand jury to present "all conspiracies, combinations and 
other offences." 

It should be kept in mind that Mary Burton was only a witness 
in the burglary case already mentioned. Up to that time there 
had been no fires. The fires, and wholesale arrests of innocent 
Negroes, followed the robbery. But the grand jury called Mary 
Burton to testify in reference to the fires. She refused to be 
sworn. She was questioned concerning the fires, but gave no 
answer. Then the proclamation of the mayor, offering protec- 
tion, pardon, freedom, and one hundred pounds, was read. It had 
the desired effect. The girl opened her mouth, and spake all the 
words that the jury desired. At first she agreed to tell all she 
knew about the stolen goods, but would say nothing about the 
fires. This declaration led the jury to infer that she could, but 
would not say any thing about the fires. After a moral lecture 
upon her dut)' in the matter in the light of eternal reward, and a 
reiteration of the proffered reward that then awaited her wise 
decision, her memory brightened, and she immediately began to 
tell all she knew. She said that a Negro named Prince, belong- 
ing to a Mr. Auboyman, and Prince (Varick) brought the goods, 
stolen from Mr. Hogg's house, to the house of her master, and 
that Hughson, his wife, and Peggy (Carey) received them ; 
further, that Caesar, Prince, and Cuffee (Phillipse) had frequently 
met at Hughson's tavern, and discoursed about burning the fort ; 
that they had said they would go down to the Fly (the east end of 
the city), and burn the entire place ; and that Hughson and his 
wife had assented to these insurrectionary remarks, and promised 
to assist them. She added, by way of fulness and emphasis, that 
when a handful of wretched slaves, seconded by a miserable and 
ignorant white tavern-keeper, should have lain the city in ashes, 
and murdered eight or nine thousand persons, — then Caesar 
should be governor, Hughson king, and Cuffee supplied with 
abundant riches ! The loquacious Mary remembered that this 
intrepid trio had said, that when they burned the city it would be 
in the night, so they could murder the people as they came out of 
their homes. It should not be forgotten that all the fires broke 
out in the daytime ! 

It is rather remarkable and should be observed, that this won- 
derful witness stated that her master, John Hughson, had threat- 
ened to poison her if she told anybody that the stolen goods were 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 151 

in his house ; that all the Negroes swore they would burn her if 
she told; and that, when they talked of burning;- the town during 
their meetings, there were no white persons present save her 
master, mistress, and Peggy Carey. 

The credulous Horsemanden tells us that " the evidence of a 
conspiracy," not only to burn the city, but also "to destroy and 
murder the people," was most "astonishing to the grand jury !" 
But that any white person should confederate with slaves in such 
a wicked and cruel purpose was astounding beyond measure ! 
And the grand jury was possessed of the same childlike faith in 
the ingenious narrative of the wily Mary. In their rei)ort to the 
judges, they set forth in strong terms their faith in the statements 
of the deponent, and required the presence of Peggy Carey. 
The extent of the delusion of the judges, jury, and people may 
be seen in the fact, that, immediately upon the report of the jury, 
the judges summoned the entire bar of the city of New York to 
meet them. The following gentlemen responded to the call : 
Messrs. Murray, Alexander, Smith, Chambers, Nichols, Lodge, 
and Jameson. AH the lawyers were present except the attorney- 
general. By the act of 1712, "for preventing, suppressing and 
punishing the conspiracy and insurrection of negroes and other 
slaves," ' a justice of the peace could try the refractory slaves at 
once. But here was a deep, dark, and bloody plot to burn the 
city and murder its inhabitants, in which wliite persons were 
implicated. This fact led the learned judges to conclude it wise 
and prudent to refer this whole matter to the Supreme Court. 
And the generous offer of the entire bar of New-York City to 
assist, in turns, in every trial, should remain evermore an inde- 
structible monument to their unselfish devotion to their city, the 
existence of which was threatened by less than a score of igno- 
rant, penniless Negro slaves ! 

By the testimony of Mary Burton, Peggy Carey stood con- 
victed as one of the conspirators. She had already languished in 
jail for more than a month. The judges thought it advisable to 
examine her in her cell. They tried to cajole her into criminating 
others ; but she stoutly denied all knowledge of the fires, and 
said " that if she should accuse anybody of any such thing, she 
must accuse innocent persons, and wrong her own soul." 

On the 24th of April, Cassar Varick, Prince Auboyman, John 



' Bradford's Laws, pp. 141-144. 



152 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Hughson, his wife, and Peggy Carey were arraigned for felony, 
and pleaded not guilty. Caesar and Prince were first put on trial. 
As they did not challenge the jury, the following gentlemen were 
sworn : Messrs. Roger French, John Groesbeck, John Richard, 
Abraliam Kipp, George Witts, John Thurman, Patrick Jackson, 
Benjamin Moore, William Hammersley, John Lashiere, Joshua 
Sleydall, and John Shurmer. "Guilty!" as charged in the indict- 
ment. They had committed the robbery, so said the jury. 

On the 3d of May one Arthur Price, a common thief, was 
committed to jail for theft. He occupied a cell next to the noto- 
rious Peggy Carey. In order to bring himself into favor with the 
judges, he claimed to have had a conversation with Peggy through 
the hole in the door. Price says she told him that "she was 
afraid of those fellows " (the Negroes) ; that if they said any 
thing in any way involving her she would hang every one of 
them ; that she did not care to go on the stand again unless she 
was called ; that when asked if she intended to set the town on 
fire she said no ; but she knew about the plot ; that Hughson and 
his wife " were sworn with the rest ; " that she was not afraid 
of "Prince, Cuff, Caesar, and Fork's Negro — not Caesar, but 
another," because they " were all true-hearted fellows." This 
remarkable conversation was flavored throughout with the vilest 
species of profanity. Notwithstanding this interview was between 
a common Irish prostitute and a wretched sneak-thief, it had great 
weight with the solemn and upright judges. 

In the midst of this trial, seven barns were burnt in the town 
of Hackinsack. Two Negroes were suspected of the crime, but 
there was not the slightest evidence that they were guilty. But 
one of them said that he had discharged a gun at the party who 
set his master's barn on fire, but did not kill any one. The other 
one was found loading a gun with two bullets. This was enough 
to convict. They were burnt alive at a stake. This only added 
fuel to the flame of public excitement in New York. 

On the 6th of May (Wednesday) two more arrests were made, 
— Hughson's daughter Sarah, suspected of being a confederate, 
and Mr. Sleydall's Negro Jack, — on suspicion of having put fire 
to Mr. Murray's haystack. On the same day the judges arraigned 
the white persons implicated in the case, — John Hughson, his 
wife, and Peggy Carey. The jury promptly found them guiltv 
of "receiving stolen goods." "Peggy Carey," says Recorder 
Horsemanden, "seeming to think it high time to do something 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 153 

to recommend herself to mercy, made a voluntary confession." 
This vile, foul-mouthed prostitute takes the stand, and gives a 
new turn to the entire affair. She removes the scene of the 
conspiracy to another tavern near the new Battery, where John 
Romme had made a habit of entertaining, contrary to laiv, Negro 
slaves. Peggy had seen many meetings at this place, particularly 
in December, 1740. At that time she mentioned the following 
Negroes as being present : Cuff, Brash, Curacoa, Caesar, Patrick, 
Jack, Cato ; but /ur especial Ca-sar Varick was not implicated ! 
Romme administered an oath to all these Negroes, and then made 
a proposition to them ; viz., that they should destroy the fort, burn 
the town, and bring the spoils to him. He engaged to divide with 
them, and take them to a new country, where he woukl give them 
their freedom. Mrs. Romme was present during this conversa- 
tion ; and, after the Negroes had departed, she and the deponent 
(Peggy) were sworn by Romme to eternal secrecy. Mr.s. Romme 
denied swearing to the conspiracy, but acknowledged that her 
husband had received stolen goods, that he sold drams to 
Negroes who kept game-fowls there ; but that never more than 
three Negroes came at a time. She absconded in great fright. 
It has been mentioned that Peggy Carey had lived at the tavern 
of John Romme for a short time, and that articles belonging to 
Mr. Hogg had been found under the kitchen floor of the house 
next to Romme's. 

The judges evidently reasoned that all Negroes would steal, 
or that stealing was incident upon or implied by the condition of 
the slave. Then Romme kept a " tippling-house," and defied the 
law by selling "drams" to Negroes. Now, a man who keeps a 
"tippling-house" was liable to encourage a conspiracy. 

A full list of the names of the persons implicated by Peggy 
was handed to the proper officers, and those wicked persons ap- 
prehended. They were brought before the redoubtable Peggy for 
identification. She accused them of being sworn conspirators. 
They all denied the charge. Then they were turned over to Mary 
Burton ; and she, evidently displeased at Peggy's attempt to rival 
her in the favor of the powerful judges, testified that she knew 
them not. But it was vain. Peggy had the ear of the court, and 
the terror-stricken company was locked up in the jail. Alarmed 
at their helpless situation, the ignorant Negroes began " to accuse 
one another, as it would seem, by way of injuring an enemy and 
guarding themselves." 



154 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Csesar and Prince, having been tried and convicted of felony, 
were sentenced to be hanged. The record says, — 

"Monday, nth of May. Cssar and Prince were executed this day at the 
gallows, according to sentence : they died very stubbornly, without confessing 
any thing about the conspiracy : and denied that ihev knciu any thing about it 
to the last. The body of Ca;sar was accordingly hung in chains." ' 

On the 13th of May, 1741, a solemn fast was observed; "be- 
cause many houses and dwellings had been fired about our ears, 
without any discovery of the cause or occasion of them, which 
had put us into the utmost consternation." Excitement ran high. 
Instead of getting any light on the affair, the plot thickened. 

On the 6th of May, Hughson, his wife, and Peggy Carey had 
been tried and found guilty, as has already been stated. Sarah 
Hughson, daughter of the Hughsons, was in jail. Mary Burton 
was the heroine of the hour. Her word was law. Whoever she 
named was produced in court. The sneak-thief, Arthur Price, 
Was employed by the judges to perform a mission that was at 
once congenial to his tastes and in harmony with his criminal 
education. He was sent among the incarcerated Negfoes to 
administer punch, in the desperate hope of getting more "confes- 
sions ! " Ne.xt, he was sent to Sarah Hughson to persuade her to 
accuse her father and mother of complicity in the conspiracy. 
He related a conversation he had with Sarah, but she denied it to 
his teeth with great indignation. This vile and criminal method 
of securing testimony of a conspiracy never brought the blush to 
the cheek of a single officer of the law. " None of these things 
moved " them. They were themselves so completely lost in the 
general din and excitement, were so thoroughly convinced that 
a plot existed, and that it was their duty to prove it in some man- 
ner or other, — that they believed every thing that went to estab- 
lish the guilt of any one. 

Even a feeble-minded boy was arrested, and taken before the 
grand jury. He swore that he knew nothing of the plot to burn 
the town, but the kind magistrates told him that if he would tell 
the truth he should not be hanged. Ignorant as these helpless 
slaves were, they now understood " telling the truth " to mean 
to criminate some one in the plot, and thus gratify the inor- 
dinate hunger of the judges and jury for testimony relating to a 

' Horsemanden's Negro Plot, p. 60. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 155 

"conspiracy." This Negro imbecile began his task of telling 
"what he knew," which was to be rewarded by allowing him to 
lea\-e without being hung ! He deposed that Quack desired him 
to burn the fort ; that Cuffee said he would fire one house, Cura- 
coa Dick another, and so on ad infinitum. He was asked by one 
of the learned gentlemen, "what the Negroes intended by all this 
mischief ? " He answered, " To kill all the gentlemen and take 
their wives ; that one of the fellows already hanged, was to be an 
officer in the Long Bridge Company, and the other, in the Fly 
Company." ' 

On the 25th of May a large number of Negroes were arrested. 
The bo}- referred to above (whose name was Sawney, or Sandy) 
was called to the stand again on the 26th, when he grew very 
talkative. He said that "at a meeting of Negroes he was called 
in and frightened into undertaking to burn the slip Market;" 
that he w-itnessed some of the Negroes in their attempts to burn 
certain houses ; that at the house of one Comfort, he, with others, 
was sworn to secrecy and fidelity to each other ; said he was never 
at either tavern, Hughson's nor Romme's ; and ended his revela- 
tions by accusing a woman of setting fire to a house, and of mur- 
dering her child. As usual, after such confessions, more arrests 
followed. Quack and Cuffee were tried and convicted of felony, 
"for wickedly and maliciously conspiring with others to burn the 
town and murder the inhabitants." This was an occasion to draw 
forth the eloquence of the attorney-general ; and in fervid utter- 
ance he pictured the Negroes as "monsters, devils, etc." A Mr. 
Rosevclt, the master of Quack, swore that his slave was home 
when the fire took place in the fort ; and Mr. Phillipse, Cuffee's 
master, testified as much for his servant. But this testimony was 
not what the magistrates wanted : so they put a soldier on the 
stand who swore that Quack did come to the fort the day of 
the fire ; that his wife lived there, and when he insisted on going 
in he (the sentry) knocked him down, but the officer of the guard 
passed him in. Lawyer Smith, " whose eloquence had disfran- 
chised the Jews," was called upon to sum up. He thought too 
much favor had been shown the Negroes, in that they had been 
accorded a trial as if they were freemen ; that the wicked Negroes 
might have been proceeded against in a most summary manner ; 
that the Negro witnesses had been treated with too much consid- 

■ The city of New York was divided into parts at that time, and comprised two militia 
districts. 



156 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

eration ; that " the law requires no oath to be administered to 
them ; and, indeed, it would be a profanation of it to administer 
it to a heathen in a legal form ; " that " the monstrous ingratitude 
of this black tribe is what exceedingly aggravates their guilt ; " 
that their condition as slaves was one of happiness and peace ; 
that " they live without care ; are commonly better fed and 
clothed than the poor of most Christian countries ; they are 
indeed slaves," continued the eloquent and logical attorney, "but 
under the protection of the law : none can hurt them with impu- 
nity ; but notwithstanding all the kindness and tenderness with 
which they have been treated among us, yet this is the second 
attempt of this same kind that this brutish and bloody species of 
mankind have made within one age ! " Of course the jury knew 
their duty, and merely went through the form of going out and 
coming in immediately with a verdict of "guilty." The judge 
sentenced them to be chained to a stake and burnt to death, — 
" and the Lord have mercy upon your poor wretched souls." His 
Honor told them that " they should be thankful that their feet 
were caught in the net ; that the mischief had fallen upon their 
own pates." He advised them to consider the tenderness and 
humanity with which they had been treated ; that they were the 
most abject wretches, the very outcasts of the nations of the 
earth ; and, therefore, they should look to their souls, for as to 
their bodies, they would be burnt. 

These poor fellows were accordingly chained to the stake the 
ne.xt Sunday ; but, before the fuel was lighted, Deputy Sheriff 
More and Mr. Rosevelt again questioned Quack and Cuffee, and 
reduced their confessions to paper, for they had stoutly protested 
their innocence while in court. In hope of being saved they 
confessed, in substance, that Hughson contrived to burn the town, 
and kill the people ; that a company of Negroes voted Quack the 
proper person to burn the fort, because his wife lived there ; that 
he did set the chapel on fire with a lighted stick ; that Mary 
Burton had told the truth, and that she could implicate many 
more if she would, etc. All this general lying was done with the 
understanding that the confessors were to be reprieved until the 
governor could be heard from. But a large crowd had gathered 
to witness the burning of these poor Negroes, and they compelled 
the sheriff to proceed with the ceremonies. The convicted slaves 
were burned. 

On the 1st of June the boy Sawney was again put upon the 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 1 57 

witness-stand. His testimony led to the arrest of more Negroes. 
He charged them with having been sworn to the plot, and with 
having sharp penknives with whieh to kill white men. One 
Fortune testified that he never knew of houses where conspirators 
met, nor did he know Hughson, hut accuses Sawney, and Quack 
who had been burnt. The next witness was a Necao dri 
named Sarah. She was frightened out of her senses. She 
foamed at the mouth, uttered the bitterest imprecations, and 
denied all knowledge of a conspiracy. But the benevolent gen- 
tlemen who conducted the trial told her that others had said 
certain things in proof of the existence of a conspiracy, that the 
only way to save her life was to acknowledge that tliere had been 
a conspiracy to burn the town and kill the inhabitants. She then 
assented to all that was told her, and thereby imjilicated quite a 
number of Negroes ; but, when her testimony was read to her, she 
again denied all. She was without doubt a fit subject for an 
insane-asylum rather than for the witness-stand, in a cause that 
involved so many human lives. 

It will be remembered that John Hughson, his wife, and 
daughter had been in the jail for a long time. He now desired to 
be called to the witness-stand. He begged to be sworn, that in 
the most solemn manner he might deny all knowledge of the 
conspiracy, and exculpate his wife and child. But the modest 
recorder reminded him of the fact that he stood convicted as a 
felon already, that he and his family were doomed to be hanged, 
and that, therefore, it would be well for him to "confess all." He 
was sent back to jail unheard. Already condemned to be hung, 
the upright magistrates had Hughson tried again for "conspir- 
acy" on the 4th of June! The indictments were three in 
number: First, that Hughson, his wife, his daughter, and Peggy 
Carey, with three Negroes, Caesar, Prince, and Cuffce, conspired 
in March last to set fire to the house in the fort. Second, That 
Quack (already burnt) did set fire to and burn the house, and that 
the prisoners, Hughson, his wife, daughter Sarah, and Peggy, 
encouraged him so to do. Third, That Cuffee (already burnt) 
did set fire to Phillipse's house, and burnt it ; and they, the 
prisoners, procured and encouraged him so to do. Hughson, his 
family, and Peggy pleaded not guilty to all the above indictments. 
The attorney-general delivered a spirited address to the jury, 
which was more forcible than elegant. He denounced the unlucky 
Hughson as "infamous, inhuman, an arch-rebel against God, his 



158 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

king, and his country, — a devil incarnate," etc. He was ably 
assisted by eminent counsel for the king, — Joseph Murray, James 
Alexander, William Smith, and John Chambers. Mary Burton was 
called again. She swore that Negroes used to go to Hughson's 
at night, eat and drink, and sometimes buy provisions ; that 
Hughson did swear the Negroes to secrecy in the plot ; that she 
herself had seen seven or eight guns and swords, a bag of shot, 
and a barrel of gunpowder at Hughson's house ; that the prisoner 
told her he would kill her if she ever revealed any thing she knew 
or saw ; wanted her to swear like the rest, offered her silk gowns, 
and gold rings, — but none of those tempting things moved the 
virtuous Mary. Five other witnesses testified that they heard 
Quack and Cuffee say to Hughson while in jail, "This is what you 
have brought us to." The Hughsons had no counsel, and but three 
witnesses. One of them testified that he had lived in Hughson's 
tavern about three months during the past winter, and had never 
seen Negroes furnished entertainment there. The two others said 
that they had never seen any evil in the man nor in his house, etc. 
"William Smith, Esq." now took the floor to sum up. He 
told the jury that it was "black and hellish" to burn the town, 
and then kill them all ; that John Hughson, by his complicity in 
this crime, had made himself blacker than the Negroes ; that the 
credit of the witnesses was good, and that there was nothing left 
for them to do but to find the prisoners guilty, as charged in the 
indictment. The judge charged the jury, that the evidence 
against the prisoners "is ample, full, clear, and satisfactory. 
They were fi)und guilty in twenty minutes, and on the Sth of 
June were brought into court to receive sentence. The judge 
told them that they were guilty of a terrible crime ; that they had 
not only made Negroes their equals, but superiors, by waiting 
upon, keeping company with, entertaining them with meat, drink, 
and lodging ; that the most amazing part of their conduct was 
their part in a plot to burn the town, and murder the inhabitants, 
— to have consulted with, aided, and abetted the " black seed of 
Cain," was an unheard of crime, — that although "with uncommon 
assurance they deny the fact, and call on God, as a witness of 
their innocence. He, out of his goodness and mercy, has con- 
founded them, and proved their guilt, to the satisfaction of the 
court and jury." After a further display of forensic eloquence, 
the judge sentenced them "to be hanged by the neck 'till dead," 
on Friday, the I3th of June, 1741. 



THE COLONY OF XEW YORK. 1 59 

The Negro girl Sarah, referred to abo\'e, who was before the 
jury on the ist of June in such a terrified state of body and minti, 
was re-called on the 5th of June. She implicated twenty Negroes, 
whom she declared were present at the house of Comfort, whet- 
ting their knives, and avowing that "they would kill white people." 
On the 6th of June, Robin, Cassar, Cook, Cuffee, and Jack, another 
Cuffee, and Jamaica were arrested, and put upon trial on the 8th of 
June. It is a sad fact to record, even at this distance, that these 
poor blacks, without counsel, friends, or money, were tried and 
convicted upon the evidence of a poor ignorant, hysterical girl, 
and the "dying confession" of Quack and Cuffee, who "con- 
fessed " with the understanding that they should be free ! ' Tried 
and found guilty on the 8th, without clergy or time to pray, they 
were burneil at the stake the ne.vt day ! Only Jack found favor 
with the court, and that favor was purchased by perjury. He 
was respited until it "was found how well he would deserve 
further fa\'or." It was next to impossible to understand him, so 
two white gentlemen were secured to act as interpreters. Jack 
testified to having seen Negroes at Hughson's tavern ; that 
"when they were eating, he said they began to talk about set- 
ting the houses on fire : " he was so good as to give the names 
of about fourteen Negroes whom he heard say that they would 
set their masters' houses on fire, and then rush upon the whites 
and kill them ; that at one of these meetings there were five or 
si.x Spanish Negroes present, whose conversation he could not 
understand ; that they waited a month and a half for the Span- 
iards and I'rench to come, but when they came not, set fire to the 
fort. As usual, more victims of these confessors swelled the 
number already in the jail ; which was, at this time, full to 
suffocation. 

On the 19th of June the lieutenant-governor issued a procla- 
mation of freedom to all who would "confess and discover" before 
the 1st of Julv. Several Indians were in the prison, charged with 
conspiracy. The confessions and discoveries were numerous. 
Every Negro charged with being an accomplice of the unfor- 
tunate wretches that had already perished at the stake began 
to accuse some one else of complicity in the plot. They all 
knew of many Negroes who were going to cut the white people's 
throats with penknives; and when the town was in flames they 
were to "meet at the end of Broadway, ne.xt to the fields ! " And 
it must be recorded, to the everlasting disgrace of the judiciary 



l6o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of New York, that scores of ignorant, helpless, and innocent 
Negroes — and a few white people too — were convicted upon 
the confessions of the terror-stricken witnesses ! There is not a 
court to-day in all enlightened Christendom that would accept as 
evidence — not even circumstantial — the incoherent utterances 
of these Negro "confessors." And yet an intelligent (?) New- 
York court thought the evidence " clear (?), and satisfactory ! " 

But the end was not yet reached. A new turn was to be 
given to the notorious Mary Burton. The reader will remember 
that she said that there never were any white persons present 
when the burning of the town was the topic of conversation, 
except' her master and mistress and Peggy Carey. But on the 
25th of June the budding Mary accused Rev. John Ury, a reputed 
Catholic priest, and a schoolmaster in the town, and one Camp- 
bell, also a school-teacher, of having visited Hughson's tavern 
with the conspirators. 

On the 26th of June, nine more Negroes were brought before 
the court and arraigned. Seven pleaded guilty in the hope of a 
reprieve : two were tried and convicted upon the testimony of 
Mary Burton. Eight more were arraigned, and pleaded guilty ; 
followed by seven more, some of whom jileaded guilty, and some 
not guilty. Thus, in one day, the court was enabled to dispose of 
twenty-four persons. 

On the 27th of June, one Adam confessed that he knew of 
the plot, but said he was enticed into it by Hughson, three years 
before; that Hughson told him that he knew a man who could 
forgive him all his sins. So between John Hughson's warm rum, 
and John Ury's ability to forgive sin, the virtuous Adam found 
all his scruples overcome ; and he took the oath. A Dr. Hamilton 
who lodged at Holt's, and the latter also, are brought into court as 
accused of being connected with the plot. It was charged that 
Holt directed his Negro Joe to set fire to the play-house at the 
time he should indicate. At the beginning of the trial only four 
white persons were mentioned ; but now they began to multiply, 
and barrels of powder to increase at a wonderful rate. The con- 
fessions up to this time had been mere repetitions. The arrests 
were numerous, and the jail crowded beyond its capacity. The 
poor Negroes implicated were glad of an opportunity to "con- 
fess " against some one else, and thereby save their own lives. 
Recorder Horsemanden says, " Now many negroes began to 
squeak, in order to lay hold of the benefit of the proclamation." 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. l6l 

He deserves the thanks of humanity for his frankness ! For 
before the proclamation there were not more than seventy 
Negroes in jail ; but, within eii^ht days after it was issued, thirty 
more frightened slaves were added to the number. And Judge 
Horsemanden says, " 'Twas difficult to find room for them, nor 
could we see any likelihood of stopping the impeachments." The 
Negroes turned to accusing white persons, and seven or eight 
were arrested. The sanitary condition of the prison now became 
a subject of grave concern. The judges and lawyers consulted 
together, and agreed to pardon some of the prisoners to make 
room in the jail. They also thought it prudent to lump the con- 
fessions, and thereby facilitate their work ; but the confessions 
went on, and the jail filled up again. 

The Spanish Negroes taken by an English privateer, and 
adjudged to slavery by the admiralty court, were now taken up, 
tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hung. Five others received 
sentence the same day. 

The bloody work went on. The poor Negroes in the jail, in a 
state of morbid desperation, turned upon each other the blistering 
tongue of accusation. They knew that they were accusing each 
other innocently, — as many confessed afterwards, — but this was 
the last straw that these sinking people could see to catch at, and 
this they did involuntarily. " Victims were required ; and those 
who brought them to the altar of Moloch, purchased their own 
safety, or, at least, their lives." 

On the 2d of July, one Will was produced before Chief-Justice 
James DeLancy. He plead guilty, and was sentenced to be 
burnt to death on the 4th of July. On the 6th of July, eleven 
plead guilty. One Dundee implicates Dr. Hamilton with Hugh- 
son in giving Negroes rum and swearing them to the plot. A 
white man by the name of William Nuill deposed that a Negro — 
belonging to Edward Kelly, a butcher — nanu-d London swore by 
God that if he should be arrested and cast into the jail, he would 
hang or burn all the Negroes in New York, guilty or not guilty. 
On this same day five Negroes were hanged. One of them was 
"hung in chains" upon the same gibbet with Hughson. And the 
Christian historian says " the town was amused " on account of a 
report that Hughson had turned black and the Negro white ! 
The vulgar and sickening description of the condition of the 
bodies, in which Mr. Horsemanden took evident relish, we with- 
hold from the reader. It was rumored that a Negro doctor had 



1 62 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

administered poison to the convicts, and hence the change in the 
bodies after death. 

In addition to the burning of the Negro Will, on the 4th of 
July, was the sensation created by his accusing two white soldiers, 
Kane and Kelly, with complicity in the conspiracy. Kane was 
examined the ne.xt day : said that he had never been to the house 
of John Romme; acknowledged that he had received a stolen 
silver spoon, given to his wife, and sold it to one Van Dype, a 
silversmith ; that he never knew John Ury, etc. Knowing Mary 
Burton was brought forward, — as she always was when the trials 
began to lag, — and accused Kane. He earnestly denied the accu- 
sation at first, but finally confessed that he was at Hughson's in 
reference to the plot on two several occasions, but was induced 
to go there "by Corker, Cofifin, and Fagan." After his tongue 
got limbered up, and his memory refreshed, he criminated Ury. 
He implicated Hughson's father and three brothers, Hughson's 
mother-in-law, an old fortune-teller, as being parties to the plot as 
sworn "to burn, and kill;" that Ury christened some of the 
Negroes, and even had the temerity to attempt to proselyte him, 
Kane ; that Ury asked him if he could read Latin, could he read 
English ; to both questions he answered no ; that the man Coffin 
read to him, and descanted upon the benefits of being a Roman 
Catholic ; that they could forgive sins, and save him from hell ; 
and that if he had not gone away from their company they might 
have seduced him to be a Catholic ; that one Conolly, on Gov- 
ernor's Island, admitted that he was "bred up a priest;" that one 
Holt, a dancing-master, also knew of the plot ; and then described 
the mystic ceremony of swearing the plotters. He said, "There 
was a black ring made on the floor, about a foot and a half in 
diameter; and Hughson bid everyone put off the left shoe and 
put their toes within the ring ; and Mrs. Hughson held a bowl of 
punch over their heads, as the Negroes stood around the circle, 
and Hughson pronounced the oath above mentioned, (something 
like a freemason's oath and penalties,) and every negro severally 
repeated the oath after him, and then Hughson's wife fed them 
with a draught out of the bowl." 

This was " new matter," so to speak, an4 doubtless broke the 
monotony of the daily recitals to which their honors had been 
listening all summer. Kane was about to deprive Mary Burton 
of her honors ; and, as he could not write, he made his mark. A 
peddler named Coffin was arrested and examined. He denied all 



THE COLONY OF SEW YORK. 1 63 

knowledge of the plot, never saw Hughson, never was at his 
place, saw him for the first time when he was executed ; had 
never seen Kane but once, and then at Eleanor Waller's, where 
they drank beer together. But the court committed him. Kane 
and Mary Burton accused Edward Murphy. Kane charged David 
Johnson, a hatter, as one of the conspirators ; while Mary Burton 
accuses Andrew Ryase, "little Holt," the dancing-master, John 
Earl, and seventeen soldiers, — all of whom were cast into prison. 

On the i6th of July nine Negroes were arraigned : four plead 
guilty, two were sentenced to be burnt, and the others to be 
hanged. On the ne.xt day seven Negroes plead guilty. One John 
Schultz came forward, and made a deposition that perhaps had 
some little influence on the court and the community at large. 
He swore that a Negro man slave, named Cambridge, belonging 
to Christopher Codwise, Esq., did on the 9th of June, 1741, 
confess to the deponent, in the presence of Codwise and Richard 
Baker, that the confession he had made before Messrs. Lodge 
and Nichols was entirely false ; viz., that he had confessed him- 
self guilty of participating in the conspiracy ; had accused a 
Negro named Cajoe through fear; that he had heard some 
Negroes talking together in the jail, and saying that if they did 
not confess they would be hanged ; that what he said about 
Horseficld Caesar was a lie ; that he had never known in what 
section of the town Hughson lived, nor did he remember ever 
hearing his name, until it had become the town talk that Hughson 
was concerned in a plot to burn the town and murder the inhabit- 
ants. 

This did not in the least abate the zeal of Mary Burton and 
William Kane. Thev went on in their work of accusing white 
people and Negroes, receiving the approving smiles of the magis- 
trates. Mary Burton says that John Earl, who lived in Broad- 
way, used to come to Hughson's with ten soldiers at a time ; that 
these white men were to command the Negro companies ; that 
John Ury used to be present ; and that a man near the Mayor's 
Market, who kept a shop where she (Mary Burton) got rum 
from, a doctor, by nationality a Scotchman, who lived by the Slip, 
and another dancing-master, named Corry, used to meet with the 
conspirators at Hughson's tavern. 

On the 14th of July, John Ury was examined, and denied ever 
having been at Hughson's, or knowing any thing about the con- 
spiracy ; said he never saw any of the Hughsons, nor did he 



1 64 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

know Peggy Carey. But William Kane, the soldier, insisted that 
Ury did visit the house of Hughson. Ury was again committed. 
On the next day eight persons were tried and convicted upon the 
evidence of Kane and Mary Burton. The jail was filling up 
again, and the benevolent magistrates pardoned fourteen Negroes. 
Then they turned their judicial minds to the case of William 
Kane vs. John Ury. First, he was charged with having coun- 
selled, procured, and incited a Negro slave, Quack, to burn the 
king's house in the fort : to which he pleaded not guilty. Second, 
that being a priest, made by the authority of the pretended See 
of Rome, he had come into the Province and city of New York 
after the time limited by law against Jesuits and Popish priests, 
passed in the eleventh year of William III., and had remained for 
the space of seven months ; that he had announced himself to be 
an ecclesiastical person, made and ordained by the authority of 
the See of Rome ; and that he had appeared so to be by celebrat- 
ing masses and granting absolution, etc. To these charges 
Ury pleaded not guilty, and requested a copy of the indictments, 
but was only allowed a copy of the second ; and pen, ink, and 
paper grudgingly granted him. His private journal was seized, 
and a portion of its contents used as evidence against him. The 
following was furnished to the grand jury : — 

"Arrived at Philadelphia the 17th of February, 1 73S. At Ludinum, 5th 
March. — To Philadelphia, 29th April. — Began school at Burlington, i8th 
June. Omilta Jacobus Atherthwaite, 27th July. — Came to school at Burling- 
ton, 23d January, 1740. — Saw , 7th May. — At five went to Burlington, 

to Piercy, the madman. — Went to Pliiladelphia, 19th May. — Went to Burling- 
ton, iSth June. — At si.x in the eveningto Penefack, to Joseph Ashton. — Began 

scliool at Dublin under Charles Hastie, at eight pounds a year, 31st July, , 

i5tli October, ,27th ditto. — Came to John Croker (at the Fighting 

Cocks), New York, 2d November. — I boarded gratis with him, 7th November, 
— Natura Johannis Pool, 26th December. — I began to teach with John 
Campbell, 6th April, 1741. — Baptized Timothy Ryan, born iSth April, 1740, 
son of John Ryan and Mary Ryan, iSth May. — Pater Confessor Butler, two 
Anni, no sacramentiim non confessio." " 

On the 2ist of July, Sarah Hughson, who had been respited, 
was put on the witness-stand again. There were some legal errors 
in the indictments against Ury, and his trial was postponed until 
the next term ; but he was arraigned on a new indictment. The 
energies of the jury and judges received new life. Here was a 

' Dunlapi vol. i. p. 344. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 1 65 

man who was a Catholic, — or had been a Catholic, — and the spirit 
of religious intolerance asserted itself. Sarah Hughson rcmem 
bered having seen Ury at her father's house on several occasions ; 
had seen him make a ring with chalk on the floor, make all the 
Negroes stand around it, while he himself would stand in the 
midille, with a cross, and swear the Negroes. This was also "new 
matter : " nothing of this kind was mentioned in the first confes- 
sion. But this was not all. She had seen Ury preach to the 
Negroes, forgive their sins, and baptize some of them ! She said 
that Ury wanted her to confess to him, and that Peggy confessed 
to him in French. 

On the 24th of July, Elias Desbroses, confectioner, being 
called, swore that Ury had come to his shop with one Webb, a 
carpenter, and inquired for sugar-bits, or wafers, and asked him 
"whether a minister had not his wafers of him .' or, whether that 
paste, which the deponent showed him, was not made of the same 
ingredients as the Luthern minister's ?" or words to that effect: 
the deponent told Ury that if he desired such things" a joiner 
would make him a mould ; and that when he asked him whether 
he had a congregation, Ury "waived giving him an answer." 

On the 27th of July, Mr. Webb, the carpenter, was called to 
the witness-stand and testified as follows : That he had met Ury 
at John Croker's (at the Fighting Cocks), where he became ac- 
quainted with him ; that he had heard him read Latin and Eng- 
lish so admirably that he employed him to teach his child ; that 
finding out that he was a school-teacher, he invited him to board 
at his house without charge ; that he understood from him that 
he was a non-juring minister, had written a book that had drawn 
the fire of the Church, was charged with treason, and driven out 
of England, sustaining the loss of "a living" worth fifty pounds a 
year; that on religious matters the deponent could not always 
comprehend him ; that the accused said Negroes were only fit for 
slaves, and to put them above that condition was to invite them 
to cut your throats. The observing Horsemanden was so much 
pleased with the above declaration, that he gives Ury credit in a 
footnote for understanding the dispositions of Negroes ! ' Farther 
on Mr. Webb says, that, after one Campbell removed to Hugh- 
son's, Ury went thither, and so did the deponent on three different 
times, and heard him read prayers after the manner of the Church 

' Horsemanden's Negro Plot, p. 2S4. 



l66 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of England ; but in the prayer for the king he only mentioned 
"our sovereign lord the King," and not "King George." He said 
that Ury pleaded against drunkenness, debauchery, and Deists ; 
that he admonished every one to keep his own minister ; that 
when the third sermon was delivered one Mr. Hildreth was pres- 
ent, when Ury found fault with certain doctrines, insisted that 
good works as well as faith were necessary to salvation ; that he 
announced that on a certain evening he would preach from the 
text, " Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it; and whosoever sins ye remit, they are 
remitted, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." 

The judges, delighted with this flavor added to the usually 
dry proceedings, thought they had better call Sarah Hughson ; 
that if she were grateful for her freedom she would furnish the 
testimony their honors desired. Sarah was accordingly called. 
She is recommended for mercy. She is, of course, to say what is 
put in her mouth, to give testimony such as the court desires. 
So the fate of the poor schoolmaster was placed in the keeping of 
the fateful Sarah. 

On the 28th of July another grand jury was sworn, and, like 
the old one, was composed of merchants. The following persons 
composed it : Joseph Robinson, James Livingston, Hermanus 
Rutgers, jun., Charles LeRoux, Abraham Boelen, Peter Rutgers, 
Jacobus Roosevelt, John Auboyneau, Stephen Van Courtlandt, 
jun., Abraham Lynsen, Gerardus Duyckinck, John Provost, Henry 
Lane, jun., Henry Cuyler, John Roosevelt, Abraham DePeyster, 
Edward Hicks, Joseph Ryall, Peter Schuyler, and Peter Jay.' 

Sarah Hughson had been pardoned. John Ury was brought 
into court, when he challenged some of the jury. William Hani- 
mersley, Gerardus Beekman, John Shurmur, Sidney Breese, Daniel 
Shatford, Thomas Behenna, Peter Fresneau, Thomas Willett, John 
Breese, John Hastier, James Tucker, and Brandt Schuyler were 
sworn to try him. Barring formalities, he was arraigned upon the 
old indictment ; viz., felony, in inciting and exciting the Negro 
slave Quack to set fire to the governor's house. The king's 
counsel were the attorney-general, Richard Bradley, and Messrs. 
Murray, Alexander, Smith, and Chambers. Poor Ury had no 
counsel, no sympathizers. The attorney-general, in an opening 
speech to the jury, said that certain evidence was to be produced 

' Horsemanden's Negro Plot, p. 2S6. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 1 67 

showing that the prisoner at the bar was guilty as charged in the 
indictment ; that he had a letter that he desired to read to them, 
which had been sent to Lieut.-Gov^ Clark, written by Gen. Ogle- 
thorpe (" the visionary Lycurgus of Georgia "), bearing date of 
the 1 6th of I\Iay. The following is a choice passage from the 
letter referred to : — 

"Some intelligence I had of a villanous design of a very extraordinary 
nature, and if true very important, viz., that the Spaniards had employed emis- 
saries to burn all the magazines and considerable towns in the English North 
America, and thereby to prevent the subsisting of the great expedition and fleet 
in the West Indies; and for this purpose many priests were employed, who 
pretended to be physicians, dancing-masters, and other such kinds of occupa- 
tions, and under that pretence to get admittance and confidence in families.'' ' 

The burden of his effort was the wickedness of Popery and 
the Roman-Catholic Church. The first witness called was the 
irrepressible Mary Burton. She began by rehearsing the old 
story of setting fire to the houses : but this time she varied it 
somewhat ; it was not the fort that was to be burnt first, but 
Croker's, near a coffee-house, by the long bridge. She remem- 
bered the ring drawn with chalk, saw things in it that looked like 
rats (the good Horsemanden throws a flood of light upon this 
otherwise dark passage by telling his reader that it was the 
Negroes' black toes !) ; that she peeped in once and saw a black 
thing like a child, and Ury with a book in his hand, and at this 
moment she let a silver spoon drop, and Ury chased her, and 
would have caught her, had she not fallen into a bucket of water, 
and thus marvellously escaped ! But the rule was to send this 
curious Mary to bed when any thing of an unusual nature was 
going on. Ury asked her some questions. 

" Prisoner. — You say you have seen me several times at Hughson's, what 
clothes did I usually wear? 

"Mary Burton. — I cannot tell what clothes you wore particularly. 
"Priscmer. — That is strange, and know me so well ?" 

She then says several kinds, but particularly, or chiefly, a 
riding-coat, and often a brown coat, trimmed with black. 

"Prisoner. — I never wore such a coat. What time of the day did I used 
to come to Hughson's? 

" M. Burton. — You used chiefiy to coine in the night-time, and when I 
have been going to bed I have seen you undressing in Peggy's room, as if you 

• Colonial Hist, of N. Y., vol. vi. p. 199. 



1 68 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

were to lie there ; but I cannot say that you did, for you were always gone 
before I was up in the morning. 

" Prisoner. — What room was I in when I called Mary, and you came up, 
as you said ? 

" M. Burton. — In the great room, up stairs. 

"Prisoner. — What answer did the Negroes make, when I offered to for- 
give them their sins, as you said ? 

"yl/. Burton. — I don't remember."' 

William Kane, the soldier, took the stand. He was very bold 
to answer all of Ury's questions. He saw him baptize a child, 
could forgive sins, and wanted to convert him ! Sarah Hughson 
was next called, but Ury objected to her because she had been 
convicted. The judge informed him that she had been pardoned, 
and was, therefore, competent as a witness. Judge Horsemanden 
was careful to produce newspaper scraps to prove that the court of 
France had endeavored to create and e.xcite revolts and insurrec- 
tions in the English colonies, and ended by telling a pathetic 
story about an Irish schoolmaster in Ulster County who drank 
the health of the king of Spain ! ^ This had great weight with the 
jury, no doubt. Poor Ury, convicted upon the evidence of three 
notorious liars, without counsel, was left to defend himself. He 
addressed the jury in an earnest and intelligent manner. He 
showed where the evidence clashed ; that the charges were not in 
harmony with his previous character, the silence of Quack and 
others already executed. He showed that Mr. Campbell took 
possession of the house that Hughson had occupied, on the ist of 
May ; that at that time Hughson and his wife were in jail, and 
Sarah in the house ; that Sarah abused Campbell, and that he 
reproved her for the foul language she used ; and that this fur- 
nished her with an additional motive to accuse him ; that he never 
knew Hughson or any of the family. Mr. John Croker testified 
that Ury never kept company with Negroes, nor did he receive 
them at Croker's house up to the ist of May, for all the plotting 
was done before that date ; that he was a quiet, pious preacher, 
and an excellent schoolmaster ; that he taught Webb's child, and 
always declared himself a non-juring clergyman of the Church of 
England. But the fatal revelation of this friend of Ury's was, 
that Webb made him a desk ; and the jury thought they saw in it 
an altar for a Catholic priest ! That was enough. The attorney- 
general told the jury that the prisoner was a Romish priest, and 

' Horsemanden's Negro Plot, pp. 292, 293, ' Ibid,, pp. 298, 299, note. 



THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 169 

then proceeded to prove the exceeding sinfulness of that Church. 
Acknowledging the paucity of the evidence intended to prove him 
a priest, the learned gentleman hastened to dilate upon all the 
dark tleeds of Rome, and thereby poisoned the minds of the jury 
against the unfortunate Ury. He was found guilty, and on tiie 
29th of August, 1741, was hanged, professing his innocence, and 
submitting cheerfully to a cruel and unjust death as a servant of 
the Lord.' 

The trials of the Negroes had continued, but were somewhat 
overshadowed by that of the reputed Catholic priest. On the 
i8th of July seven Negroes were hanged, including a Negro 
doctor named Harry. On the 23d of July a number of white 
persons were fined for keeping disorderly houses, — entertaining 
Negroes ; while nine Negroes were, the same day, released from 
jail on account of a lack of evidence! On the 15th of August a 
Spanish Negro was hanged. On the 31st of August, Corry (the 
dancing-master), Ryan, Kelly, and Cofifin — all white persons — 
were dismissed because no one prosecuted ; while the reader must 
have observed that the evidence against them was quite as strong 
as that offered against any of the persons executed, by the lying 
trio Burton, Kane, and Sarah. But Mr. Smith the historian gives 
the correct reason why these trials came to such a sudden end. 

"The whole summer was spent in the prosecutions; every new trial led to 
further accusations : a coincidence of slight circumstances, was magnified by 
tlie general terror into violent presumptions ; tales collected without doors, 
mingling with the proofs given at tlie bar, poisoned the minds of the jurors; 
and the sanguinary spirit of the day suffered no check till Marv, the capital 
informer, bewildered by frequent e.xaminations and suggestions, lost her first 
impressions, and began to touch characters, which malice itself did not dare to 
suspect." 2 

The 24th of September was solemnly set apart for public 
thanksgiving for the escape of the citizens from destruction ! 

As we have already said, this "Negro plot" has but one 
parallel in the history of civilization. It had its origin in a 
diseased public conscience, inflamed by religious bigotry, accele- 
rated by hired liars, and consummated in the blind and bloody 
action of a court and jury who imagined themselves sitting over 
a powder-magazine. That a robberv took place, there was abun- 
dant evidence in the finding of some of the articles, and the 

' Horsemanden's Negro Plot, pp. 221, 222. ^ Smith's Hist, of N. Y., vol. 11. pp. 59, 60. 



170 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

admissions of Hughson and others ; but there. was not a syllable 
of competent evidence to show that there was an organized plot. 
And the time came, after the city had gotten back to its accus- 
tomed quietness, that the most sincere believers in the " Negro 
plot " were converted to the opinion that the zeal of the magis- 
trates had not been "according to knowledge." For they could 
not have failed to remember that the Negroes were considered 
heathen, and, therefore, not sworn by the court ; that they were 
not allowed counsel ; that the evidence was indirect, contradictory, 
and malicious, while the trials were hasty and unfair. From the 
nth of May to the 29th of August, one hundred and fifty-four 
Negroes were cast into prison ; fourteen of whom were burnt, 
eighteen hanged, seventy-one transported, and the remainder 
pardoned. During the same space of time twenty-four whites 
were committed to prison ; four of whom were executed, and the 
remainder discharged. The number arrested was one hundred 
and seventy-eight, thirty-six executed, and seventy-one trans- 
ported ! What a terrible tragedy committed in the name of law 
and Christian government ! Mary Burton, the Judas Iscariot of 
the pcrioil, received her hundred pounds as the price of the blood 
she had caused to be shed ; and the curtain fell upon one of the 
most tragic events in all the history of New York or of the civil- 
ized world.' 

The legislature turned its attention to additional legislation 
upon the slavery question. Severe laws were passed against the 
Negroes. Their personal rights were curtailed until their condi- 
tion was but little removed from that of the brute creation. We 
have gone over the voluminous records of the Province of New 
York, and have not found a single act calculated to ameliorate 
the condition of the slave. ^ He was hated, mistrusted, and feared. 
Nothing was done, of a friendly character, for the slave in the 



' " On the 6tli of March, 1-42, the following order was passed by the Common Council : 
' Ordered, that the indentures of Mary Burton be delivered up to her, and that she be discharged 
from the remainder of her servitude, and three pounds paid her, to provide necessary clothing.' 
The Common Council had purchased her indentures from her master, and had kept her and them, 
until this time." — Dunlap, vol. ii. Appendix, p. clxvii. 

^ On the 17th of November, 1767,3 bill was brought into the House of Assembly ** to 
prevent the tmnatural and unwarrantable custom of enslaving mankind, and the importation of 
slaves into this province." It was changed into an act '-for laying an impost on Negroes 
imported." This could not pass the governor and council ; and it was afterward known that 
Benning I. Wentworth, the governor of New Hampshire, had received instructions not to pass any 
law "imposing duties on negroes imported into that province." Hutchinson of Massachusetts 
had similar instructions. The governor and his Majesty's council knew this at the time. 



THE COLONY OF NE]V YORK. 171 

Province of New York, until threatening dangers from without 
taught the colonists the importance of husbanding all their 
resources. The war between the British colonics in North 
America and the mother country gave the Negro an opportunity 
to level, by desperate valor, a mountain of prejudice, and wipe 
out with his blood the dark stain of 1741. History says he 
did it. 



172 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

1633-1775- 

The Earliest Mentions of Negroes in Massachusetts. — Pequod Indians exchanged for 
Negroes. — Voyage of the Slave-Ship "Desire" in 1638. — Fundamental Laws adopted. 

— Hereditary Slavery. — Kidnapping Negroes. — Growth of Slavery in the Seven- 
teenth Century. — Taxation of Slaves. — Introduction of Indian Slaves prohibited. — 
The Position of the Church respecting the Baptism of Slaves. — Slave Marriage. — 
Condition of Free Negroes. — Phillis Wheatley the African Poetess. — Her Life. 

— Slavery' recognized in England in Order to be maintained in the Colonies. — The 
Emancip.^tion of Slaves. — Legislation favoring the Importation of White Servants, 

RUT PROHIPITING THE CLANDESTINE BkiNGING-1N OF NeGROES. — JUDGE SewALl's AttACK ON 

Slavery. — Judge Saffin's Reply to Judge Sewall. 

HAD the men who gave the colony of Massachusetts its 
poHtical being and Revolutionary fame known that the 
Negro — so early introduced into the colony as a slave — 
would have been in the future Republic for years the insoluble 
problem, and at last the subject of so great and grave economic 
and political concern, they would have committed to the jealous 
keeping of the chroniclers of their times the records for which 
the historian of the Negro seeks so vainly in this period. Stolen 
as he was from his tropical home ; consigned to a servitude at 
war with man's intellectual and spiritual, as well as with his phys- 
ical, nature ; the very lowest of God's creation, in the estimation 
of the Roundheads of New England ; a stranger in a strange 
land, — the poor Negro of Massachusetts found no place in the 
sympathy or history of the Puritan, — Christians vi'hose deeds and 
memory have been embalmed in song and story, and given to an 
immortality equalled only by the indestructibility of the English 
language. The records of the most remote period of colonial 
history have preserved a silence on the question of Negro slavery 
as ominous as it is conspicuous. What data there are concerning 
the introduction of slavery are fragmentary, uncertain, and unsatis- 
factory, to say the least. There is but one work bearing the lumi- 
nous stamp of historical trustworthiness, and which turns a flood 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 173 

of light on the dark records of the darker crime of human slavery 
in Massachusetts. And \vc are sure it is as complete as the ripe 
scholarship, patient research, and fair and fearless spirit of its 
author, could make it.' 

The earliest mention of the presence of Negroes in Massachu- 
setts is in connection with an account of some Indians who were 
frightened at a Colored man who had lost his way in the tangled 
path of the forest. The Indians, it seems, were " worse scared 
than hurt, who seeing a blackamore in the top of a tree looking 
out for his way which he had lost, surmised he was Abamacho, or 
the devil ; deeming all devils that are blacker than themselves : 
and being near to the plantation, they posted to the English, and 
entreated their aid to conjure this devil to his own place, who 
finding him to be a poor wandering blackamore, conducted him to 
his master." = This was in 1633. It is circumstantial evidence 
of a twofold nature ; i.e., it proves that there were Negroes in the 
colony at a date much earlier than can be fi.xed by reliable data, 
and that the Negroes were slaves. It is a fair presumption that 
this "wandering blackamore " who was conducted "to his mas- 
ter" was not the only Negro slave in the colony. Slaves generally 
come in large numbers, and consequently there must have been 
quite a number at this time. 

Negro slavery in Massachusetts was the safety-valve to the 
pent-up vengeance of the Pequod Indians. Slavery would have 
been established in Massachusetts, even if there had been no 
Indians to punish by war, captivity, and duplicity. Encouraged 
by the British authorities, avarice and gain would have quieted 
the consciences of Puritan slave-holders. But the Pequod war 
was the early and urgent occasion for the founding of slavery 
under the foster care of a. fire church and free govcruinciit ! As 
the Pequod Indians would "not endure the yoke," would not 
remain "as servants," 3 they were sent to Bermudas •» and ex- 
changed for Negroes,5 with the hope that the latter would "endure 



* George H. Moore, LL.D., for many years librarian of the New-York Historical Society, 
but at present the efficient superintendent of the Lenox Library, in his •' Notes on the History of 
Slavery in Mas5.nchusett5," has summoned nearly all the orators and historians of Massachusetts 
to the bar of history. He leaves them open to one of three charges ; viz., evading the truth, igno- 
rance of it, or falsifying the record. And in addition to this work, which is authority, his 
'* .Additional Notes'' glow with an energy and perspicuity of style which lead me to conclude that 
Dr. Moore works admirably under the spur ; and that his refined sarcasm, unanswerable logic, and 
critical accuracy give him undisputed place amongst the ablest writers of our times. 

' Wood's New-England Prospect, 1634, p. 77. * Slavery in Mass., p. 7. 

* Ibid., pp. 4, 5, and 6. -' Elliott's New-England Hist., pp. 167-205. 



174 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the yoke " more patiently. The first importation of slaves from 
Barbados, secured in exchange for Indians, was made in 1637, the 
first year of the Pequod war, and was doubtless kept up for many 
years. 

But in the following year we have the most positive evidence 
that New England had actually engaged in the slave-trade. 

" j\lr. Pierce, in the S.ilem ship, the Desire, returned from the West 
Indies after seven montlis. He had been at Providence, and brou<;ht some 
cotton, and tobacco, and negroes, &c., from thence, and salt from Tertugos. . . . 
Dry fish and strong liquors are the only commodities for those parts. He met 
there two men-of-war, sent forth by the lords, &c.. of Providence with letters of 
mart, who had taken divers prizes from the Spaniard and many negroes." > 

"The Desire" was built at Marblchead in 1636;- was of one 
hundred and twenty tons, and perhaps one of the first built in 
the colony. There is no positive proof that "The Mayflower," 
after landing the holy Pilgrim Fathers, was fitted out for a slave- 
cruise ! But there is no evidence to destroy the belief that " The 
Desire" was built for the sJave-trade. Within a few years from 
the time of the building of " The Desire," there were quite a 
number of Negro slaves in Massachusetts. /"John Josselyn, 
Gen't " in his "Two Voyages to New England,' vjrnade in " 163S, 
1663," and printed for the first time in i674;3 gives an account of 
an attempt to breed slaves in Massachusetts. 

" Tlie Second of October, (1639) about 9 of the clock in the morning, Mr. 
Maverick's Negro woman came to my chamber window, and in her own Coun- 
trey language and tune sang very loud and shril, going out to her, she used a 
great deal of respect towards me, and willingly would have expressed her grief 
in English : but I apprehended it by her countenance and deportment, where- 
upon I repaired to my host, to learn of him the cause, and resolved to entreat 
him in her behalf, for that I understood before, that she had been a Queen in 
her own Countrey, and observed a very humble and dutiful garb used towards 
her by another Negro who was her maid. Mr. Maverick was desirous to have 
a breed of Negroes, and therefore seeing she would not yield by persuasions 

^ Winthrop's Journal, Feb. 26, 163S, vol. i. p. 254 ; see, also, Felt, vol. ii. p. 230. 

- Di". Rluore backs his statement as to the time The Desire was built by quoting from 
Winthrop, vo!. i. p. 193. But there is a mistake somewhere as to the correct date. Winthrop 
says she w.ns built in 1636 ; but I find in Mr. Drake's " Founders of New England," pp. 31, 32, this 
entry : " More (June) XXth, 1635. In the Desire de Lond. Pearce, and bond for New Eng. p'r 
cert, fru ij Justices of Peace and ministers of All Saints lionian in Northampton." If she 
sailed in 1635, she must have been built earlier. 

^ Dr. George H. Moore says Josselyn's Voyages were printed in 1664. This is an error. 
They weie not published until ten years later, in 1674. In 1S33 "'* Massachusetts Historical 
Society printed the work in the third volume and third series of their collection. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 175 

to company with a Negro young man he had in his house ; he commanded him 
will'd she nill'd she to go to bed to her, wliich was no sooner done but she 
kickt him out again, tliis she took in higli disdain beyond her slavery, and this 
was the cause of her jrrief." ■ 



It would appear, at first blush, that slavery was an individual 
speculation in the colony; but the voyage of the ship "Desire" 
was evidently made with a view of securing Negro slaves for sale. 
Josselyn says, in 1627, that the English colony on the Island of 
Barbados had "in a short time increased to twenty thousand, 
besides Negroes." ^ And in 1637 he says that the New Eng- 
landers "sent the male children of Pequets to the Bcrnnidus."3 
It is quite likely that many individuals of large means and estates 
had a few Negro slaves quite early, — perhaps earlier than we 
have any record ; but as a public enterprise in which the colony 
was interested, slavery began as early as 1638. " It will be 
observed," says Dr. Moore, "that this first entrance into the 
slave-trade was not a private, individual speculation. It was the 
enterprise of the authorities of the colony. And on the r3th of 
March, 1639, it was ordered by the General Court "that 3/ Zs 
should be paid Lieftenant Davenport for the present, for charge 
disbursed for the slaves, which, when they have earned it, hee is 
to repay it back againe." The marginal note is " Lieft. Davenport 
to keep ye slaves." (Mass. Rec. i. 253.4) So there can be no 
doubt as to the permanent establishment of the institution of 
slavery as early as 1639, while before that date the institution 
e.xisted in a patriarchal condition. But there isn't the least frag- 
ment of history to sustain the haphazard statement of Emory 
Washburn, that .slavery existed in Massachusetts " from the time 
Maverick was found dwelling on Noddle's Island in 1630." 5 We 
are sure this assertion lacks the authority of historical data. It 
is one thing for a historian to think certain events happened at a 
particular time, but it is quite another thing to be able to cite 
reliable authority in proof of the assertion.'' But no doubt Mr. 
Washburn relies upon Mr. Palfrey, who refers his reader to Mr. 

■ Josselyn, p. 28. = Ibid., p. 250. 3 Ibid, p. 258. « Sbvery in Mass., p. 9. 

' Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iv. 4th Series, p. 333, sq. 

*' Mr. Bancroft (Centenary Kdition, vol. i. p. 137) says, "The earliest import.ition of Negro 
slaves into New England was made in 1637, from Providence Isle, in the Salem ship Desire." 
liut Wintlirop (vol. i. p. 254, imder date of the 26th of February, 163S) says, " The Desire re- 
turned from the West Indies after seven months." He also states (ibid., \i. 193) that Tlie Desire 
was " built at Marblchead in 1636." But this may or may not be true according to the old method 
of keeping time. 



176 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Josselyn. Palfrey says, " Before Winthrop's arrival, there were 
two negro slaves in Massachusetts, held by Mr. Maverick, on 
Noddle's Island." ' Josselyn gives the only account we have of 
the slaves on Noddle's Island. The incident that gave rise to 
this scrap of history occurred on the 2d of October, 1639. Win- 
throp was chosen governor in the year 1637.- It was in this year, 
on the 26th of February, that the slave-ship " Desire " landed a 
cargo of Negroes in the colony. Now, if Mr. Palfrey relies upon 
Josselyn for the historical trustworthiness of his statement that 
there were two Negroes in Massachusetts before Winthrop 
arrived, he has made a mistake. There is no proof for the 
assertion. That there were three Negroes on Noddle's Island, we 
have the authority of Josselyn, but nothing more. And if the 
Negro queen who kicked Josselyn's man out of bed had been as 
long in the island as Palfrey and Washburn indicate, she would 
have been able to explain her grief to Josselyn in English. We 
have no doubt but what Mr. Maverick got his slaves from the ship 
"Desire" in 1638, the same year Winthrop was inaugurated 
;ernor. 

In Massachusetts, as in the other colonies, slavery made its 
way into individual families first ; thence into communities, where 
it was clothed with the garment of usage and custom ; > and, finally, 
men longing to enjoy the fruit of unrequited labor gave it the 
sanction of statutory law. There was not so great a demand for 
slaves in Massachusetts as in the Southern States ; and yet they 
had their uses in a domestic way, and were, consequently, sought 
after. As early as 1641 Massachusetts adopted a body of funda- 
mental laws. The magistrates,4 armed with authority from the 
crown of Great Britain, had long exercised a power which well- 
nigh trenched upon the personal rights of the people. The latter 
desired a revision of the laws, and such modifications of the 
power and discretion of the magistrates as would be in sympathy 
with the spirit of personal liberty that pervaded the minds of the 
colonists. But while the people sought to wrest an arbitrary 
power from the unwilling hands of their judges, they found no 
pity in their hearts for the poor Negroes in their midst, who, 
having served as slaves because of their numerical weakness and 
the passive silence of justice, were now to become the legal 

■ Palfrey's Hist, of N. E., vol. ii. p. 30, note. - Josselyn, p. 257. 

3 Elliott's New-England Hist., vol. ii. pp. 57, 58. •* Hildreth, vol. i. p. 270, sq. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. I 77 

and statutory vassals — for tlicir life-time — of a liberty-loving and 
liberty-seeking people! In the famous "Body o{ Liberties" is 
to be found the first statute establishing slavery in the United 
States. It is as follows : — 

"It is ordered by this court, and the autlidrity tliercol ; that there shall 
never be any bond slavery, villainage or captivity amongst us, unless it be lawful 
captives taken in just wars, as willingly sell themselves or are sold to us, and 
such shall have the liberties and christian usage which the law of God estab- 
lished in Israel concerning such persons doth morally reqviire ; provided this 
exempts none from servitude, who shall be judged thereto by authority.'' > 

We have omitted the old spelling, but none of the words, as 
they appeared in the original manuscript. There isn't the shadow 
of a doubt but what this law has been preserved inviolate. = 

There has been considerable discussion about the real bearing 
of this statute. Many zealous historians, in discussing it, have 
betrayed more zeal for the good name of the Coinmonwealth than 
for the truth of history. Able lawyers — and soine of them still 
survive — have maintained, with a greater show of learning than of 
facts, that this statute abolished slaveiy in Massachusetts. But, 
on the other hand, there are coimtless lawyers who pronounce it 
a plain and unmistakable law, "creating and establishing slavery." 
An examination of the statute will help the reader to a clear 
understanding of it. To begin with, this law received its being 
from the e.xistent fact of slavery in the colony. From the prac- 
tice of a few holding Negroes as slaves, it became general and 
prodigious. Its presence in society called for lawful regulations 
concerning it. While it is solemnly declared " that there shall 
never be any bond slavery, villianage, or captivity" in the colony, 
there were three provisos; viz., "lawful captives taken in just 
wares," those who would " sell themselves or are sold to us," and 
such as "shall be judged thereto by authority." Under the fore- 
going conditions slavery was plainly established in Massachusetts. 
The "just wares" were the wars against the Peciuod Indians. 
That these were made prisoners and slaves, we have the universal 
testimonv of all writers on the historv of Massachusetts. Just 
what class of jieople would " sell themselves" into slavery we are 
at a loss to know ! We can, however, understand the meaning of 
the words, " or are sold to us." This was an o\ic\\ door for the 
traffic in human beings ; for it made it lawful for to sell slaves to 



■ Ancient Charters and Laws of Mass., pp. 52, 23. - Slavery in .Mass., p. 13, note. 



178 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the colonists, and lawful for the latter to purchase them. Those 
who were "judged thereto by authority " were those in slavery 
already and such as should come into the colony by shipping. 

This statute is wide enough to drive a load of hay through. 
It is not the work of a novice, but the labored and skilful product 
of great law learning. 

" The law must be interpreted in the light of contemporaneous facts of 
history. At the time it was made (1641), wliat had its authors to provide for.? 

" I. Indian slaves — their captives taken in war. 

"2. Negro slaves — their own importations of 'strangers,' detained by 
purchase or e.xchange. 

"3. Criminals — condemned to slavery as a punishment for offences. 

" In this light, and only in this light, is their legislation intelligible and 
consistent. It is very true that the code of which this law is a part 'e.\liibits 
throughout the hand of the practised lawyer, familiar with the principles and 
securities of English Liberty;' but who had ever heard, at that time, of the 
'common-law rights' of Indians and Negroes, or anybody else but Englisli- 



men .' 



" Thus stood the statute through the whole colonial period, and it was 
never e.xpressly repealed. Based on the Mosaic code, it is an absolute recog- 
nition of slavery as a legitimate status, and of the right of one man to sell 
himself as well as that of another man to buy him. It sanctions the slave- 
trade, and the perpetual bondage of Indians and Negroes, their children and 
their children's children, and entitles Massachusetts to precedence over any 
and all the other colonies in similar legislation. It anticipates by many years 
any thing of the sort to be found in the statutes of Virginia, or Maryland, or 
South Carolina, and nothing like it is to be found in the contemporary codes 
of her sister colonies in New England." ■ 

The subject had been carefully weighed ; and, lacking authority 
for legalizing a crime against man, the Mosaic code was cited, 
and in accordance with its hunianc j^rovisions, slaves were to be 
treated. But it was autliority for slavery that the cunning lawyer 
who drew the statute was seeking, and not precedents to deter- 
mine the kind of treatment to be bestowed upon the slave. 
Under it " human slavery e.xisted for nearly a centtiry and a half 
without serious challenge ;" = and here, as well as in Virginia, it 
received the sanction of the Church and courts. It grew with its 
growth, and strengthened with its strength ; until, as an organic 
institution, it had many defenders and few apologists. 3 

"This article gives express sanction to the slave-trade, and the practice 
of holding Negroes and Indians in perpetual bondage, anticipating by many 

■ Slavery in iMass., pp. iS, 19. " Ibid., p. !2. ^ Elliott's New-England Hist., vol. i. p. 3S3. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 179 

years any thing of the sort to be found in the statutes of Virginia or Mary- 
land." ■ 

And it is rather strange, in the light of this plain statute 
establishing and legalizing the purchase of slaves, that Mr. Wash- 
burn's statement, unsustained, should receive the public indorse- 
ment of so learned a body as the Massachusetts Historical Society! 

" But, after all [says Mr. Washburn], the laws on this subject, as well as 
the practice of the government, were inconsistent and anomalous, indicating 
clearly, that whether Colony or Province, so far as it felt free to follow its own 
inclinations, uncontrolled by the action of the mother country, Massachusetts 
was hostile to slavery as an institution ! " = 

No d()ul)t Massachusetts was ."inconsistent " in seeking liberty 
for her white citizens while forging legal chains for the Negro. 
And how far the colony "felt free to follow its own inclinations" 
Chief-Justice Parsons declares from the bench. Says that emi- 
nent jurist, — 

" Slavery was introduced into this country [Massachusetts] soon after its 
first settlement, and was tolerated until the ratification of the present Consti- 
tution — of 1 780."' 3 

So here we find an eminent authority declaring that slavery 
followed hard upon the heels of tlie Pilgrim Fathers, "and was 
tolerated" until 1780. Massachusetts "felt free" to tear from 
the iron grasp of the imperious magistrates the liberties of the 
people, but doubtless felt not "free" enough to blot out "the 
crime and folly of an evil time." And yet for years lawyers and 
clergymen, orators and statesmen, historians and critics, have 
stubbornly maintained, that, while slavery did creep into the 
colony, and did e.xist, it was " not probably by force of any law, 
for none such is found or known to e.xist." (.') 4 

Slavery having been firmly established in Massachusetts, the 
next step was to make it hereditary. This was done under the 
sanction of the highest and most solemn forms of the courts of 
law. It is not our ])urpose to give this subject the attention it 
merits, in this place; but in a subsequent chajner it will receive 
due attention. We will, however, say in passing, that it was the 
opinion of many lawyers in the last century, some of whom served 
upon the bench in Massachusetts, that chiklren followed the 

' Hildreth, vol. i. p. 27S. ' Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. iv. ^tli Series, p. 334. 

^ Quoted by Dr. Moore, p. 20. » Conunonwcalth vs. .\ves, iS Pickering, p. 208. 



l8o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

condition of their mothers. Chief-Justice Parsons held that "the 
issue of the female slave, according to the maxim of the civil 
law, was the property of her master." And, subsequently, Chief- 
Justice Parker rendered the following opinion : — 

" Tlie practice was ... to consider such issue as slaves, and the property 
of the master of the parents, liable to be sold and transferred like other 
chattels, and as assets in the hands of executors and administrators. . . . We 
think there is no doubt that, at any period of our history, the issue o£ a slave 
husband and a free wife would have been declared free. His children, if the 
issue of a marriage with a slave, would, immediately on their birth, become the 
property of his master, or of the master of the female slave." > 

This decision is strengthened by the statement of Kendall in 
reference to the wide-spread desire of Negro slaves to secure free 
Indian wives, in order to insure the freedom of their children. 
He says, — 

'• While slavery was supposed to be maintainable by law in Massachusetts, 
there was a particular temptation to Negroes lor taking Indian wives, the chil- 
dren of Indian women being acknowledged to be free." 2 

We refer the reader, with perfect confidence, to our friend Dr. 
George H. Moore, who, in his treatment of this particular feature 
of slavery in Massachusetts, has, with great research, put down a 
number of zealous friends of the colony who have denied, with 
great emphasis, that any child was ever born into slavery there. 
Neither the opinion of Chief-Justice Dana, nor the naked and 
barren assertions of historians Palfrey, Sumner, and Washburn, — 
great though the men were, — can dispose of the historical 7-calitv 
of hereditary slavery in Massachusetts, down to the adoption of 
the Constitution of 1780. 

The General Court of Massachusetts issued an order in 1645 3 
for the return of certain kidnapped or stolen Negroes to their 
native country. It has been variously commented upon by his- 
torians and orators. The story runs, that a number of ships, 
plying between New-England seaport towns and Madeira and the 
Canaries, made it their custom to call on the coast of Guinea "to 
trade for negroes." Thus secured, they were disposed of in the 

^ Andover vs. Canton, Mass. Reports, 551, 552, quoted by Dr. Moore. 

- Kend.Tirs Travels, vol. ii. p. 179. 

^ The followin!^ note, if it refers to tlie kidnapped Negroes, gives an earlier date, — " 20th May, 
1644. Mr. Blackleach his petition about the Mores was consented to, to be committed to the 
eldrs, to enforme us of the mind of God herein, S: then further to consider it."— Mass. 
Records, vol. ii. p. 67, 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. l8l 

slave-markets of Barbadoes and the West Indies. The New- 
England slave-market did not demand a large supply. Situated 
on a cold, bleak, and almost sterile coast, Massachusetts lacked 
the conditions to make slave-trading as lucrative as the Southern 
States ; but, nevertheless, she disposed of ([uite a number, as the 
reader will observe when we examine the first census. A ship 
from the town of Boston consorted with "some Londoners " with 
the object of gaining slaves. Mr. Bancroft ■ says that " upon the 
Lord's day, invited the natives aboard one of their ships," and 
then made prisoners of such as came ; which is not mentioned by 
Hildreth.- The latter writer says, that "on [iretence of some 
quarrel with the natives," landed a small cannon called a "mur- 
derer," attacked the village on Sunday ; and having burned the 
village, and killed many, made a few prisoners. Several of these 
prisoners fell to the Boston ship. On account of a disagreement 
between the captain and under officers of the ship, as well as 
the owners, the story of the above affair was detailed before a 
Boston court. Richard Saltonstall was one of the magistrates 
before whom the case was tried. He was moved by the recital 
of the cruel wrong done the Africans, and therefore presented 
a petition to the court, charging the captain and mate with tl^e 
threefold crime of "murder," "man-stealing," and "sabbath- 
breakintr." 3 



* Bancroft, Centennial edition, vol. i. p. 137. ^ Hildreth, vol. i. p. 2S2. 

3 The petition is rather a remarkable paper, and is printetl below. It is evident that tiie 
judge was in earnest, .^nd yet the court, while admitting the petition, tried the case on only one 
groimd, man-stealing. 

To the honored getternl court. 

The oalh I took this yeare atl my cnterance upon the place of assistantc was to this cflcct: Thai I 
would truly endeavour the advancement of the gospell and the good of the people of this plantation (to the 
best of nly skill) dispencing justice equally and impartially (accordiiij; to the laws of God and this land) in 
all cases wherein I act by virtue of my place. I conceive myself called by virtue of my place to act 
(according to this oath) in the case concerning the negers taken by captain Smith and Mr. Keser; wherein 
it is apparent that Mr. Keser gave chace to cert.aine negers; and upon the s.ame day tooke divers of them; 
and at another time killed others; and burned one of their townes. Omitting several misdemeanours, which 
accompained these acts above mentioned, I conceive the acts themselves to bee directly contrary to these 
following laws (all of which are capitall by the word of God : and two of them by the lawes of this jurisdic- 
tion) . 

The act (or acts) of murder (whether by force or fraude) are expressly contrary Iwtli to the law of 
God, and the law of this country. 

The act of steahng negers, or taking them by force (Whether it be considered as theft or robbery) 
is (as I conceive) expressly contrary, both to the law of God, and the law of this country. 

The act of chaceing the itegers (as a/oresayde) iif-ott the sabbath day (being a ser^'ile 7rorA-t 
and such as cannot be considered under any other heade) is expressly capitall by the law cj 
Cad. 

These acts and outrages being committed where there was noe civill government, which might call 
them to accompt, and the persons, by whom they were committed beeing of our jurisdiction, 1 conceive this 
court to bee the ministers of God in this case, and therefore my humble request is that the scvcrall otTenders 



l82 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

It seems that by the Fundamental Laws, adopted by the people 
in 1 64 1, the first two offences were punishable by death, and all of 
them "capitall, by the law of God." The court doubted its juris- 
diction over crimes committed on the distant coast of Guinea. But 
article ninety-one of "The Body of Liberties" determined who 
were lawful slaves, — those who sold themselves or were sold, 
"lawful captives taken in just wares," and those "judged thereto 
by authority." Had the unfortunate Negroes been purchased, 
there was no law in Massachusetts to free them from their owners ; 
but having been kidnapped, unlawfully obtained, the court felt 
that it was its plain duty to bear witness against the " sin of man- 
stealing." For, in the laws adopted in 1641, among the "Capital 
Laws," at the latter part of article ninety-four is the following: 
" If any man stealeth a man, or mankind, he shall surely be put 
to death." ■ There is a marginal reference to E.xod. .\.\i. 16. 
Dr. Moore does not refer to this in his elaborate discussion of 
statute on "bond slavery." And Winthrop says that the magis- 
trates decided that the Negroes, "having been procured not 
honestly by purchase, but by the unlawful act of kidnaping," 
should be returned to their native country. That there was a 
criminal code in the colony, there can be no doubt ; but we have 
searched for it in vain. Hildreth - says it was printed in 1649, 
but that there is now no copy extant. 

The court issued an order about the return of the kidnapped 
Negroes, which we will give in full, on account of its historical 
value, and because of the difference of opinion concerning it. 

'■ The general court conceiving themselves bound by the first opportunity 
to bear witness against the heinous, and crying sin of man-stealing, as also to 
prescribe such timely redress for what is past, and such a law for the future, as 
may sufficiently deter all others belonging to us to have to do in such vile and 
odious courses, justly abhorred of all good and just men, do order that the 
negro interpreter with others unlawfully taken, be by the first opportunity at 
the charge of the country for the present, sent to his native country (Guinea) 
and a letter with him of the indignation of the court thereabouts, and justice 
thei'eof, desiring our honored governor would please put this order in e.\e- 
cution." 3 

may be imprisoned by the order of this court, and brought into their deserved censure in convenient time: 
and this 1 humbly crave that soe the sinn they have committed may be upon their own heads, and not upon 

ourselves (as otherwise it will.) -,. ■ n i. ■ , v. 

^ ' \ rs m all chnslean observance, 

Richard Saltonstall. 

The house of depuls thinke meete that this petition shall be granted, and desire our honnored magis- 

trats concurrance herein. Edward Rawson. 

— Coffi.n's Nc-uil/iiry, pp. 335, 336. 

* Laws Cainb., 1675, P- 'S* ^ Hildreth, vol. i. p. 36S. ^ Coffin, p. 335. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1 83 

This "protest against man-stealing" has adorned and flavored 
many an oration on tlie " position of Massachusetts " on the 
slavery question. It has been brought out " to point a moral 
and adorn a tale" by the proud friends of the Commonwealth; 
but the law quoted above against " man-stealing," the language of 
the "protest," the statute on "bond servitude," and the practices 
of the colonists for many years afterwards, prove that many have 
gloried, but not according to the truth.' When it came to the 
question of damages, the court said : " For the negars (they being 
none of his, but stolen) we thinkc meete to allow nothing." - 

So the decision of the court was based upon law, — the pro- 
hibition against "man-stealing." And it should not be forgotten 
that many of the laws of the colony were modelled after the 
Mosaic code. It is referred to, apologetically, in the statute of 
1641 ; and no careful student can fail to read between the lines 
the desire there expressed to refer to the Old Testament as 
authority for slavery. Now, slaves were purchased by x\braham, 
and the Xew-Engkind "doctors of the law" were unwilling to 
have slaves stolen when they could be bought 3 so easily. Dr. 
Moore says, in reference to the decision, — 

" In all the proceeding.s of tlie General Court on thi.s occ.nsion, there is not 
a trace of anti-slavery opinion or sentiment, still less of anti-slavery legislation ; 
thouijh both have been repeatedly claimed for the honor of the colony.'" -t 

And Dr. Moore is not alone in his opinion ; for Mr. Hildreth 
says this case "in which Saltonstall was concerned has been 
magnified by too precipitate an admiration into a protest on the 
part of Massachusetts against the African slave-trade. So far, 
however, from any such protest being made, at the very birth of 
the foreign commerce of New England the African slave-trade 
became a regular business." 5 There is now, therefore, no room 
to doubt but what the decision was rendered on a technical point 
of law, and not inspired by an anti-slavery sentiment. 

As an institution, slavery had at first a stunted growth in 
Massachusetts, and did not increase its victims to any great 
extent until near the close of the seventeenth century. But 
when it did begin a perceptible growth, it made rapid and prodi- 
gious strides. In 1676 there were about two hundred slaves in 



' Diakc (p. 2SS) says, " This act, however, was afterwards repealed or disregarded." 
^ Mass. Records, vol. ii. p. 129. * Moore, .Appendix, 251, sq. 

* Slavery in Mass., p. y:>. * Hildreth, vol. i. p. 2S2. 



1 84 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the colony, and they were chiefly from Guinea and Madagascar.' 
In 1680 Gov. Bradstreet, in compHance with a request made by 
the home government, said that the slave-trade was not carried 
on to any great extent. They were introduced in small lots, and 
brought from ten to forty pounds apiece. He thought the entire 
number in the colony would not reach more than one hundred and 
twent\--five. Few were born in the colony, and none had been 
baptized up to that time.- The year 1700 witnessed an unprece- 
dented growth in the slave-trade. From the 24th of January, 
1698, to the 25th of December, 1707,3 two hundred Negroes were 
imported into the colony, — quite as many as in the previous si.xty 
years. In 1708 Gov. Dudley's report to the board of trade fixed 
the number of Negroes at five hundred and fifty, and suggested 
that they were not so desirable as white servants, who could be 
used in the army, and in time of peace turn their attention to 
planting. The prohibition against the Negro politically and in a 
military sense, in that section of the country, made him almost 
valueless to the colonial government struggling for deliverance 
from the cruel laws of the mother country. The white ser- 
vant could join the " miniite-men," plough with his gun on his 
back, go to the church, and, having received the blessing of the 
parish minister, could hasten to battle with the proud and almost 
boastful feelings of a Christian freeman ! But the Negro, bond 
and free, was excluded from all these sacred privileges. Wronged, 
robbed of his freedom, — the heritage of all human kind, — he 
was suspicioned and contemned for desiring that great boon. 
On the 17th of February, 1720, Gov. Shute placed the number of 
slaves — including a few Indians — in Massachusetts at two thou- 
sand. During the same year thirty-se\'en males and sixteen 
females were imported into the colony.4 We are unable to dis- 
cover whether these were counted in the enumeration furnished 
by Gov. Shute or not. We are inclined to think they were in- 
cluded. In 1735 there were two thousand six hundreds bond and 
free in the colony ; and within the next seventeen years the Negro 
population of Boston alone reached 1,541.'^ 



■ Slavery in Mass., p. 49. See, also, Drake's Boston, p. 441, note. 

= Mass. Hist. Coll., vol. viii. 31! Series, p. 337. ^ Slavery in Mass., p. 50. 

* Coll. Anier. Stat. Asso., vol. i. p. 5S6. ■'' Douglass's British Settlements, vol. i. p. 531. 

*• Drake, p. 714. 1 cannot understand how Dr. Moore gets 1,514 slaves in Boston in 1742, 
except from Douglass. His " 1742 " should read 1752, and his " 1,514 " slaves should read 1,541 
slaves. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1 85 

In 1754 the colonial government found it necessary to estab- 
lisii a system of taxation. Gov. Shirley was required to inform 
the House of Representatives as to the different kinds of taxable 
property. And from a clause in his message, Nov. 19, 1754, on 
the one hundred and nineteenth page of the Journal, we infer two 
things ; viz., that slaves were chattels or real estate, and, therefore, 
ta.xable. The governor says, "There is one part of the Estate, 
viz., the Negro slaves, which I am at a loss how to come at the 
knowledge of, without your assistance." In accordance with 
the request for assistance on this matter, the Legislature instructed 
the assessors of each town and district within the colony to secure 
a correct list of all Negro slaves, male and female, from si.vteen 
years old and upwards, to be deposited in the office of the secre- 
tary of state.' The result of this enumeration was rather sur- 
prising; as it fi.\ed the Negro population at 4,489, — quite an 
increase over the last enumeration. Again, in 1764-65, another 
census of the Negroes was taken ; and they were found to be 
5.779- 

Here, as in Virginia, an impost tax was imposed upon all 
Negro slaves imported into the colony. We will quote section 3 
of the Act of October, 1705, requiring duty upon imported Negroes ; 
because many are disposed to discredit some historical statements 
about slavery in Massachusetts. 



"Skct. 3. And be it further enacted by tlie authority aforesaid, tliat 
from and after the first day of May, in the year one thousand seven hundred 
and six, every master of ship or vessel, merchant or other person, importing or 
bringing into this province any negroe or negroes, male or female, of what age 
soever, shall enter their number, names and se.x in the impost office: and the 
master shall insert the same in the manifest of liis lading, and shall pay to the 
commissioner and receiver of the impost, four pounds per head for every sucii 
negro, male or female; and as well the master, as the ship or vessel wherein 
tliey are brought, shall be security for payment of the said duty; and both or 
either of them shall stand charged in the law therefor to the commissioner, 
who may deny to grant a clearing for such ship or vessel, until payment be 
made, or may recover the same of the master, at the commissioner's election, 

' "There is a curious illustration of 'the way of putting if in Massachusetts, in Mr. 
Telt's account of this 'census of slaves,' in the Collections of the American Statistical Asso- 
ciation, vol. i. p. 208. He says that the General Ctiurt ]iasse<l this order ' for the purpose of 
having an accurate account of slaves in our Commonwealth, a! a subject in which the fcoplc ucrc 
becoming much interested, relative to the cause of liberty' " There is not a particle of authority 
for this suggestion — such a motive for their action never existed anywhere but in the imagination 
of the writer himself I " — Slavery in Mass., p. 51, note. 



1 86 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

by action of debt, Ijill, jilaint or information in any of her majesty's courts of 
record witliin tliis i^rovince." ' 

A fine of eight pounds was imposed upon any person refusing 
or neglecting to make a proper entry of each slave imported, in 
the "Impost Office." If a Negro died within six weeks after his 
arrival, a drawback was allowed. If any slave was sold again into 
another Province or plantation within a year after his arrival, 
a drawback was allowed to the person who paid the impost duty. 
A subsequent and more stringent law shows that there was no 
desire to abate the traffic. In August, 17 12, a law was passed 
"prohibiting the importation or bringing into the province any 
Indian ser\ants or slaves ;"^ but it was only intended as a check 
upon the introduction of the Tuscaroras and other "revengeful" 
Indians from South Carolina.3 Desperate Indians and insubor- 
dinate Negroes were the occasion of grave fears on the part of 
the colonists.* Many Indians had been cruelly dealt with in war; 
in peace, enslaved and wronged beyond their power of endu- 
rance. Their stoical nature led them to the performance of 
desperate deeds. There is kinship in suffering. There is an 
unspoken language in sorrow that binds hearts in the indissoluble 
fellowship of resolve. Whatever natural and national differences 
existed between the Indian and the Negro — one from the bleak 
coasts of New England, the other from the tropical coast of 
Guinea — were lost in the commonality of degradation and interest. 
The more heroic spirits of both races began to grow restive under 
the yoke. The colonists were not slow to observe this, and hence 
this law was to act as a restraint upon and against "their rebel- 
lion and hostilities." And the reader should understand that it 
was not an anti-slavery measure. It was not "hostile to slavery" 
as a system : it was but the precaution of a guilty and ever- 
gnawing public conscience. 

Slavery grew. There was no legal obstacle in its way. It 
had the sanction of the law, as we have already shown, and what 
was better still, the sympathy of public sentiment. The traffic 
in slaves appears to have been more an object in Boston than at 



' Ancient Charters and Laws of Mass., p. 748. 

= Ibid. 

■'' Slavery in Mass., p. 61. 

■• Hildreth, vol. ii. pp. 269, 270. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1 87 

any period before or since. For a time dealers liad no hesitation 
in advertising them for sale in their own names. At length a 
very few who advertised would refer purchasers to " inquire of 
the printer, and know further." ' This was in 1727, fifteen years 
after the afore-mentioned Act became a law, and which many 
apologists would interpret as a specific and direct prohibition 
against slavery ; but there is no reason for such a perversion of 
so plain an Act. 

Slavery in Massachusetts, as elsewhere, in self-defence had to 
claim as one of its necessary and fundamental principles, that the 
slave was either naturally inferior to the other races, or that, by 
some fundamentally inherent law in the institution itself, the 
master was justified in ]ilacing the lowest possible estimate upon 
his slave property. " Property " implied absolute control over 
the thing possessed. It carried in its broad meaning the awful 
fact, not alone of ownership, but of the supremacy of the will of 
the owner. Mr. Addison says, — 

" What color of exxuse can there be for the contempt with which we treat 
tliis part of our species, that we should not put them upon the common foot of 
luimanity, that we should only set an insignificant fine upon tlie man w/io mur- 
ders tliem ; nay, that we should, as much as in us lies, cut them off from the 
prospect of happiness in another world, as well as in this, and deny thcni that 
wliicli we lool< upon as the proper means for obtaining it. '"2 

None whatever! And yet the Puritans put the Negro slaves in 
their colony on a level with "horses and hogs." Let the intelli- 
gent American of to-day read the following remarkable note from 
Judge Sewall's diary, and then confess that facts are stranger 
than fiction. 

. " 1 716. I essayed June 22, to prevent Indians and Negroes being rated 

I witli Horses and Hogs; but could not prevail. Col. Tha.xter bro't it back, and 

gave as a reason of y Nonagreement, They were just going to make a new 

valuation." 3 

It had been sent to the deputies, and was by them rejected, 
and then returned to the judge by Col. Tha.xter. The House was 
"just going to make a New Valuation " of the property in the 



' Drake's Boston, p. 574. » Spectator, No. 215, Nov. 6, 1711. 

* Slavery in Mass., p, 64. 



1 88 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

colony, and hence did not care to exclude slaves from the list of 
chattels,' in which they had always been placed. 

" In 1718, all Indian, Negro, and Mulatto servants for life were estimated 
as other Personal Estate — viz.: Each male servant/br///^ above fourteen year.s 
of age, at fifteen pounds value ; each female servant for life, above fourteen 
years of age, at ten pounds value. The assessor might make abatement for 
cause of age or infirmity. Indian, Negro, and Mulatto Male servants for a 
term of years were to be numbered and rated as other Polls, and not as Per- 
sonal Estate. In 1726, the assessors were required to estimate Indian, Negro, 
and .Mulatto servants proportionably as other Personal Estate, according to 
their sound judgment and discretion. In 1727, the rule of 1718 was restored, 
but during one year only, for in 1728 the law was the same as that of 1726; 
and so it probably remained, including all such servants, as well for term of 
years as for life, in the ratable estates. We have seen the supply-bills for 
'736, 1738, 1739, ^fd '74°) '» which this feature is the same. 

" And thus they continued to be rated with horses, o.xen, cows, goats, 
sheep, and swine, until after the commencement of the War of the Revo- 
lution." 2 

On the 22d of April, 1728, the following notice appeared in 
a Boston newspaper : — 

" Two very likely Negro girls. Enquire two doors from the Brick Meeting- 
house in Middle-street. At which place is to be sold women's stays, children's 
good callamanco stiffened-boddy'd coats, and childrens' stays of all sorts, and 
women's hoop-coats ; all at very reasonable rates." 3 

( So the "likely Negro girls" were mi.\ed up in the sale of 
" women's stays " and "hoop-coats " ! It was bad enough to " rate 
Negroes with Horses and Hogs," but to sell them with second- 
hand clothing was an incident in which is to be seen the low 
depth to which slavery had carried the Negro by its cruel weight. 
A human being could be sold like a cast-off garment, and pass 
without a bill of sale.4 The announcement that a " likely Negro 

' " In the inventory of the estate of Sanniel Morgaridge, who died in 1754, I find, 

'Item, three negroes ^i33i 6j., %d. 

Item, fiax X12, 2s., 8.' 

" In the inventory of Henr>' Rolfe's estate, taken in .■\pri], 1711, I find the follovfing, namely, 

' Fifteen sheep, old and young £.%, 15^. 

An old gun 2 

An old N'egroe man 10 

iij -!■'" 
— Coffin, p. iSS, 
' Slaverv- in Mass., pp. 64, 65, ' Drake, 583, note. 

* Here is a sample of the sales of those days ; " In 1716, Rice Edwards, of Newbur)-, ship- 
wright, sells to Edmund Greenleaf ' my whole personal estate with all my goods and chattels as 
also one negro man, one cow, three pigs with timber, phnk, and boards." — Coffin, p. 337. 



THE COLOyy OF .\fASSACHUSETTS. 1 89 

woman about nineteen years and a child about six months of afe 
to be sold together or apart " ■ did not shock the Christian sensi- 
bilities of the people of Massachusetts. A babe six months old 
could be torn from the withered and famishing bosom of the 
young mother, and sold with other articles of merchandise. How 
bitter and how cruel was such a separation, mothers - only can 
know ; and how completely lost a community and government are 
that regard with complacency a hardship so diabolical, the Chris- 
tians of America must be able to judge. ^ 

The Church has done many cruel thiil'gs in the name of Chris- 
tianity. In the dark ages it filled the minds of its disciples with 
fear, and their bodies with the pains of penance. It burned 
Michael Servetus, and it strangled the scientific opinions of 
Galileo. And in stalwart old Massachusetts it thought it was 
doing God's service in denying the Negro slave the right of 
Christian baptism." 

"The famous French Cot/^ Xoir of 16S5 obliged everv planter to have 
his Negroes baptized, and properly instructed in the doctrines and duties ot 
Christianity. Nor was this the only important and humane provision of that 
celebrated statute, to which we may seek in vain for any parallel in British 
Colonial legislation." 3 

On the 25th of October. 1727, Matthias Plant -t wrote, in answer 
to certain questions put to him by " the secretary of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel," as follows : — 

'•6. Negro slaves, one of them is desirous of baptism, but denied by her 
master, a woman of wonderful sense, and prudent in matters, of equal knowl- 
edge in Religion with most of her se.v, far exceeding any of her own nation 
that ever yet I heard of." 5 

It was nothing to her master that she was "desirous of bap- 
tism," "of wonderful sense," "prudent in. matters," and "of equal 
knowledge in religion with most of her sex ! " She was a Xegro 
slave, and as such was denied the blessings of the Christian 
Church. 

y 

■ New-England Weekly Journal, No. 267, May i, 17^2. 

^ .A child one year and a half old — a nursing child sold from the bo.->om of its mother! — 
and for life .' — Coffin, p. 337. 

' Slaver)' in Mass., p. 96. Note. 

•* Eight ye.irs after this, on the 22d of June. 1735, ^'f- P'-™' records in his diary ; ■ 1 wtoIc 
Mr. Salmon of Barbadoes to send me a Negro." (Coffin, p. 33S.) It doesn't appear that the 
reverend gentleman was opjxised to slavery ! 

s Note quoted by Ur. Moore, c. !;S. 



igo HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"The system of personal servitude was fast disappearing from Western 
Europe, wliere tlie idea liad obtained that it was inconsistent with Christian 
duty for Christians to hold Christians as slaves. But this charity did not 
extend to heathen and infidels. The same system of morality which held the 
possessions of unbelievers as lawful spoils of war, delivered over their persons 
also to the condition of servitude. Hence, in America, the slavery of the 
Indians, and presently of Negroes, whom experience proved to be mucli more 
capable of enduring the hardships of that condition." ■ 

And those who were so fortunate as to secure baptism were 
not freed thereby. ^ In Massachusetts no Negro ever had the 
courage to seek his freedom through this door, and, therefore, 
there was no necessity for legislation there to define the question ; 
but in tlie Southern colonies the law declared that baptism did 
not secure the liberty of the subject. As early as 1631 a law was 
passed admitting no man to the rights of "freemen" who was 
not a member of some church within the limits of the jurisdiction 
of the colony. 3 The blessings of a "freeman" were reserved for 
church-members only. Negroes were not admitted to the church, 
and, therefore, were denied the rights of a freeman. 4 Even the 
mother coiuitry had no bowels of compassion for the Negro. In 
1677 the lingiish courts held that a Negro slave ^z.^ property. 

" That, being usually bought and sold among merchants as merchandise, 
and also being infidels, there might be a property in them sufficient to maintain 
trover.'' 5 

So as " infidels " the Negro slaves of Massachusetts were 
deprived of rights and duties belonging to a member of the 
Chmxh and State. 

" Zealous for religion as the colonists were, very little effort was made to 
convert the Negroes, owing partly, at least, to a prevalent ojMnion that neither 
Christian brotherhood nor the law of England would justify the holding Chris- 

^ Hiklretli, vol. i. p. 44. 

- " I''or they tell tlie Negroes, that they must believe in Christ, and receive the Christian 
faith, and that they must receive the sacrament, and be baptized, and so they do ; but still they 
keep them slaves for all this." — Macv's Hist, of Naniitckct, ])p. 2S0, 2S1. 

^ Ancient Charters and Laws of Mass., p. 117, 

•' Mr. Palfrey relies upon a single reference in Winthrop for the historical trustworthiness of 
his statement that a Negro slave could be a member of the church. He thinks, however, that 
this "presents a curious question," and wisely reasons as follows: "As a church-member, he 
was eligible to the political franchise ; and, if he should be actually invested with it, he would have 
a part in making laws to govern his master, — laws with which his master, if a non-communicant, 
would have had no concern except to obey them. But it is improbable that the Court would have 
made a slave — while a slave — a member of the Company, though he were a communicant. — 
Paltrev, vol. ii. p. 30. Note. 

5 Butts z-i. Penny, 2 Lev., p. 201 ; 3 Kib., p. 7S5. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. iqi 

tians as slaves. Nor could repeated colonial enartmenls to tlic conlrarv 
entirely root out this idea, for it was not suijposL'd that a colonial statute could 
set aside the law of England." ' 

]^ut the deeper reason the colonists had for excluding slaves 
from bajitisin, and hence citizenship, was twofokl ; viz., to keep in 
harmony with the Mosaic code in reference to " strangers " and 
"Gentiles," and to keep the door of the Church shut in the face 
of the slave; because to open it to him was to emancipate him in 
course of time. Religious and secular knowledge were not favor- 
able to slavery. The colonists turned to the narrow, national 
spirit of the Old Testament, rather than to the broad and 
catholic spirit of the New Testament, for authcjrity to withhold 
the mercies of the Christian religion from the Negro slaves in 
their midst. 

The rigorous system of domestic slavery established in the 
colony of Massachusetts bore its bitter fruit in due season. It 
was impossible to exclude the slaves from the privileges of the 
Church and State without inflicting a moral injury upon the holy 
marriage relation. In the contemplation of the law the sla\e was 
a chattel, an article of merchandise. The custom of separating 
parent and child, husband and wife, was very clear proof that the 
marriage relation was either positiv'ely ignored by the institution 
of slavery, or grossly violated under the slightest pretext. All 
well-organized society or government rests upon this sacred rela- 
tion. But slavery, with lecherous grasp and avaricious greed, 
trailed the immaculate robes of marriage in ihe moral filth of the 
traffic in Innnan beings. True, there never was any prohibition 
against the marriage of one slave to another slave, — for they 
tried to breed slaves in Massachusetts ! — but there never was any 
law encouraging the lawful union of slaves until after the Revolu- 
tionary War, in 1786. We rather infer from the following in the 
Act of October, 1705, that the marriage relation among slaves had 
been left entirely to the caprices of the master. 

" And no master shall unreasonably deny marriage to his Negro with oni 
of the same nation; any law, usage or custom to the contrar)' notwith- 
standing." 2 

We have not been able to discover "any law" positively jsro- 
hibiting marriage among slaves ; but there was a custom denying 

' Ilildretli, vol. ii. p. 426. ' Ancient Charters .ind Laws of Mass., p. 74S. 



192 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

marriage to the Negro, that at length received the weight of posi- 
tive law. Mr. Palfrey says, — 

" From tlie reverence entertained by the fathers of New England f-or the 
nuptial tie, it is safe to infer that slave husbands and wives were never sepa- 
rated." ' 

We have searched faithfully to find the slightest justification 
for this inference of Mr. Palfrey, but have not found it. There 
is not a line in any newspaper of the colony, until 1710, that indi- 
cates the concern of the people in the lawful union of slaves. 
And there was no legislation upon the subject until 17S6, when 
an " Act for the orderly Solemnization of Marriage " passed. That 
Negro slaves were united in inarriage, there is abundant evidence, 
but not many in this period. It was almost a useless ceremony 
when "the customs and usages" of slavery separated them at the 
convenience of the owner. The master's power over his slaves 
was almost absolute. If he wanted to sell the children and keep 
the parents, his decision was not subject to any coui-t of law. It 
was final. If he wanted to sell the wife of his slave man into the 
rice-fields of the Carolinas or into the West India Islands, the 
tears of the husband only exasperated the master. "The fathers 
of New England" had 110 reverence for the "nuptial tie " among 
their slaves, and, therefore, tore slave families a.sunder without 
the least compunction of conscience. " Negro children were con- 
sidered an incumbrance in a family, and, when weaned, were 
given away like puppies," says the famous Dr. Belknap. But 
after the Act of 1705, " their banns were published like those of 
white persons ; " and public sentiment began to undergo a change 
on the subject. ' The following Negro marriage was prepared by 
the Rev. Samuel Phillips of Andover. His ministry did not com- 
mence until 1 710; and, therefore, this marriage was prepared 
subsequent to that date. He realized the need of something, and 
acted accordinglv. 



■o*.; 



■• Vou. Bob, do now, in ye Presence of God and these Witnesses, Take 
Sally to be your wife ; 

'•Promising, that so far as shall be consistent with ye Relation which vou 
now Su.stain as a servant, you will Perform ye Part of an Husband towards 
lier : .And in particular, as you shall have ye Opportunity & Ability, you will 
take proper Care of her in Sickness and Health, in Prosperity & Adversity ; 

■' .And that you will be True & Faithful to her, and will Cleave to her 

^ Palfrey, vol ii. p. -^o. Note. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 193 

only, so long as God, in liis Providence, shall continue your and her abode in 
Such Place (or Places) as that you can conveniently come together. — Do 
Vou tlius Promise ? 

"You, Sally, do now, in ye Presence of God, and these Witnesses, Take 
Bob to be your Husband ; 

" Promising, that so far as your present Relation as a Servant shall admit, 
you will Perform the Part of a Wife towards him : and in particular, 

"You Promise that you will Love him; And that as you shall have the 
Opportunity & Ability, you will take a proper Care of him in Sickness and 
Health ; in Prosperity and Adversity : 

" And you will cleave to him only, so long as God, in his Providence, shall 
continue his & your Abode in such Place (or Places) as that you can come 
together. — Do you thus Promise ? I then, agreeable to your Request, and with 
ye Consent of your Masters & Mistresses, do Declare that you have License 
given you to be conversant and familiar together as Husband and Wife, .so 
long as God shall continue your Places of AlDode as aforesaid ; And so long 
as you Shall behave yourselves as it becometh servants to doe : 

" For you must both of you bear in mind that you remain still, as really 
and truly as ever, your Master's Property, and therefore it will be justly e.\- 
pected, both by God and Man, that you behave and conduct yourselves as 
Obedient and faithful Servants towards your respective .Masters & Mistresses 
for the Time being: 

" .And finally, I exhort and Charge you to beware lest you give place to the 
Devil, so as to take occasion from the license now given you, to be lifted up 
with Pride, and thereby f.ill under the Displeasure, not of .Man onlv, but of 
God also; for it is written, that God resisteth the Proud but giveth Grace to 
the humble. 

" I shall now conclude with Prayer for you, that you may become good 
Christians, and that you may be enabled to conduct as such ; and in particular, 
that you may have Grace to behave suitably towards each Other, as also duti- 
fully towards your Masters & Mistresses, Not with Eye Service as Men 
pleasers, ye Servants of Christ doing ye Will of God from ye heart, &c. 

[" E.NDORSED] XeGKO -AL'MUU.VGE." j 

(^ ^Where a likely Negro woman was courted by the slave of 
another owner, and wanted to marry, she was sold, as a matter of 
huinanity, " with her wearing apparel " to the owner of the man. 
"A Bill of Sale of a Negro Woman Servant in ]5oston in 1724, 
recites that ' Whereas Scipio, of Boston aforesaid, Free Negro 
Man and Laborer, proposes Marriage to Margaret, the Negro 
Woman Servant of the said Dorcas Marshall [a Widow Lady of 
Boston] : Now to the Intent that the said Intended Marriage may 
take Effect, and that the said Scipio may Enjoy the said Margaret 
without any Interruption,' etc., she is duly sold, with her apparel, 
for Fifty Pounds."^ Within the ne,\t twenty years the Governor 

■ Hist. Mag., vol, v., 2d Series, by Dr. G. H. Moore. ^ Slavery in Mass., p. 57, note. 



194 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and his Council found public opinion so modified on the question 
of marriage among the blacks, that they granted a Negro a divorce 
on account of his wife's adultery with a white man. But in 
Quincy's Reports, page 30, note, quoted by Dr. Moore, in 1758 
the following rather loose decision is recorded : that the child of 
a female slave never married according to any of the forms pre- 
scribed by the laws of this land, by another slave, who "had kept 
her company with her master's consent," was not a bastard. 

The Act of 1705 forbade any "christian " from marrying a 
Negro, and imposed a fine of fifty pounds upon any clergyman 
who should join a Negro and "christian" in marriage. It stood as 
the law of the Commonwealth until 1843, when it was repealed 
by an " Act relating to Marriage between Individuals of Certain 
Races." 

As to the political rights of the Negro, it should be borne in 
mind, that, as he was excluded from the right of Christian bap- 
tism, hence from the Church ; and as only church-members 
enjoyed the rights of freemen, it is clear that the Negro was not 
admitted to the exercise of the duties of a freeman.' Admitting 
that there were instances where Negroes received the rite of bap- 
tism, it was so well understood as not entitling them to freedom 
or political rights, that it was never questioned during this entire 
period. Free Negroes were but little better off than the slaves. 
While they might be regarded as owning their own labor, political 
rights and ecclesiastical privileges were withheld from them. 

" They became the objects of a suspicious legislation, which deprived them 
of most of the rights of freemen, and reduced them to a social position very 
similar, in many respects, to that which inveterate prejudice in many parts of 
Europe has fi.\ed upon the Jews.'' 

Though nominally free, they did not come under the head of 
"Christians." Neither freedom, nor baptism in the Church, could 
free them from the race-malice of the whites, that followed them like 
the fleet-footed " Furies." There were special regulations for free 
Negroes. The Act of 1703, forbidding slaves from being out at 
night after the hour of nine o'clock, extended to free Negroes.^ 
In 1707 an Act was passed "regulating of free negroes." 3 It 
recites that "free negroes and mulattos, able of body, and fit for 

' I use the term freeman, because the colony being under the Enghsh crown, there were no 
citizens. All were British subjects.. 

- Ancient Charters and Laws of Mass., p. 746. ' Ibid., p. 386. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 195 

labor, who are not charged with trainings, vvatclies, and other ser- 
vices," ' shall perform service equivalent to militia training. They 
were under the charge of the officer in command of the military 
company belonging to the district where they resided. They did 
latigue-iluty. And the only time, that, Ijy law, tiic Negro was 
admitted to the trainings, was between 1C52 and 1656. But there 
is no evidence that tiie Negroes took advantage of the law. Pub- 
lic sentiment is more potent than law. In May, 1656, the law of 
1652, admitting Negroes to the trainings, was repealed. 

"For the better ordering and .settling o£ sevcrall cases in the militar\' com- 
panyes witliin tliis jurisdiction, wliicli, upon e.xperience, arc found eitlier want- 
ing or inconvenient, it is ordered and declared by'this Court and the authoritie 
thereof, that henceforth no negroes or Indians, although ser\-ants to the Eng- 
lish, shal be armed or permitted to trayne, and y' no other person shall be 
e.xempted from trayning but such as some law doth priveledgc." - 

And Gov. Bradstreet, in his report to the " Committee for 
Trade," made in May, 16S0, says, — 

" We account all generally from Si.xteen to Sixty that arc healthful! and 
strong bodys, both House-holders and Servants fit to bcare Armes, except A'e 
gioes and slaves, whom wee arme not." 3 

The law of 1707 — which is the merest copy of the Virginia 
law on the same subject — requires free Negroes to answer fire- 
alarms with the company belonging to their respective precincts. 
They were not allowed to entertain slave friends at their houses, 
without the permission of the owner of the slaves. To all prohi- 
bitions there was affi.ved severe fines in large sums of money. In 
case of a failure to pay these fines, the delinquent was sent to the 
House of Correction ; where, under severe discipline, he was con- 
strained to work out his fine at the rate of one shilling per day ! 
If a Negro "presume to smite or strike any jierson of the Eng- 
lish, or other christian nation," he was publicly flogged by the 
justice before whom tried, at the discretion of that officer. 

During this period the social condition of the Negroes, bond 

* Mr. Palfrey is disposed to hang a very weighty matter on a very slender thread of authority. 
He says, " In the list of men capable of bearing arms, at Plymouth, in 1643, occurs the name of 
• .Abraham Pearse, the Black-moore,' from which we infer . . . that Negroes were not dispensed 
from niililary service in that colony " (History of New England, vol. ii. p. 30, note). This single 
case is botne down by the laws and usages of the colonists on this subject. Negroes as a class 
were absolutely excluded from the military service, from the commencement of the colony down 
to the war with Great Britain. 

" Slavery in Mass., Appendix, p. 24J. ' Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., vol. viii. 3d Series, p. 336. 



196 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and free, was very deplorable. The early records of the town of 
Boston preserve the fact that one Thomas Deane, in the year 
1661, was prohibited from employing a Negro in the manufacture 
of hoops, under a penalty of twenty shillings ; for what reason is 
not stated." ' No churches or schools, no books or teachers, 
they were left to the gloom and vain imaginations of their own 
fettered intellects. John Eliot " had long lamented it with a 
Bleeding and Burning Passion, that the English used their Ne- 
groes but as their Horses or their Oxen, and that so little care 
was taken about their immortal souls ; he looked upon it as a 
Prodigy, that any wearing the Name of Christians should so much 
have the Heart of Devils in them, as to prevent and hinder the 
Instruction of the poor Blaekainores, and confine the souls of their 
miserable Slaves to a Destroying Ignorance, merely for fear of 
thereby losing the Benefit of their Vassalage ; but now he made 
a motion to the English within two or three Miles of him, that at 
such a time and place they would send their Negroes once a week 
unto him : For he would then Catechise them, and Enligliten them, 
to the utmost of his power in things of their Everlasting Peace ; 
however, he did not live to make much progress in this under- 
taking." ~ The few faint voices of encouragement, that once in a 
great while reached them from the pulpit j and forum, were as 
strange music, mellowed and sweetened by the distance. The 
free and slave Negroes were separated by law, were not allowed 
to communicate together to any great extent. They were not 
allowed in numbers greater than three, and then, if not in the 
service of some white person, were liable to be arrested, and sent 
to the House of Correction. 

" The slave was the property of his master as much as his ox or his horse ; 
he had no civil rights but that of protection from cruelty ; he could acquire no 
property nor dispose of any 4 without the consent of his master. . . . Wc 
think he had not the capacity to communicate a civil relation to his children, 
which he did not enjoy himself, except as the property of his master." s 

With but small means the free Negroes of the colony were 
unable to secure many comforts in their homes. They were hated 
and dreaded more than their brethren in bondage. They could 

' Lyman's Report, 1822. = Matlier's Magnalia, Book III., p. 207. Compare also p. 209. 
3 Elliott's New-England Hist., vol. ii. p. 165. 

■> Mr. Palfrey comes again with his single and exceptional case, asking us to infer a rule 
therefrom. See History of New England, note, p. 30. 

5 Chief-Justice Parker, in Andover vs. Canton, 13 Mass. p. 550. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1 97 

judge, by contrast, of the abasing influences of slavery. They 
were only nominally free ; because they were taxed ' without rep- 
resentation, — had no voice in the colonial government. 

But, notwithstanding the obscure and neglected condition of 
the free Negroes, some of them by their industry, frugality, and 
aptitude won a place in the confidence and esteem of the more 
humane of the white population. Owning their own time, many 
of the free Negroes applied themselves to the acquisition of knowl- 
edge./^ Phillis VVheatley, though nominally a slave for some years, 
stoodStt the head of the intellectual Negroes of this period. She 
was brought from Africa to the Boston slave-market, where, in 
1761, she was purchased by a benevolent white lady by the name 
of Mrs. John Wheatley. She was naked, save a piece of dirty 
carpet about her loins, was delicate of constitution, and much 
fatigued from a rough sea-voyage. Touched by her modest 
demeanor and intelligent countenance, Mrs. Wheatley chose her 
from a large company of slaves. It was her intention to teach 
her the duties of an ordinary domestic ; but clean clothing and 
wholesome diet effected such a radical change in the child for the 
better, that Mrs. Wheatley changed her plans, and began to give 
her private instruction. Eager for learning, apt in acquiring, 
though only eight years old, she greatly surprised and pleased her 
mistress. Placed under the instruction of Mrs. Wheatley's daugh- 
ter, Phillis learned the English language sufficiently well as to be 
able to read the most difficult portions of the Bible with ease and 
accuracy. This she accomplished in less than a year and a half. 
She readily mastered the art of writing; and within four years 
from the time she landed in the slave-market in Boston, she was 
able to carry on an extensive correspondence on a variety of 
topics. \ 

ri.er-rtpening intellectual faculties attracted the attention of 
the refined and educated people of Boston, many of whom sought 
her society at the home of the Wheatleys. It should be remem- 
bered, that this period did not witness general culture among the 
masses of white people, and pertainly no facilities for the educa- 
tion of Negroes. And ye^' some cultivated white persons gave 
Phillis encouragement, loafred her books, and called her out on 
matters of a literary character. Having acquired the principles 
of an English education, she turned her attention to the study of 

' Slavery in .Mass., p. 63, 



igS HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the Latin language, ' and was able to do well in it. Encouraged 
by her success, she translated one of Ovid's tales. The transla- 
tion was considered so admirable that it was published in Boston 
by some of her friends.^ On reaching England it was republished, 
and called forth the praise of many of the reviews. 

(Her manners were modest and refined. Her nature was sen- 
sitive and affectionate. She early gave signs of a deep spiritual 
experience, 2 which gave tone and character to all her efforts in 
composition and poetry. There was a charming vein of grati- 
tude in all her private conversations and public utterances, which 
her owners did not fail to recognize and appreciate. Her only 
distinct recollection of her native home was, that every morning 
early Iter motlicr pojired out water before the rising sun. Her 
growing intelligence and keen appreciation of the blessings of 
civilization overreached mere animal grief at the separation from 
her mother. And as she knew more of the word of God, she 
became more deeply interested in the condition of her race. 

At the age of twenty her master emancipated her. Naturally 
delicate, the severe climate of New England, and her constant 
application to study, began to show on her health. Her friend 
and mother, for such she proved herself to be, Mrs. Wheatley, 
solicitous about her health, called in eminent medical counsel, 
who prescribed a sea-voyage. A son of Mrs. Wheatley was about 
to visit England on mercantile business, and therefore took 
Phillis with him. ) For the previous si.\ years she had cultivated 
her taste for poetry ; and, at this time, her reputation was quite 
well established. She had corresponded with persons in England 
in social circles, and was not a stranger to the English. / She was 
heartily welcomed by the leaders of the society of the British 
metropolis, and treated with great consideration. Under all the 
trying circumstances of high social life, among the nobility and 
rarest literary genius of London, this redeemed child of the des- 
ert, coupled to a beautiful modesty the extraordinary powers of an 
incomparable conversationalist. She carried London by storm. 
Thoughtful people praised her ; titled people dined her ; and the 
press extolled the name of Phillis Wheatley, the African poetess. 



" Mott's Sketches, p. 1 7. 

^ At the early age of sixteen, in the year 1770, Phillis was baptized into the membership of 
the society worshipping in tlie " Old South Meeting-Hon^e." The gifted, eloquent, and noble 
Dr. Sewall was the pastor. This was an exception to tlie rule, that olaves were not baptized into 
the Church, 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 199 

Prevailed upon by admiring friends, in 1773 ' she gave her 
poems to the world. They were published in London in a small 
octavo volume of about one hundred and twenty pages, compris- 
ing thirty-nine pieces.^ It was dedicated to the Countess of 
Huntingdon, with a picture of the poetess, and a letter of recom- 
mendation signed by the governor and lieutenant-governor, with 
many other " respectable citizens of Boston." 

TO THE PUBLIC. 

As it has been repeatedly suggested to the publislier, by persons who have 
seen the manuscript, that numbers would be ready to suspect tliey were not 
really the writings of Phillis, he has procured the following attestation, from 
the most respectable characters in Boston, that none might have the least 
ground for disputing their Original. 

'CVe, whose Nanies are under-written, do assure the World, that the Poems 
specified in tlie following page were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, 
a young Negro Girl, who was, but a few Years since, brought, an uncultivated 
Harbarian, from Africa, and has ever since been, and now is, under the disad- 
vantage of serving as a Slave in a family in this town. She has been e.xam- 
ined by some of the best judges, and is thought qualified to write them. 

His Excellency, Thomas Hutchinson, Governor. 
The Hon. Andrew Oliver, Lieutenant Governor. 



Hon. Thomas Hubbard, 
Hon. John Erving, 
Hon. James Pitts, 
Hon. Harrison Gray, 
Hon. James Bowdoin, 
John Hancock, Esq. 
Joseph Green, Esq. 
Richard Gary, Esq. 



Rev. Charles Chauncy, 

Rev. Mather Byles, 

Rev. Ed. Pemberton, 

Rev. Andrew Elliot, 

Rev. Samuel Cooper, 

Rev. Samuel Mather, 

Rev. John .Moorliead, 

Mr. John Whcatley, her master. 



The volume has passed through several English and American 
editions, and is to be found in all first-class libraries in the 
country. Mrs. Wheatley sickened, and grieved daily after Phillis. 
A picture of her little ward, sent from England, adorned her bed- 
room ; and she pointed it out to visiting friends with all the sin- 
cere pride of a mother. On one occasion she exxlaimed to a 
friend, "See! Look at my Phillis! Does she not seem as though 
she would speak to me.'" Getting no better, she sent a loving 

■ All writers I have seen on this subject — and I think I have seen all — leave the impression 
that Miss Whealley's poems were first published in London. This is not true. The first pub- 
lished pciems from her pen were issued in Boston in 1770. But it was a mere pamphlet edition, 
and has long since perished. 



200 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

request to Phillis to come to her at as early a moment as possible. 
With a deep sense of gratitude to Mrs. Wheatley for countless 
blessings bestowed upon her, Phillis hastened to return to Boston. 
She found her friend and benefactor just living, and shortly had 
the mournful satisfaction of closing her sightless eyes. The hus- 
band and daughter followed the wife and mother quickly to the 
grave. Young Mr. Wheatley married, and settled in England. 
Phillis was alone in the world. 

".She soon after received an offer of marriage from a respectable colored 
man, of Boston. The name of this individual was Ji)hn Peters." He kept a 
grocery in Court Street, and was a man of handsome person. He wore a wig, 
carried a cane, and quite acted out ' the gentleman.'' In an evil hour, he was 
accepted; and, though he was a man of talents and information, — writing with 
fluency and propriety, and, at one period, reading law, — he proved utterly 
unworthy of the distinguished woman who honored him by her alliance." 

Her married life was brief. She was the mother of one child, 
that died early. Ignorant of the duties of domestic life, courted 
and flattered by the cultivated, Peters's jealousy was at length 
turned into harsh treatment. Tenderly raised, and of a delicate 
constitution, Phillis soon went into decline, and died Dec. 5, 1784, 
in the thirty-first ^ year of her life, greatly beloved and sincerely 
mourned by all whose good fortune it had been to know of her 
high mental endowments and blameless Christian life. 

Her influence upon the rapidly growing anti-slavery sentiment 
of Massachusetts was considerable. The friends of humanity 
took pleasure in pointing to her marvellous achievements, as an 
evidence of what the Negro could do under favorable circum- 
stances. From a state of nudity in a slave-market, a stranger to 
the English language, this young African girl had won her way 
over the rough path of learning ; had conquered the spirit of 
caste in the best society of conservative old Boston ; had brought 
two continents to her feet in admiration and amazement at the 
rare poetical accomplishments of a child of Africa ! 3 

She addressed a poem to Gen. Washington that pleased the 
old warrior very much. We have never seen it, though we have 
searched diligently. Mr. Sparks says of it, — 

' All tlie historians but Sparks omit the given name of Peters. It was John. 

- The date usually given for her death is 17S0, while her age is fixed at twenty-six. The 
best authority gives the dates above, and I think they are correct. 

3 " Her correspondence was sought, and it extended to persons of distinction even in Eng- 
land ; among whom may be named the Countess of Huntingdon, Whitefield, and the Earl of 
Dartmouth." — Sparks's Washington, vol. iii. p. 298, note. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 20I 

" I have not been able to find, anions;" Washington's papers, the letter and 
poem addressed to him. They have doubtless been lost. From the circiun- 
stance of her invoking the muse in his praise, and from the tenor of some of 
her printed pieces, particularly one addressed to King George seven years 
before, in which slie compliments him on tlie repeal of the .Stamp Act, it may 
be inferred, that she was a Whig in politics after the American wav of thinking: 
and it might be curious to see in what manner she would eiilogi/e liberty and 
the rights of man, while herself, nominally at least, in bondage.'' ' 

Gen. Washington, in a letter to Jo.seph Reed, bcarinij dale of 
the loth of February, 1776, from Cambridge, refers to the letter 
and poem as follows : — 

" I recollect notliing else worth giving you the trouble of, unless you can 
be amused by reading a letter and poem addressed to me by Miss Phillis 
Wheatley. In searching over a parcel of papers the other day, in order to 
destroy such as were useless, I brought it to light again. At first, with a view 
of doing justice to her poetical genius, I had a great mind to publish the poem ; 
but not knowing whether it might not be considered rather as a mark of my 
own vanity, than as a compliment to her, I laid it aside,^ till I came across it 
again in the manner just mentioned." 3 

This gives the world an "inside" view of the brave old gen- 
eral's opinion of the poem and poetess; but the "outside" view, 
as expressed to Phillis, is worthy of reproduction at this point. 

Cambridgf., 28 FebriLiry, i"/6. 

Miss Phillis, — Your favor of the 26th of October did not reach my 
hands, till the middle of December. Time enough, you will say, to have given 
an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of important occurrences, con- 
tinually interposing to distract the mind and withdraw the attention, I hope 
will apologize for the delay, and plead my e.xcuse for the seeming but not real 
neglect. 1 thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of me, in the 
elegant lines you enclosed ; and however undeserving I may be of such 
encomium and panegyric, the style and manner e.\hibit a striking proof of your 
poetical talents; in honor of which, and as a tribute ju.stly due to you, I would 
have published the poem, had 1 not been apprehensive, that, while I only meant 
to give the world this new instance of your genius. I might have incurred tlie 
imputation of vanity. This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it 
place in the public prints. 

If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near head-quarters, I shall be 
happy to see a person so favored by the Muses, and to whom nature has been 
so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. 

1 am, with great respect, your obedient, humble servant, 

George W.'Vshingtgn.* 

' Sp.irks's Washington, vol. iii. p. 299, note. 

- This destroys tlie last hope I have nursed for nearly six ycirs that the poem might yet 
come to light. Somehow I had overlooked this note. 

^ Sparks's Washington, vol iii. p. 288. * Ibid., vol. iii. pj). 297, 298. 



202 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

This letter is a handsome compliment to the poetess, and does 
honor to both the head and heart of the general. His modesty, 
so characteristic, has deprived history of its dues. But it is 
consoling to know that the sentiments of the poem found a 
response in the patriotic heart of the first soldier of the Revolu- 
tion, and the Father of his Co?iiitry ! 

While Phillis Wheatley stands out as one of the most dis- 
tinguished characters of this period, and who, as a Colored person, 
had no equal, yet she was not the only individual of her race of 
intellect and character. A Negro boy from Africa was purchased 
by a Mr. Slocum, who resided near New Bedford, Mass. ' After 
he acquired the language, he turned his thoughts to freedom, and 
in a few years, by working beyond the hours he devoted to his 
master, was enabled to buy himself from his master. He married 
an Indian woman named Ruth Moses, and settled at Cutter- 
hunker, in the Elizabeth Islands, near New Bedford. In a few 
years, through industry and frugality, John Cuffe — the name he 
took as a freeman — was enabled to purchase a good farm of one 
hundred (lOO) acres. Every year recorded new achievements, until 
John Cuffe had a wide reputation for wealth, honesty, and intelli- 
gence. He applied himself to books, and secured, as the ripe 
fruit of his studious habits, a fair business education. Both him- 
self and wife were Christian believers; and to lives of industry 
and increasing secular knowledge, they added that higher knowl- 
edge which makes alive to "everlasting life." Ten children were 
born unto them, — four boys and six girls. One of the boys, 
Paul Cuffe, became one of the most distinguished men of color 
Massachusetts has produced. The reader will be introduced to 
him in the proper place in the history. John Cuffe died in 1745, 
leaving behind, in addition to considerable property, a good name, 
which is of great price.' 

Richard Dalton, Esq., of Boston, owned a Negro boy whom 
he taught to read any Greek writer without hesitancy. Mr. 
Dalton was afflicted with weak eyes ; and his fondness for the 
classics would not allow him to forego the pleasure of them, and 
hence his Negro boy Caesar was instructed in the Greek. ^ "The 
Boston Chronicle " of Sept. 21, 1769, contains the following adver- 
tisement : "To be sold, a Likely Little negroe boy, who can 
speak the French language, and very fit for a Valet." 

' Armiste.id's A Tribute to the Negro, pp. ^6o, 461. - Douglass, vol. ii. p. 345, note. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 2 03 

With increasinjj evidence of the Nep;ro's capacity for mental 
improvement, and fitness for the duties and blessings of a free- 
man, and the growing insolence and rigorous policy of the 
mother country, came a wonderful change in the colony. The 
Negroes were emboldened to ask for and claim rights as British 
subjects, and the more humane element among the whites saw in 
a relaxation of the severe treatment of the blacks security and 
immunity in war. But anti-slavery sentiment in Massachusetts 
was not born of a genuine desire to put down a wicked and cruel 
trafific in human beings. Two things operated in favor of humane 
treatment of the slaves, — an impending war, and the decision of 
Lord Mansfield in the Sommcrsett case. The l-Inglish govern- 
ment was yearly increasing the burdens of the colonists. The 
country was young, its resources little known. The people were 
largely engaged in agricultural pursuits. There were no tariif 
laws encouraging or protecting the labor or skill of the people. 
Civil war seemed inevitable. Thoughtful men began to consider 
the question as to which party the Negroes of the colony would 
contribute their strength. It w-as no idle question to determine 
whether the Negroes were Tories or Whigs. As early as 1750 the 
questions as to the legality of holding Negroes in slavery in 
British colonies began to be discussed in England and New Eng- 
land. "What, precisely, the English law might be on the subject 
of slavery, still remained a subject of doubt." ' Lord Holt held 
that slavery was a condition unknown to linglish law, — that the 
being in England was evidence of freedom. This embarrassed 
New-England i.)lanters in taking their sla\'es to luigland. The 
planters banded for their common cause, and secured the written 
opinion of Yorke and Talbot, attorney ami solicitor general of 
England. They held that slaves could be held in England as well 
as in America; that baptism did not confer freetlom : and the 
opinion stood as sound law for nearly a half-century.- The men 
in England who lived on the money wrung from the slave-trade, 
the members of the Royal African Company, came to the rescue 
of the institution of slavery. In order to maintain it by law in 
the American colonies, it had to be recognized in England. The 
people of Massachusetts took a lively interest in the question. 
In 1761, at a meeting "in the old court-house," James Otis,3 in a 

* Hildretb, vol. ii. p. 426. ^ Pearce vs. Lisle, Aniblcr, 76. 

3 It may sound strangely in the ears of some friends and admirers of the gifted John Adams 
to hear now, after the lapse of many years, what he had to say of the position Otis took. His 



204 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

speech against the "writs of assistance," struck a popular chord 
on the cjuestinns of " The Rights of the Colonies," afterwards 
published (1764) by order of the Legislature. He took the broad 
ground, "that the colonists, black and white, born here, are free- 
born British subjects and entitled to all the essential rights of 
such."' In 1766 Nathaniel Appleton and James Swan distin- 
guished themselves in their defence of the doctrines of "liberty 
for all." It became the general topic of discussion in private and 
public, and country lyceums and college societies took it up as a 
subject of forensic disputation. ^ In the month of May, 1766, the 
representatives of the people were instructed to advocate the 
total abolition of slavery. And on the 16th of March, 1767, a 
resolution was offered to see whether the instructions should be 
adhered to, and was unanimously carried in the affirmative. But 
it should be remembered that British troops were in the colony, 
in the streets of Boston. The mutterings of the distant thunder 
of revolution could be heard. Public sentiment was greatly 
tempered toward the Negroes. On the 31st of May, 1609, the 
House of Representatives of Massachusetts resolved against the 
presence of troops, and besought the governor to remove them. 
His E.xcellency disclaimed any power under the circumstances to 
interfere. The House denounced a standing army in time of 
peace, without the consent of the General Court, as " without 
precedent, and unconstitutional."-' In 1769 one of the courts 
of Massachusetts gave a decision friendly to a slave, who was the 
plaintiff. This stimulated the Negroes to an exertion for free- 
dom. The entire colony was in a feverish state of e.xcitement. 
An anonymous Tory writer rejiroached Bostonians for desiring" 
freedom when they themselves enslaved others. 

niliil views on slavery were as deserving of scrutiny as those of the elder Ouincy. Mr. Adams 
says; '' Nor were the poor negroes forgotten. Not a Quaker in Philadelphia, or Mr. Jefferson, 
of Virginia, ever asserted the rights of negroes in stronger terms. Young as 1 was, and ignorant 
as I was, I shuddered at the doctrine he taught ; and I have all my lifetime shuddered, and still 
shudder, at the conseciuences that may be drawn from such premises. Shall we say, that the 
rights of masters and servants clash, and can be decided only by force ? I adore the idea of 
gradual abolitions ! But who shall decide how fast or how slowly these abolitions shall be made? " 

' Hildreth. vol. ii. pp. 564, 565. 

- Coffin says, "In October of 1773, an action was brought against Richard Greenleaf, of 
Newburyport, by Cssar [Hendrick], a colored man, wliom he claimed as his slave, for holding 
him in bondage. He laid tiie damages at fifty pormds. The council for the plaintiff, in whose 
favor the jury brought in their verdict and awarded him eighteen pounds' damages and costs, was 
John Lowell, Escj., afterward Judge Lowell, This case excited much interest, as it was the first, 
if not the only one of t!re kind, that ever occurred in the county." 

■' Hildreth, vol. ii. pp. 550, 551. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 205 

" ' What ! ' cries our good people here, ' Negro slaves in Boston ! It cannot 
lie.' It is nevertheless true. For though the Bostonians have grounded their 
rebellion on the 'immutable laws of nature,' yet, notwithstanding their re- 
solves about freedom in their Town-meetings, they actually have in town 2,000 
Negro slaves." ' 

These trying and exasperating circumstances were but the 
friendly precursors of a spirit of universal liberty. 

In England the decision of Lord Mansfield in tlie Sommersett 
case had encouraged the conscientious few who championed the 
cause, of the slave. Charles Stewart, Esq., of Boston, Mass., 
had taken to London with him his Negro slave, James Sommersett. 
The Negro was seized with a sickness in the British metropolis, 
and was thereupon abandoned by his master. He afterwards 
regained his health, and secured employment. His master, learn- 
ing of his whereabouts, had him arrested, and placed in confine- 
ment on board the vessel "Ann and Mary," Capt. Jolm Knowls, 
commander, then lying in the Thames, but soon to sail for 
Jamaica, where Sommersett was to be sold. 

" On the 3rd of Dec, r;;!, affidavits were made by Thomas Walklin, Eli/a- 
betli Cade, and John Marlow, that James Sommersett, a Negro, was confined 
in irons on board a ship called the Ann and Mary, John Knowls com- 
mander, lying in the Tliames, and bound for Jamaica. Lord Mansfield, upon the 
prayer of the above subscribers, allowed a writ of habeas corpus, requiring 
the return of the body of Sommersett before his lordship with an explanation 
of the cause of his detention. On the 9th of Dec, Capt. Knowls produced 
the body of Sommersett in Court. Lord Mansfield, after a preliminary ex- 
amination, referred the matter to the Court of King's Bench, and, therefore, 
took sureties, and bound Sommersett over 'till 'the 2nd day of tlio next Hil- 
lary term.' At the time appointed the defendant, with counsel, the reputed 
master of the Negro man Sommersett, and Capt. John Knowls, appeared before 
the court. Capt. Knowls recited the reasons that led him to detain Sommer- 
sett: whereupon the counsel for the latter asked for time in whicli to prepare 
an argument against the return. Lord Mansfield gave them until the 7th of 
February. At the time appointed Mr. Sergeant Davy and Mr. Sergeant Glynn 
argued against the return, and had furtlier argument ' postponed 'till Easter 
term,' when .Mr. Mansfield, Mr. Alleyne, and Mr. Hargrave argued on the 
same side. ' The only cpiestion before us is whetlier the cause on the return is 
sufficient. If it is, the Negro must be remanded; if it is not, he must be dis- 
cliarged. The retvM'n states that the slave departed and refused to serve, 
whereupon he was kept to be sold abroad. So higli an act of dominion must 
be recognized by the law of the country where it is used. The power of a 
master over his slave has been exceedingly different in different countries. 

' Drake, p. 729, note. ^ I use the English spelling, — Sommersett, 



2o6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The state of slavery is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced 
on any reasons, moral or political, but only by positive law, which preserves its 
force long after the reasons, occasions, and time itself from whence it was 
created is erased from memory. It is so odious that nothing can be suffered 
to support it but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow 
from the decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of 
England, and therefore the black must be discharged.' " 

The influence of this decision was wide-spread, and hurtful to 
slavery in the British colonies in North America. It poured new 
life into the expiring hopes of the Negroes, and furnished a rule 
of law for the advocates of "freedom for all." It raised a ques- 
tion of law in all the colonies as to whether the colonial govern- 
ments could pass an Act legalizing that which was "contrary to 
English law." ' 

Notwithstanding the general and generous impulse for liberty, 
the indissoluble ties of avarice, and the greed for the unearned 
gains of the slave-trade, made public men conservate to conserve 
the interests of those directly interested in the inhuman traffic. 

" In an age when the interests of trade guided legislation, this branch of 
commerce possessed paramount attractions. Not a statesman exposed its 
enormities; and, if Richard Ba.\ter echoed the opinions of Puritan Massachu- 
setts, if Southern drew tears by the tragic tale of Oronooko, if Steele awakened 
a throb of indignation by the story of Inkle and Yarico, if Savage and Shen- 
stone pointed their feeble couplets with the wrongs of 'Afric's sable children,' 
if the Irish metaphysician Hutcheson, struggling for a higher system of morals, 
— justly stigmatized the traffic; yet no public opinion lifted its voice against it. 
English ships, fitted out in English cities, under the special favor of the royal 
family, of the ministry, and of parliament, stole from Africa, in the years from 
1700 to 1750, probably a million and a half of souls, of whom one-eighth were 
buried in the Atlantic, victims of the passage ; and yet in England no general 
indignation rebuked the enormity; for the public opinion of the age was obe- 
dient to materialism." 2 

Humane masters who desired to emancipate their slaves were 
embarrassed by a statute unfriendly to manumission. The Act of 
1703 3 deterred many persons from emancipating their slaves on 
account of its unjust and hard requirements. And under it quite 
a deal of litigation arose. It required every master who desired 
to liberate his slave, before doing so, to furnish a bond to the 
treasurer of the town or place in which he resided, in a sum not 

' Hildreth, vol. ii. p. 567. ^ Bancroft, 12th ed. vol. iii. p. 412. 

5 Ancient Charters and Laws of Mass., pp. 745, 746. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 207 

less tlian fifty pounds.' This was to indcniiiifv the town or place 
in case the Negro slave thus emancipated shoulil, through lame- 
ness or sickness, become a charge. In case a master failed to 
furnish such security, his emancipated slaves were still contem- 
plated by the law as in bondage, " notwithstanding" any manumis- 
sion or instrument of freedom to them made or given." Judge 
Sewall, in a letter to John Adams, cites a case in point. 

"A man, by will, gives his Negro his lilierty, and leaves Iiim a legacy. 
The executor consents that the Negro shall be free, but refuseth to give bond 
to the selectmen to indemnify the town against any charge for his support in 
case he should become poor (without whicli, by the province law, he is not 
manumitted), or to pay him the legacy. 

" Query. Can he recover the legacy, and liow ? 

" I have just observed that in your last you desire me to say something 
towards discouraging you from removing to Providence; and you say, any 
tiling will do. At present, I only say, you will do well enough where you arc. 
I will explain myself, and add sometliing further, in some future letter. I have 
not time to enlarge now, for which I believe you will not be inconsolably 
grieved. So, to put you out of pain, your hearty friend, 

JON.ATii.vN Sewall." 2 

Mr. Adams replied as follows : — 

" Now. En mcsure le manner. The testator intended plainly that his 
negro should have his liberty and a legacy ; therefore the law will presume 
that lie intended his executor should do all that without which he could have 
neither. That this indemnification was not in the testator's mind, cannot be 
proved from the will any more tlian it could be proved, in the first case above, 
that the testator did not know a fee-simple would pass a will without the word 
heirs ; nor than, in the second case, that the devise of a trust, that might 
continue forever, would convey a fee-simple without the like words. I take it, 
therefore, that the executor of this will is, by implication, obliged to give bonds 
to the town treasurer, and, in his refusal, is a wrongdoer; and 1 cannot think 
he ouglit to be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong, so much as to 
allege this want of an indemnification to evade an action of the case brought 
for tlie legacy by the negro himself. 

"But why may not tlie negro bring a special action of the case against the 
executor, setting forth the will, the devise of freedom and a legacy, and then 

' The following is from Felt's Salem, vol. ii. pp. 415, 416, .irtl illustrates the manner in 
which the law vas complied with: " 1713. Ann, relict of Goveinor lirailstreet, frees Mannah, a 
negro servant. 171;, Dec. 21. William and Samuel Upton, of this town, liberate Thom.is, who 
has faithfully served their (ather, John Upton, of Reading. They give security to the treasurer, 
that they will meet all charges, which may accrue against the said black man. 1721, May 27. 
Elizur Keyscr does the same for his servant, Cato, after four years more, and then the latter was 
to receive two suits of clothes. . , . i7sS, June 5. The heirs of John Turner, having freed two 
servants, Titus and Rebeckah, give bonds to the selectmen, that they shall be no public cliargc." 

- John .Vdams's Works, vol. i. p. 51. 



2o8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the necessity of indemnification by the province law, and tlien a refusal to 
indemnify, and, of consequence, to set free and to pay the legacy? 

" Perhaps the negro is free at common law by the devise. Now, the 
province law seems to have been made only to oblige the master to maintain 
his manumitted slave, and not to declare a manumission in the master's life- 
time, or at his death, void. Should a master give his negro his freedom, under 
his hand and seal, without giving bond to the town, and should afterwards 
repent and endeavor to recall the negro into servitude, would not that instru- 
ment be a sufficient discharge against the master?" ' 

It is pleaded in extenuation of this Act, that it was passed to 
put a stop to the very prevalent habit of emancipating" old and 
decrepit Negroes after there was no more service in them. If this 
be true, it reveals a practice more cruel than slavery itself. 

In 1702 the representatives of the town of Boston were 
"desired to promote the encouraging the bringing of White 
servants and to put a period to Negroes being slaves." - This 
was not an anti-slavery measure, as some have wrongly supposed. 3 
It was not a resolution or an Act : it was simply a request ; and 
one that the " Representatives " did not grant for nearly a century 
afterwards. 

"In 171S, a committee of both Houses prepared a bill entitled 'An Act 
for the Encouraging the Importation of White Male .Servants, and the prevent- 
ing the Clandestine bringing in of Negroes and iMolattoes.' " 

It was read in Council a first time on the i6th of June, and 
"sent down recommended " to the House ; where it was also read 
a first time on the same day. The next day it was read a second 
time, and, "on the question for a third reading, decided in the 
negative." 4 In 1706 an argument or " Cominitation that the 
Importation of Negroes is not so profitable as that of White 
Servants," was published in Boston. 5 It throws a flood of light 
upon the Act mentioned above, and shows that the motives that 
inspired the people who wanted a period put to the holding of 
Negroes as slaves were grossly material and selfish. It was the 
first published article on the subject, and is worthy of reproduc- 



^ Ad.ims's Works, vol. i. p. 55. - Drake, p. 525. 

3 The kite Senator Sumner, in a speech delivered on tlie 2Sth of June, 1S54, refers to this as 
" the earhest testimony from any ofificial body against negru slavery." Even the weight of the 
senator's assertion cannot resist the facts of history. The " resolve " instructing the " representa- 
tives" v\'as never carried; but, on the contrary, the next Act was the law of 1703 restricting 
manumission ! 

* Journal H. of K., 15, 16. General Court Records, x. 2S2. s Slavery in Mass., p. 106. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 209 

tion in full. It is rcj^irintcd from "The lioston Ncws-Lcttcr," No. 
112, June 10, 1706, in the New-York Historical Society. 

"By last Year's Bill of Mortality for the Town of Bostoti, in A^umbcr 100 
News-Letter, we are furnished with a List of 44 Negroes dead last year, which 
being computed one with another at 30/. per Head, amounts to the Sum of One 
Tliousand three hundred and Twenty Pounds, of wliich wc would make this 
Remark: That the Importing of Negroes into this or the Neighboring Prov- 
inces is not so beneficial either to the Crown or Country, as Wliite Servants 
would be. 

" For Negroes do not carry Arms to defend the Country as Wliites do. 

" Negroes are generally Eye-Servants, great Thieves, much addicted to 
Stealing, Lying and Purloining. 

" They do not People our Country as Whites would do whereby we should 
be strengthened against an Enemy. 

"By Encouraging the Iinporting of White j\len Servants, allowing some- 
what to the Importer, most Husbandmen in the Country might be furnished 
witli Servants for 8, 9, or 10/. a Head, who are not able to l.iunch out 40 or 50/. 
for a Negro the now common Price. 

"A Man then might buy a White Man Servant wc su])pose for 10/. to 
serve 4 j-ears, and Boys for the same price to Serve 6, 8, or 10 years; If a 
White Servant die, the Loss exceeds not 10/. but if a Negro dies, 'tis a very 
great loss to the Husbandman; Three years Interest of the price of the Negro, 
will near upon if not altogether purchase a White Man Servant. 

" If necessity call for it, that the Husbandman must fit out a .Man against 
the Enemy; if he has a Negro he cannot send him, but if he has a White 
Servant, 'twill answer the end, and perhaps save his son at home. 

"Were Merchants and Masters Encouraged as already said to bring in 
Men Servants, there needed not be such Complaint against Superiors Impress- 
ing our Children to the War, there would then be Men enough to be had without 
Impressing. 

"The bringing in of such Servants would much enrich this Province, 
because Husbandmen would not only be able far better to manure what Lands 
are already under Improvement, but would also improve a great deal more 
that now lyes waste under Woods, and enable this Province to set about 
raising of Naval Stores, which would be greatly advantageous to the Crown 
of England, and this Province. 

" For the raising of Hemp here, so as to make Sail-cloth and Cordage to 
furnish but our own shipping, would hinder the Importing it, and save a con- 
siderable sum in a year to make Returns for whicli we now do, and in time 
might be capacitated to furnish England not only with Sail-cloth and Cordage, 
But likewise with Pitch, Tar, Hemp, and other Stores which they are now- 
obliged to purchase in Foreign Nations. 

"Suppose the Government here should allow Forty .Shillings per head for 
five years, to such as should Import every of these years 100 White Men Ser- 
vants, and each to serve 4 vears, the cost would be but 200/. a year, and a 
1000/. for the 5 years. The first 100 Servants, being free the 4th year they 
serve the 5th for Wages, and the 6th there is 100 that goes out into the Woods, 



2IO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and settles a lOO f'nmilies to Strengthen and Baracado us from the Indians, 
and also a loo Families more every year successively. 

" And here vou see that in one year the Town of Boston has lost T320/. by 
44 Negroes, which is also a loss to the Country in general, and for a less loss 
(if it may improperly be so called) for a 1000/. the Country may have 500 
Men in 5 years time for the 44 Negroes dead in one year. 

" A certain person within these 6 years had two Negroes dead computed 
both at 60/. which would have procured him six white .Servants at 10/. per head 
to have Served 24 years, at 4 years apiece, without running such a great risque, 
and the Whites would have strengthened the Country, that Negroes do not. 

" 'Twould do well that none of those Servants be liable to be Impressed 
during their Service of Agreement at tlieir first Landing. 

"That such .Servants being Sold or Transported out of this Province dur- 
ing tlie time of their .Service, the Person that buys them be liable to ])ay 3/. into 
the Treasury." 

Comment would be superfluous. It is only necessary for the 
reader to note that there is not a humane sentiment in the entire 
article. 

But universal liberty was not without her votaries. All har^ 
not bowed the knee to Baal. The earliest friend of the Indiac 
and the Negro was the scholarly, pious, and benevolent Samuel 
Scwall, at one time one of the judges of the Superior Court of 
Massachusetts, and afterwards the chief justice. He hated 
slavery with a righteous hatred, and early raised his voice and 
used his pen against it. He contributed the first article against 
slavery printed in the colony. It appeared as a tract, on the 24th 
of June, 1700, and was "Printed by Bartholomew Green and 
John Allen." It is withal the most remarkable document of its 
kind we ever saw. It is reproduced here to show the reader what 
a learned Christian judge thought of slavery one hundred and 
eighty-two years ago. 



"THE SELLING OF JOSEPH A MEMORIAL. 

" By the Hon'ble JUDGE SEWALL in New England. 

"FORASMUCH as LIBERTY is in real value next unto Life; None 
ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon most mature 
consideration. 

"The Numerousness of Slaves at this Day in the Province, and the L^n- 
easiness of them under their Slavery, hath put many upon tliinking whether 
the Foundation of it be firmly and well laid; so as to sustain the Vast Weight 
that is built upon it. It is most certain that all Men, as tliey are the Sons of 
Adam, are Co-heirs, and have equal Right unto Liberty, and all other outward 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 211 

Comforts of Life. God hat/i given the Earth \_ivith all its comvioiiities'] unto 
the Sons of A<li!ii!, Psal., 115, 16. And hath made of one Blood all Nations 
of Men, for to dwell on all the face of the Earth, and hath determined the 
Times before appointed, and the bounds of their Habitation : That they should 
seek the Lord. Forasmuch then as we are the Offspring of God, &c. Acts, 
17, 26, 27, 29. Now, although the Title given by the last Adam doth infinitely 
better Men's Estates, respecting God and themselves; and grants them a most 
beneficial and inviolable Lease under tlic Uroad Seal of Heaven, who were 
before only Tenants at Will; yet through the Indulgence of God to our First 
Parents after the Fall, the outward Estate of all and every of their Children, 
remains the same as to one another. So that Originally, and Naturally, there 
is no such thing as Slavery. Joseph was rightfully no more a slave to his 
Bretliren, than they were to him ; and they had no more Authority to Sell\\\m, 
than they had to Slay him. And if they had nothing to do to sell him ; the 
Ishinaelites bargaining with them, and paving down Twenty pieces of Silver, 
could not make a Title. Neither could Potiphar h?ivt any better Interest in 
him than the Ishinaelites had. Gen. 37, 20, 27, 2<S. For he that shall in this 
case plead Alteration of Property, seems to have forfeited a great part of his 
own claim to Humanity. There is no proportion between Twenty Pieces of 
-Silver and LIBERTY. The Commodity itself is the Claimer. If Arabian 
Gold be imported in any quantities, most are afraid to meddle with it. though 
they might have it at easy rates ; lest it should have been wrongfully taken 
from the Owners, it should kindle a fire to the Consumption of their whole 
Estate. 'Tis pity there should be more Caution used in buying a Horse, or a 
little lifeless dust, than there is in purchasing Men and Women : Whereas they 
are the Offspring of God, and their Liberty is, 

. . . Auro pretiofior Omni. 

" And seeing God hath said. He that Stealeth a Man, and Selleth him, or 
if he be found in his Hand, he shall surely be put to Death. Exod. 21, 16. 
This Law being of Everlasting Equity, wherein Man-Stealing is ranked among 
the most atrocious of Capital Crimes: What louder Cry can there be made of 
that Celebrated Warning 

Caveat Emptor! 

" And all things considered, it would conduce more to the Welfare of the 
Province, to have White Servants for a Term of Years, than to have Slaves 
for Life. Few can endure to hear of a Negro's being made free: and indeed 
they can seldom use their Freedom well; yet their continual aspiring after 
their forbidden Liberty, renders them Unwilling Servants. .-Xnd there is such 
a disparity in their Conditions, Colour, and Hair, that they can never embody 
with us, & grow up in orderly Families, to the Peopling of the Land ; but still 
remain in our Body Politick as a kind of extravasat Blood. As many Negro 
Men as there are among us, so many empty Places are there in our Train 
Bands, and the places taken up of Men that might make Husbands for our 
Daughters. And the Sons and Daughters of New England would become 
more like facob and /Rachel, if this Slavery were thrust quite out of Doors. 
Moreover it is too well known what Temptations Masters are under, to connive 



2 12 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

at the Fornication of their Slaves ; lest they should be obliged to find them 
Wives, or pay their Fines. It seems to be practically pleaded that they might 
be lawless ; 'tis thought much of, that the Law should have satisfaction for 
their Thefts, and otlier Immoralities ; by which means. Holiness to the Lord is 
more rarely engraven upon this sort of Servitude. It is likewise most lament- 
able to think, how in taking Negroes out of Africa, and selling of them here, 
That which God has joined together, IVIen do boldly rend asunder; I\Ien from 
their Country, Husbands from their Wives, Parents from their Children. How 
horrible is the Uncleanness, Mortality, if not Murder, that the Ships are guilty 
of that bring great Crowds of these miserable Men and Women. Methinks 
when we are bemoaning the barbarous Usage of our Friends and Kinsfolk in 
Africa, it might not be unreasonable to enquire whether we are not culpable in 
forcing the Africans to become Slaves amongst ourselves. ."Xnd it may be a 
question whether all the Benefit received by Negro Slaves will balance the 
Accompt of Cash laid out upon them ; and for the Redemption of our own 
enslaved Friends out of Africa. Besides all the Persons and Estates that 
have perished there. 

" Obj. I. These Dlackainores are of the Posterity of Chain, and therefore 
are under the Curse of Slavery. Gen. 9, 25, 26, 27. 

" Ans. Of all Offices, one would not beg this; viz. Uncall'd for, to be an 
Executioner of the Vindictive Wrath of God ; the extent and duration of which 
is to us uncertain. If this ever was a Commission ; How do we know but that 
it is long since out of Date ? Many have found it to their Cost, that a Pro- 
phetical Denunciation of Judgment against a Person or People, would not 
warrant them to inflict that evil. If it would, Hazael might justify himself in 
all he did against his master, and the Israelites from 2 Kings 8, 10, 12. 

" But it is possible that by cursory reading, this Text may have been mis- 
taken. For Canaan is the Person Cursed three times over, without the men- 
tioning of Cham. Good Expositors suppose the Curse entailed on him, and 
that this Prophesie was accomplished in the Extirpation of the Canaanites, and 
in the Servitude of the Gibeonilcs. Vide Pareum. Whereas the Blackmores 
are not descended of Canaan, but of Cush. Psal. 68, 31. Princes shall come 
out of Egypt [Mizraimj. Ethiopia [Cush]. j//<z// soon stretch out her hands 
niito God. Under which Names, all ^(/'r/Vrj maybe comprehended; and their 
Promised Conversion ought to be prayed for. fer. 13, 23. Can the Ethiopian 
change his Skin ? This shows that Black Men are the Posterity o^ Ciish. Who 
time out of mind have been distinguished by their Colour. And for want of 
the true, OwV/ assigns a fabulous cause of it. 

Sa}i£^7thtc turn crcdunt in corpora suitnna vocato 

4^ttuopum popidos nigrum iraxisse coloretn. Metamorph. lib. 2. 

"Obj. 2. The Nigers are brought out of a Pagan Country, into places 
where the Gospel is preached. 

" .4ns. Evil must not be done, that good may come of it. The extraordi- 
nary and comprehensive Benefit accruing to the Church of God, and to Joseph 
personally, did not rectify his Brethren's Sale of him. 

"Obj. 3. The Africans have Wars one with another: Our Ships bring 
lawful Captives taken in those wars. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 213 

" Answ. For aught is known, their W'ars are much such as were between 
Jacob's Sons and tlicir Brotlier Joseph. If they be between Town and Town; 
Provincial or National : Every War is upon one side Unjust. An Unhiwful 
War can't mal<e lawful Captives. And by receiving, we are in danger to pro- 
mote, and partake in their Barbarous Cruelties. I am sure, if some Gentlemen 
should go down to the Brewsters to take the Air, and Fish : And a stronger 
Party from ///^//should surprise them, and sell them for Slaves to a Ship out- 
ward bound; they would think tliemselves unjustly dealt with; both by Sellers 
and Buyers. And yet 'tis tobe feared, we have no other Kind of Title to our 
Nigers. Therefore all things whatsoever ye -would that men should do to you, 
do you even so to them : for this is the Law and the Prophets. iMatt. 7, 12. 

" Obj. 4. Abraham had Servants bought -with his money and born in his 
House. 

"Ans. Until the Circumstances of Abraham's purchase be recorded, no 
Argument can be drawn from it. In the mean time, Charity obliges us to 
conclude, that He knew it was lawful and good. 

"It is Observable that the Israelites were strictly forbidden the buying or 
selling one another for Slaves. Levit. 25. 39. 46. Jer. 34, 8-22. And GoD 
gaged His Blessing in lieu of any loss they might conceit they suffered thereby, 
Deut. 15. iS. And since the partition Wall is broken down, inordinate Self- 
love should likewise be demolished. God expects that Christians should be of 
a more Ingenuous and benign frame of Spirit. Christians should carry it to all 
the World, as the Israelites were to carry it one towards another. And for 
Men obstinately to persist in holding their Neighbours and Brethren under the 
Rigor of perpetual Bondage, seems to be no proper way of gaining Assurance 
that God has given them Spiritual Freedom. Our Blessed Saviour has altered 
the Measures of the ancient Love Song, and set it to a most E.\cellent New 
Tune, which all ought to be ambitious of Learning. Matt. 5. 43. 44. John 13. 
34. These Ethiopians, as black as they are, seeing they are the Sons and 
Daughters of the First Adam, the Brethren and Sisters of the Last Adam, 
and the Offspring of God ; They ought to be treated with a Respect agree- 
able. 

" Servitus perfecta voluntaria. inter Chris tianum &= Chris tianum. ex parte 
servi patientis saepe est licita, quia est necessaria; sed e.x parte domini agentis, 
&• procurando cSr" cxercendo, vix potest esse licita ; gjtia non convenit regulte 
illi generali : Quaecunque volucritis ut faciant vobis homines, ita &^ vos facite 
eis. Matt. 7, 12. 

'■'Perfecta servitus paenae, non potest jure locum habere, nisi ex delicto gravi 
quod ultimum supplicium aliquo modo merelur : quia Libcrtas ex naturali 
csstimatione proxime accedit ad vitam ipsam, Sr' eidem a inultis prafcrri solet. 

" Ames. Cas. Confc. Lib. 5. Cap. 23. Thes. 2. 3." 

Judge Sewall's attack on slavery created no little stir in Boston ; 
and the ne.xt year, 1701, Judge John Saffin, an associate of Judge 
Sewall, answered it in quite a lengthy paper.' Having furnished 



' It was thought to be lost for some years, until Dr. George H. Moore secured a copy from 
George Brirley, Esq., of Hartford, Conn., and reproduced it in his Notes. 



2 14 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Judge Sewall's paper, it is proper that Judge Saffin's reply should 
likewise have a place here. 



"JUDGE SAFFIN'S REPLY TO JUDGE SEWALL, 1701. 

"A Brief and Candid Answer to a late Printed Siieet, £«///«/<-a', Tlie Selling of 
Joseph. 

"THAT Honourable and Learned Gentleman, the Author of a Sheet, 
Entituled, The Selling of Joseph, A Memorial, seems from thence to draw this 
conclusion, that because the Sons of Jacob did very ill in selling their Brother 
Joseph to the Ishiiiaclites, who were Heathens, therefore it is utterly unlawful 
to Buy and Sell Negroes, though among Christians; which Conclusion I pre- 
sume is not well drawn from the Premises, nor is the case parallel; for it was 
unlawful for the Israelites to Sell their Brethren upon any account, or pretence 
whatsoever during life. But it was not unlawful for the Seed of Abmha/ii to 
have Bond men, and Bond women either born in their House, or bought with 
their Money, as it is written of Abraham, Gen. 14. 14. &• 21. 10. &" Exod. 21. 
16. (&■> Lcvit. 25. 44. 45. 46 V. After the giving of the law: And in Josh. 9. 23. 
That famous E.xample of the Cibeonites is a sufificient proof where there no 
other. 

" To speak a little to the Gentlemans first Assertion : That none ought to 
part ivitli their Liberty themselves, or deprive others of it but ttpon mature 
consideration ; a prudent exception, in which he grants, that upon some con- 
sideration a man may be deprived of his Liberty. And then presently in his 
next Position or Assertion he denies it, viz. : It is most certain, that all men as 
they are the Sons of Adam are Coheirs, and have equal right to Liberty, and 
all other Comforts of Life, which he would prove out of Psal. 115. 16. The 
Earth hath he given to the Children of Men. True, but what is all this to the 
purpose, to prove that all men have equal right to Liberty, and all outward 
comforts of this life; which Position seems to invert the Order that God hath 
set in the World, who hath Ordained different degrees and orders of men, 
some to be High and Honourable, some to be Low and Despicable; some to 
be Monarchs, Kings, Princes and Governours, Masters and Commanders, 
others to be Subjects, and to be Commanded ; Servants of sundry sorts and 
degrees, bound to obey; yea, some to be born Slaves, and so to remain during 
their lives, as hath been proved. Otherwise there would be a meer parity 
among men, contrary to that of the Apostle, L Cor. 12 from the 13 to the 26 
verse, where he sets forth (by way of comparison) the different sorts and offices 
of the Members of the Body, indigitating that they are all of use, but not 
equal, and of Like dignity. So God hath set different Orders and Degrees of 
.Men in the World, both in Church and Common weal. Now, if this Position 
of parity should be true, it would then follow that the ordinary Course of 
Divine Providence of God in the World should be wrong, and unjust, (which 
we must not dare to think, much less to affirm) and all the sacred Rules, 
Precepts and Commands of the .Almighty which he hath given the .Sons of Men 
to observe and keep in their respective Places, Orders and Degrees, would be 
to no purpose ; which unaccountably derogate from the Divine Wisdom of the 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 215 

most High, who hath made nothing in vain, but hath Holv Ends in all his 
Dispensations to tlie Children of men. 

"In the next place, this worthy Gentleman makes a large Discourse con- 
cerning the Utility and Conveniency to keep the one, and inconveniency of the 
otlier; respecting white and black Servants, which conduceth most to the 
welfare and benefit of this Province : which he concludes to be white men, 
wlio are in many respects to be preferred before Blacks ; wlio doubts that ? 
doth it therefore follow, that it is altogether unlawful for Christians to buy and 
keep Negro Servants (for this is the thesis) but that those that have them ought 
in Conscience to set them free, and so lose all the money they cost (for we 
must not live in any known sin) this seems to be his opinion : but it is a Ques- 
tion whether it ever was the Gentleman's practice ? But if he could perswade 
the General Assembly to make an Act, That all that have Negroes, and do set 
them free, shall be Reimbursed out of the I'ublick Treasurv, and that there 
shall be no more Negroes brought into the country; 'tis probable there would 
be more of his opinion ; yet he would find it a hard task to bring the Country 
to consent thereto; for then the Negroes must be all sent out of the Country, 
or else the remedy would be worse than the disease ; and it is to be feared that 
those Negroes that are free, if there be not some strict course taken with them 
bv Authority, they will be a plague to this Country. 

'■'■Again, If it should be unlawful to deprive them that are lawful Captives, 
or Bondmen of their Liberty for Life being Heathens; it seems to be more 
unlawful to deprive our Brethren, of our own or other Christian Nations of the 
Liberty, (though but for a time) by binding them to Serve some Seven, Ten, 
Fifteen, and some Twenty Years, which oft times proves for their whole Life, 
as many have been; which in effect is the same in Nature, though different in 
the time, yet this was allow'd among the Jcius by the Law of God : and is the 
constant practice of our own and other Christian Nations in the World : the 
which our Author by his Dogmatical Assertions doth condem as Irreligious; 
which is Diametrically contrary to the Rules and Precepts which God hath 
given the diversity of men to observe in their respective Stations, Callings, 
and Conditions of Life, as hath been observed. 

"And to illustrate his Assertion our Author brings in by way of Compari- 
son the Law of God against man Stealing, on pain of Death : Intimating 
thereby, that Buying and Selling of Negro's is a breach of that Law, and so 
deserves Death: A severe Sentence: But herein he begs the Question with a 
Caveat Emptor. For, in that very Chapter there is a Dispensation to the 
People of Israel, to have Bond men, Women and Children, even of their own 
Nation in some case : and Rules given therein to be observed concerning them ; 
\'crse the ^th. And in the before cited place, Levit. 25. 44, 45. 46. Though the 
Israelites were forbidden (ordinarily) to make Bond men and Women of their 
own Nation, but of Strangers they might: the words run thus, verse 44. Both 
thy Bond men, and thy Bond maids which thou shall have shall be of the 
Heathen, that are round about yon : of them shall you Buy Bond men and 
Bond maids, (r'e. See also, I Cor. 12. 13. Whether we be Bond or Free, 
which shows that in tlie times of the New Testament, there were Bond men 
also, &c. 

'' In fine. The sum of this long Haurange. is no other, than to compare the 
Buying and Selling of Negro's unto the Stealing of Men, and the Selling of 



2l6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

yoseph by his Brethren, which bears no proportion therewith, nor is there any 
congruiety therein, as appears by the foregoing Texts. 

" Our Author doth further proceed to answer some Objections of his own 
framing, which he supposes some might raise. 

•'Object. I. Tltat these Blackainores are of the Posterity of Cliam, and 
therefore under the Curse of Slavery. Gen. 9. 25, 26, 27. Tlie which the 
Gentleman seems to deny, saying, they ware the Seed of Canaan that were 
Cursed, dr'e. 

"■Answ. Whether they were so or not, we shall not dispute: this may 
suffice, that not only the seed of Cham or Canaan, but any lawful Captives of 
other Heathen Nations may be made Bond men as hath been proved. 

" Obj. 2. That the Negroes are brought out of Pagan Countreys into places 
where the Gospel is preached. To which he Replies, that we must not doe Evil 
that Good may come of it. 

'■'■ Ans. To which we answer. That it is no Evil thing to bring tliem out of 
their own Heathenish Country, where they may have the knowledge of the 
True God, be Converted and Eternally saved. 

"Obj. 3. The Affricans have Wars one with another; our Ships bring 
lawful Captjves taken in those Wars. 

"To which our Author answers Conjecturally, and DowhtlvWy, for aught 
we know, that which mayor may not be; which is insignificant, and proves 
nothing. He also compares the Negroes Wars, one Nation with another, with 
the Wars between Joseph and his Brethren. But where doth he read of any 
such War .' We read indeed of a Domestick Quarrel they had with him, they 
envyed and hated Joseph ; but by what is Recorded, he was meerly passive and 
meek as a Lamb. This Gentleman farther adds, 77;;?/ there is not any War 
but is unjust on one side, Is^c. Be it so, what doth that signify: We read of 
lawful Captives taken in the Wars, and lawful to be Bought and Sold without 
contracting the guilt of the Agressors ; for which we have the example of 
.^^rfl/;«/« before quoted ; but if we must stay while both parties Warring are 
in the right, there would be no lawful Captives at all to be Bought ; which 
seems to be rediculous to imagine, and contrary to the tenour of Scripture, and 
all Humane Histories on that subject. 

"Obj. 4. Abraham had Servants bought with his Money, and born in 
his House. Gen. 14. 14. To which our worthy Author answers, until the Cir- 
cumstances of Abraham's purchase be recorded, no .Argument can be drawn from 
it. 

^^Ans. To which we Reply, this is also Dogmatical, and proves nothing. 
He farther adds, /« the mean time Charity Obliges us to conclude, that he knew 
it was lawful and good. Here the gentleman yields the case ; for if we are in 
Charity bound to believe Abrahams practice, in buying and keeping Slaves in 
his house to be lawful and good: then it follows, that our Imitation of him in 
this his Moral Action, is as warrantable as that of his Faith ; who is the Father 
of all them that believe. Rom. 4. 16. 

"In the close all. Our Author Quotes two more places of Scripture, viz., 
Levit. 25. 46, and Jer. 34, from the 8. to the 22. v. To prove that the people 
of Israel were strictly forbidden the Buying and Selling one another for Slaves : 
who questions that.' and what is that to the case in hand.' What a strange 
piece of Logick is this ? 'Tis unlawful for Christians to Buy and Sell one 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 217 

another for slaves. Ergo, It is unlawful to Buy and Sell Negroes that arc 
lawful Captiv'd Heathens. 

"And after a Serious E.\liortation to us all to Love one another according 
to the Command of Christ. Math. 5, 43, 44. This worthy Gentleman con- 
cludes with this Assertion, That these Ethiopeans as Black as they are, seeing 
they are the Sons and Daughters of the first Adam ; tite Brethren and Sisters 
of the Second Adam, and the Offspring of God; lue ought to treat them with a 
respect agreeable. 

'• jlns. We grant it for a certain and undeniable verity. That all Mankind 
are the Sons and Daughters of Adam, and the Creatures of God : Hut it doth 
not therefore follow that we are bound to love and respect all men alike ; this 
under favour we must take leave to deny; we ought in charity, if we see our 
Neiglibour in want, to relieve them in a regular way, but we are not bound to 
give them so much of our Estates, as to make them equal with ourselves, be- 
cause they are our Brethren, the Sons of Adam, no, not our own natural Kins- 
men : We are Exhorted to do good unto all, but especially to them who are of 
the Household of Faith, Gal. 6. 10. And we are to love, honour and respect 
all men according to the gift of God that is in them: 1 may love my Servant 
well, but my Son better; Charity begins at home, it would be a violation of 
common prudence, and a breach of good manners, to treat a Prince like a 
Peasant. And this worthy Gentleman would deem himself much neglected, if 
we should show him no more Defference than to an ordinary Porter: And 
therefore these florid expressions, the Sons and Daughters of the First Adam, 
the Brethren and Sisters of the Second Adam, and the Offspring of God, seem 
to be misapplied to import and insinuate, that we ought to tender Pagan 
Negroes with all love, kindness, and equal respect as to the best of men. 

"By all which it doth evidently appear both by Scripture and Reason, the 
practice of the People of God in all Ages, both before and after the giving of 
the Law, and in the times of the Gospel, that there were Bond men. Women 
and Children commonly kept by holy and good men, and improved in Service; 
and therefore by the Command of God, Lev. 25, 44, and their venerable 
Example, we may keep Bond men, and use them in our Service still; yet with 
all candour, moderation and Christian prudence, according to tlieir state and 
condition consonant to the Word of God." 



Judge Sewall had dealt slavery a severe blow, and opened up 
an agitation on the subject that was felt diu-ing the entife Revolu- 
tionary struggle. He became the great apostle of liberty, the 
father of the anti-slavery movement in the colony. He was the 
bold and stern John the Baptist of that period, " the voice of one 
crying in the wilderness" of bondage, to prepare the way for 
freedom. 

The Quakers, or Friends as they were called, were perhaps 
the earliest friends of the slaves, but, like Joseph of Arimatha;a, 
were "secretly" so, for fear of the "Puritans." But they early 
recorded their disapprobation of slavery as follows ; — 



2l8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

zGih day of ye gth mo. 1716. 

" An epistle from the last Quarterly Meeting was read in this, and y= mat- 
ter referred to this meeting, viz., whether it is agreeable to truth for friends to 
purchase slaves and keep them term of liffe, was considered, and yc sense and 
judgment of this meeting is, that it is not agreeable to truth for friends to 
purchase slaves and hold them term of liffe. 

" Nathaniel Starbuck, jun' is to draw out this meeting's judgment concern- 
ing friends not buying slaves and keeping them term of liffe, and send it to the 
next Quarterly Meeting, and to sign it in ye meeting's behalf." ' 

Considering the prejudice and persecution tliat pursued tliis 
good people, tlieir testimony against slavery is very remarkable. 
In 1729-30 Elihu Coleman of Nantucket, a minister of the 
society of Friends, wrote a book against slavery, published in 
1733, entitled, "A Testimony against that Anti-Clu-istian Pyactice 
of MAKING Slaves of men.^ It was well written, and the truth 
fearlessly told for the conservative, self-seeking period he lived in. 
He says, — 

" I am not unthoughtful of the ferment or stir that such discourse as this 
may make among some, who (like Demetrius of old) may say, by this craft we 
have our wealth, which caused the people to cry out with one voice, great is 
Diana of the Ephesians, whom all Asia and the world worship." 

He examined and refuted the arguments put forth in defence 
of slavery, charged slaveholders with idleness, and contended 
that slavery was the mother of vice, at war with the laws of 
nature and of God. Others caught the spirit of reform, and the 
agitation movement gained recruits and strength every year. Felt 
says, " 1765. Pamphlets and newspapers discuss the subjects of 
slavery with increasing zeal." The colonists were aroused. Men 
were taking one side or the other of a question of great magni- 
tude. In 1767 an anonymous tract of twenty octavo pages against 
slavery made its appearance in Boston. It was written by 
Nathaniel Appleton, a co-worker with Otis, and an advanced 
thinker on the subject of emancipation. It was in the form of a 
letter addressed to a friend, and was entitled, "Considerations on 
Slavery." The Rev. Samuel Webster Salisbury published on the 
2d of March, 1769, "An Earnest Address to my Country on 
Slavery." He opened his article with an argument showing the 
inconsistency of a Christian people holding slaves, pictured the 
evil results of slavery, and then asked, — 

' Histuiy of N.intucket, p. 281. ^ CofSn, p. 33S ; also History of Nantucket, pp. 279, 2S0. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 2ig 

" What then is to be done ? Done ! for God's sake break every yoke and 
let these oppressed ones i^() y)£V w/Z/w/// r/t/f/i' — let them taste the sweets of 
that liberty, which we so highly prize, and are so earnestly supplicating God 
and man to grant us : nay, which we claim as the natural right of every man. 
Let me beseech my countrymen to put on bowels of compassion for these 
their brethren (for so I must call them,) yea, let me beseech you for your own 
sake and for God's sake, to break every yoke and let the oppressed go free." ' 

Begun among the members of the bar and the pulpit, the 
coinmon folk at length felt a lively interest in the subject of 
emanciijation. An occasional burst of homely, vigorous elociuence 
from the pulpit on the duties of the hour inflamed the conscience 
of the pew with a noble zeal for a righteous cause. The afflatus 
of liberty sat upon the people as cloven tongues. livery village, 
town, and city had its orators whose only theme was emancipa- 
tion. "The pulpit and the press were not silent, and sermons 
and essays in behalf of the enslaved Africans were continually 
making their appearance." The public conscience was being 
rapidly educated, and from the hills of Berkshire to the waters 
of Massachusetts Bay the fires of liberty were burning. 

■ Coffin, p. 338. 



2 20 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS, — CONTINUED. 

1633-1775- 

The Era of Prohiditorv Legislation against Slavery. — Boston instructs her Representa- 
tives TO vote against the Slave-Trade. — Proclamation issued bv Gov. Dumwer against 
the Negroes, April 13, 1723. — Persecution of the Negroes. — "Suing for Liberty." — 
Letter of Samuel Adams to John Pickering, Jun., on Behalf of Negro Memorialists. — 
A Bill for the Suppression of the Slave-Trade passes. — Is vetoed bv Gov. Gage, and 
fails to become a Law. 

THE time to urge legislation on the slavery question had 
come. Cultivated at the first as a private enterprise, then 
fostered as a patriarchal institution, slavery had grown to 
such gigantic proportions as to be regarded as an unwieldy evil, 
and subversive of the political stability of the colony. Men 
winked at the "day of its small things," and it grew. Little 
legislation was required to regulate it, and it began to take root in 
the social and political life of the people. The necessities for 
legislation in favor of slavery increased. Every year witnessed 
the enactment of laws more severe, until they appeared as scars 
upon the body of the laws of the colony. To erase these scars 
was the duty of the hour. 

It was now 1755. More than a half-century of agitation and 
discussion had prepared the people for definite action. Manu- 
mission and petition were the first methods against slavery. On 
the loth of March, 1755, the town of Salem instructed their rep- 
resentative, Timothy Pickering, to petition the General Court 
against the importation of slaves.' The town of Worcester, in 
June, 1765, instructed their representative to "use his influence 
to obtain a law to put an end to that unchristian and impolitic 
practice of making slaves of the human species, and that he give 
his vote for none to serve in His Majesty's Council, who will use 
their influence against such a law."^ The people of Boston, in 

' Felt, vol. ii. p, 41O. ^ Newspaper Literature, vol. i. p. 31. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 22 1 

the month of May, 1766, instructed their representatives as 
follows : — 

" And for tlie total abolishing; of slavery among us, that you move for a law 
to prohibit the iniijortation and the purchasing of slaves for tlie future." ' 

And in the following year, 1767, on the i6th of March, the 
question was put as to whether the town should adhere to its 
previous instructions in favor of the suppression of the slave- 
trade, and passed in the affirmative. Nearly all the towns, espe- 
cially those along the coast, those accessible by mails and news- 
papers, had recorded their vote, in some shape or other, against 
slavery. The pressure for legislation on the subject was great. 
The country members of the Legislature were almost a unit in 
favor of the passage of a bill prohibiting the further importation 
of slaves. The opposition came from the larger towns, but the 
opposers were awed by the determined bearing of the enemies of 
the slave-trade. The scholarship, wealth, and piety of the colony 
were steadily ranging to the side of humanity. 

On the 13th of March, 1767, a bill was introduced in the 
House of Representatives "to prevent the nnivarrantable and 
nnlazvful Practice or Custom of inslaving Mankind in this Prov- 
ince, and the importation of slaves into the same." ^ It was read 
the first time, when a dilatory motion was offered that the bill lie 
over to the next session, which was decided in the negative. An 
amendment was offered to the bill, limiting it "to a certain time," 
which was carried ; and the bill made a special order for a second 
reading on the following day. It was accordingly read on the 
14th, when a motion was made to defer it for a third reading to 
the next "May session." The friends of the bill voted down this 
dilatory motion, and had the bill made the special order of the 
following Monday, — it now being Saturday. On Sunday there 
must have been considerable lobbying done, as can be seen by 
the vote taken on Monday. After it was read, and the debate 
was concluded, it was " Ordered that the Matter subside, and that 
Capt. Shcaffe, Col. Richmond, and Col. Bourne, be a Commit- 
tee to bring in a Rill for laying a Duty of Impost on slaves im- 
porting into this Province." 3 This was a compromise, that, as 
will be seen subsequently, impaired the chances of positive and 
wholesome legislation against slavery. The original bill dealt a 

' Ljman's Report, quoted by Dr. Moore. ' House Journal, p. 3S7. » Ibid. 



222 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

double blow : it struck at the slave-trade in the Province, and 
levelled the institution already in existence. But some secret 
influences were set in operation, that are forever hidden from the 
searching eye of history ; and the friends of liberty were bullied 
or cheated. There was no need of a bill imposing an impost tax 
on slaves imported, for such a law had been in existence for more 
than a half-century. If the tax were not heavy enough, it could 
have been increased by an amendment of a dozen lines. On the 
17th the substitute was brought in by the special committee 
appointed by the Speaker the previous day. The rules requiring 
bills to be read on three several days were suspended, the bill 
ordered to a first and second reading, and then made the special 
order for eleven o'clock on the next day, Wednesday, the i8th. 
The motion to lie on the table until the "next May" was defeated. 
An amendment was then offered to limit the life of the bill to one 
year, which was carried, and the bill recommitted. On the after- 
noon of the same day it was read a third time, and placed on its 
passage with the amendment. It passed, was ordered engrossed, 
and was "sent up by Col. Bowers, Col. Gerrish, Col. Leonard, 
Capt. Thayer, and Col. Richmond." On the 19th of March it 
was read a first time in the council. On the 20th it was read a 
second time, and passed to be engrossed "as taken into a new 
draft." When it reached the House for concurrence, in the after- 
noon of the same day, it was "Read and unanimously non-con- 
curred, and the House adhere to their own vote, sent up for 
concurrence." ■ 

Massachusetts has gloried much and long in this Act to prohibit 
"the Custom of enslaving mankind;" but her silver-tongued ora- 
tors and profound statesmen have never possessed the courage to 
tell the plain truth about its complete failure. From the first it 
was harassed by dilatory motions and amendments directed to its 
life; and the substitute, imposing an impost tax on imported 
slaves for one year, showed plainly that the friends of the original 
bill had been driven from their high ground. It was like applying 
for the position of a major-general, and then accepting the place 
of a corporal. It was as though they had asked for a fish, and 
accepted a serpent instead. It seriously lamed the cause of 
emancipation. It filled the slaves with gloom, and their friends 
with apprehension. On the other hand, those who profited by 

* House Journals ; see, also, Gen. Court Records, May, 1763, to May, 176", p. 485. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 223 

barter in flesh and blood laughed secretly to themselves at the 
abortive attempt of the anti-slavery friends to call a halt on the 
trade. They took courage. For ten weary years the voices lifted 
for the freedom of the slave were few, faint, and far between. 
The bill itself has been lost. What its subject-matter was, is left 
to uncertain and unsatisfactory conjecture. All we know is from 
the title just quoted. But it was, nevertheless, the only direct 
measure offered in the Provincial Legislature against slavery 
during the entire colonial period, and came nearest to passage of 
any. But "a miss is as good as a mile ! " 

It was now the spring season of 1771. Ten years had flown, 
and no one in all the Province of Massachusetts had had the 
courage to attempt legislation friendly to the slave. The scenes 
of the preceding year were fresh in the mihds of the inhabitants 
of Boston. The blood of the martyrs to liberty was crying from 
the ground. The " red coats " of the British exasperated the 
people. The mailed hand, the remorseless steel finger, of ICnglish 
military power was at the throat of the rights of the people. The 
colony was gasping for independent political life. A terrible 
struggle for liberty was imminent. The colonists were about to 
contend for all that men hold dear, — their wives, their children, 
their homes, and their country. But while they were panting for 
an untrammelled existence, to plant a free nation on the shores of 
North America, they were robbing Africa every year of her sable 
children, and condemning them to a bondage more cruel than 
jiolitical subjugation. This glaring inconsistency imparted to 
reflecting persons a new impulse toward anti-slavery legislation. 

In the spring of 1771 the subject of suppressing the slave- 
trade was again introduced into the Legislature. On the 12th of 
April a bill " To prevent the Importation of slaves from Africa" 
was introduced, and read the first time, and, upon the question 
" When shall the bill be read again .-' " was ordered to a second 
reading on the day following at ten o'clock. Accordingly, on the 
13th, the bill was read a second time, and postponed till the fol- 
lowing Tuesday morning. On the i6th it was recommitted. On 
the 19th of the same month a "Bill to prevent the Importation 
of Negro slaves into this Province" was read a first time, and 
ordered to a second reading "to-morrow at eleven o'clock." On 
the following day it was read a second time, and made the special 
order for three o'clock on the following Monday. On the 22d, 
Monday, it was read a third time, and placed upon its passage and 



2 24 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

engrossed. On the 24th it passed the House. When it reached 
the Council James Otis proposed an amendment, and a motion 
prevailed that the bill lie upon the table. But it was taken from 
the table, and the amendment of Otis was concurred in by the 
House. It passed the Council in the latter part of April, but 
failed to receive the signature of the governor, on the ground that 
he was "not authorized by Parliament."' The same reason for 
refusing his signature was set up by Gen. Gage. Thus the bill 
failed. Gov. Hutchinson gave his reasons to Lord Hillsborough, 
secretary of state for the colonies. The governor thought him- 
self restrained by "instructions" to colonial governors "from 
assenting to any laws of a new and unusual nature." In addition 
to the foregoing, his E.xcellency doubted the lawfulness of the 
legislation to which the "scruple upon the minds of the people in 
many parts of the province" would lead them; and that he had 
suggested the propriety of transmitting the bill to England to 
learn "his Majesty's pleasure" thereabouts. Upon these reasons 
Dr. Moore comments as follows: — ■ 

"These are interesting and important suggestions. It is apparent that at 
this time there was no special instruction to the royal governor of Massachu- 
setts, forbidding his approval of acts against the slave-trade. Hutchinson evi- 
dently doubted the genuineness of the 'chief motive ' which was alleged to be 
the inspiration of the bill, the 'meerly moral' scruple against slavery; but his 
reasonings furnish a striking illustration of the changes which were going on 
in public opinion, and the gradual softening of the harsher features of slavery 
under their influence. The non-importation agreement throughout the Colonies, 
by which America was trying to thwart the commercial selfishness of her rapa- 
cious Mother, had rendered the provincial viceroys peculiarly sensitive to the 
slightest manifestation of a disposition to approach the sacred precincts of 
those prerogatives by which King and Parliament assumed to bind their distant 
dependencies: and the 'spirit of non-importation' which Massachusetts had 
imperfectly learned from New York was equally offensive to them, whether it 
interfered with their cherished 'trade with Africa,' or their favorite monopolies 
elsewhere." 

Discouraged by the failure of the House and General Court to 
pass measures hostile to the slave-trade, the people in the out- 
lying towns began to instruct their representatives, in unmistak- 
able language, to urge the enactment of repressive legislation on 
this subject. At a town meeting in Salem on the iSth of May, 
1773,^ the representatives were instructed to prevent, by appro- 

• Slavery in Mass., pp. 131, 132. " Felt, vol. ii. pp. 416, 417. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 225 

priatc legislation, the fiirtlicr importation of slaves into the colony, 
as "rciJLignant to the natural rights of mankind, and highly preju- 
dicial to the Province." On the very next day, May 19, 1773, at 
a similar meeting in the town of Leicester, tiie people gave among 
other instructions .to Thomas Denny, their representative, the fol- 
lowing on the question of slavery: — 

" And, as we have the highest regard for (so as even to revere the name 
of) liberty, we cannot behold but with the greatest abhorrence any of our 
fellow-creatures in a state of slavery. 

"Therefore we strictly enjoin you to use your utmost influence that a stop 
may be put to the slave-trade by the inhabitants of this Province; which, we 
apprehend, may be effected by one of these two ways: either by laying a heavy 
duty on every negro imported or brought from Africa or elsewhere into this 
Province ; or by making a law, that every negro brought or imported as afore- 
said should be a free man or woman as soon as they come within the jurisdic- 
tion of it; and that every negro child that shall be born in said government 
after the enacting such law should be free at the same age that the children 
of white people are; and, from the time of their birth till they are capable of 
earning their living, to be maintained by the town in which they are born, or 
at the expense of the Province, as shall appear most reasonable. 

"Thus, by enacting such a law, in process of time will the blacks become 
free; or, if the Honorable House of Representatives shall think of a more 
eligible method, we shall be heartily glad of it. But whether you can justly 
take awav or free a negro from his master, who fairly purchased him, and 
(although illegally; for such is the purchase of any person against their consent 
unless it be for a capital offence) which the custom of this country has justified 
him in. we shall not determine; but hope that unerring Wisdom will direct you 
in this and all your other important undertakings." ' 

IMedford instructed the representative to "use his utmost 
inthience to ha\'e a final periotl ]nit to that most cruel, inhiuiian 
and imchristian practice, the slave-trade." At a town meeting 
the peojile of Sandwich voted, on the i8th of May, 1773, " tliat 
our representative is itistructed to endeavor to have an Act passed 
hv the Court, to prevent the importation of slaves into this 
I'ountry, and that all children that shall be born of such Africans 
as ;ire now slaves among us, shall, after such Act, be free at 
21 vrs. of age." ^ 

This completes the list of towns that gave instructions to their 
representatives, as far as the record goes, l^iit there doubtless 
were others; as the towns were close together, and as the "spirit 
of liberty was rife in the land." 



Hist, of Leicester, pp. 442, 443. = Freeman's Hist, of Cipe Cod, vol. ii. pp. iM, 115. 



2 26 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The Negroes did not endure the yoke without complaint. 
Having waited long and patiently for the dawn of freedom in the 
colony in vain, a spirit of unrest seized them. They grew sullen 
and desperate. The local government started, like a sick man, 
at every imaginary sound, and charged all disorders to the 
Negroes. If a fire broke out, the " Negroes did it," — in fact, the 
Negroes, who were not one-si.\th of the population, were continu- 
ally committing depredations against the whites ! On the 13th of 
April, 1723, Lieut. -Gov. Dummer issued a proclamation against 
the Negroes, which contained the following preamble: — 

"Whereas, within some short time past, many fires have broke out within 
the town of Boston, and divers buildings have thereby been consumed: which 
fires have been designedly and industriously kindled by some villanous and 
desperate negroes, or other dissolute people, as appears by the confession of 
some of them (who have been examined by the authority), and many concurring 
circumstances; and it being vehemently suspected that they have entered into 
a combination to burn and destroy the town, I have therefore thought fit, with 
the advice of his Majesty's council, to issue forth this proclamation," etc. 

On Sunday, the iSth of April, 1723, the Rev. Joseph Scwall 
preached a sermon suggested " by the late fires yt have broke out 
in Boston, supposed to be purposely set by ye negroes." The 
town was greatly exercised. Everybody regarded the Negroes 
with distrust. Special measures were demanded to insure the 
safety of the town. The selectmen of Boston passed " nineteen 
articles " for the regulation of the Negroes. The watch of the 
town was increased, and the military called out at the sound of 
every fire-alarm "to keep the slaves from breaking out"! In 
August, 1730, a Negro was charged with burning a house in 
Maiden; which threw the entire community into a panic. In 
1755 two Negro slaves were put to death for poisoning their 
master, John Codman of Charlestown. One was hanged, and the 
other burned to death. In 1766 all slaves who showed any dis- 
position to be free were "transported and exchanged for small 
negroes."' In 176S Capt. John Willson, of the F"ifty-ninth Regi- 
ment, was accused of e.xciting the slaves against their masters ; 
assuring them that the soldiers had come to procure their free- 
dom, and that, "with their assistance, they should be able to 
drive the Liberty Boys to the Devil" The following letter from 
Mrs. John Adams to her husband, dated at the Boston Garrison, 

' Boston Gazette, Aug. 17, 1761. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 227 

22cl September, 1774, gives a fair idea of the condition of tlie 
public pulse, and her pronounceil views against slavery. 

"Tlicic 1ms been in town a conspiracy of tlic negroes. At present it is 
kept ])rctty private, and was discovered hy one wlio endeavored to dissuade 
them from it. He being tlireatened with his life, applied to Justice Quincy for 
l)ri)lection. They conducted in this way, got an Irisliman to draw up a petition 
to the Governor [Gage], telling him they would fight for him provided he would 
arm them, and engage to liberate them if he conquered. And it is said that 
he attended so much to it, as to consult Percy u])on it, and one Lieutenant Small 
has been very busy and active. There is but little said, and what steps they 
will take in consequence of it I know not. I wish most sincerely there was 
not a slave in the province ; it always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to 
mo to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those 
who have as good a right to freedom as we have. You know my mind upon 
this subject." ' 

The Negroes of Massachusetts were not mere passive observers 
of the benevolent conduct of their white friends. They were 
actively interested in the agitation going on in their behalf. 
Here, as in no other colony, the Negroes showed themsehes equal 
to the emergencies that arose, and capable of appreciating the 
opportunities to strike for their own rights. The Negroes in the 
colony at length struck a blow for their liberty. And it was not 
the wild, indiscriminate blow of Turner, nor the military measure 
of Gabriel; not the remorseless logic of bludgeon and torch, — 
but the sober, sensible efforts of men and tvoiiicn who believed 
their condition abnormal, and slavery prejudicial to the largest 
growth of the human intellect. The eloquence of Otis, the 
impassioned appeals of Sewall, and the zeal of Eliot had rallied 
the languishing energies of the Negroes, and charged their hearts 
with the divine passion for liberty. They had learned to spell out 
the letters of freedom, and the meaning of the word had quite 
ravished their fainting souls. They had heard that the royal 
charter declared all the colonists British subjects ; they had 
devoured the arguments of their white friends, and were now 
prepared to act on their own behalf. The slaves of Greece and 
Rome, it is true, petitioned the authorities for a rela.xation of the 
severe laws that crushed their manhood ; but they were captives 
from other nations, noted for government and a knowledge of the 
science of warfare. Btit it was left to the Negroes of Massachu- 

' Letters of Mrs. .^dams, p. :o. 



2 28 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

setts to force their way into courts created only for white men, 
and win their cause ! 

On Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1766, John Adams makes the follow- 
ing record in his diary : — 

" 5. Wednesday. Attended Court ; heard the trial of an action of trespass, 
brought by a mulatto woman, for damages, for restraining her of her liberty. 
This is called suing for liberty ; the first action that ever I knew of the sort, 
though I have heard there have been many." ■ 

So as early as 1766 Mr. Adams records a case of "suing for 
liberty ;" and tiiough it was the first he had known of, neverthe- 
less, he had "heard there have been many." Hcnv many of these 
cases were in Massachusetts it cannot be said with certainty, but 
there were "many." The case to which Mr. Adams makes 
reference was no doubt that of Jenny Slew vs. John Whipple, 
jun., cited by Dr. Moore. It being the earliest case mentioned 
anywhere in tlie records of the colony, great interest attaches 
to it. ., , , 

"Jenny Slew of Ipswich in the County of Essex, spinster, Pltff., agst. 
John Whipple, Jun., of said Ipswich Gentleman, Deft., in a Plea of Trespass 
for that the said John on the 29th day of January, A.IJ. 1762, at Ipswich afore- 
said with force and arms took her the said Jenny, held and kept her in servi- 
tude as a slave in his service, and has restrained her of her liberty from that 
time to the fifth of IVIarch last without any law^ful right & authority so to do 
and did her other injuries against the peace & to the damage of said Jenny 
Slew as she saith the sum of twenty-five pounds. This action was first brought 
at last March Court at Ipswich when & where the parties appeared & the case 
was continued by order of Court to the then next term when and where the 
Pltff appeared & the said John Whipple Jun, came by Edmund Trowbridge, 
Esq. his attorney & defended when he said that there is no such person in 
nature as Jenny Slew of Ipswich aforesaid. Spinster, & this the said John was 
ready to verify wherefore the writ should be abated &he prayed judgment 
accordingly which plea was overruled by the Court and afterwards the said 
John by the said Edmund made a motion to the Court & praying that another 
person might endorse the writ & he subject to cost if any should finally be for 
the Court but the Court rejected the motion and then Deft, saving his plea in 
aliatement aforesaid said that lie is not guilty as the plaintiff contends, & there- 
of put himself on the Country, & then the cause was continued to this term, 
and now the Pltff. reserving to herself the liberty of joining issue on the 
Deft's plea aforesaid in the appeal says that the defendant's plea aforesaid 
is an insufficient answer to the Plaintiff's declaration aforesaid and by law 
she is not held to reply thereto S: slie is ready to verify wherefore for want 
of a sufiicient answer to the Plaintiffs declaration aforesaid she prays judg- 

' Adonis's Works, vol. ii. p. 200. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 229 

mcnt for licr damaiics & costs & llie dcfeiulaiit consenting to tlie waiving of 
the deimincr on the appeal said his pica aforesaid is good & because the 
Pltff refuses to reply tlicrcto He prajs judgment for his cost. It is considered 
by tlie Court tliat the defendant's plea in chief aforesaid is good & that the 
said Jolin Whipple recover of the said Jenny Slew costs tax at the 

Pltff appealed to the next Superior Court of Judicature to be holdcn for this 
County & entered into recognizance with sureties as the law directs for prose- 
cuting lier appeal to effect." Rccofds of the Iiifaior Court of C. C. P., Vol. — , 
{Sept. 1 760 to July 1 766), page 502. 

"JiCNNV Slkw of Ipswich, in the County of Essex, Spinster, Appellant, 
versus John Whipple, Jr. of said Ipswich, Gentleman Appellee from the 
judgment of an Inferior Court of Cominon I'lcas held at Newburyport within 
and for the County of Essex on the last Tuesday of September 1765 when and 
where the api)ellant was plaint., and the appellee was defendant in a plea of 
trespass, for that the said John upon the 29th day of January, A.D. 1762,3! 
Ipswich aforesaid with force and arms took her the said Jenny held & kept her 
in servitude as a slave in his service & has restrained her of her liberty from 
that lime to the lifth of March 1765 without any lawful right or authority so 
to do & did other injuries against the Peace & to the damage of the said 
Jenny Slew, as she saith, the sum of twenty-live pounds, at which Inferior 
Court, judgment was rendered upon the demurrer then that the said John 
Whipple recover against the said Jenny Slew costs. This appeal was brought 
forward at the Superior Court of Judicature S:c., holden at Salem, within & for 
the County of Essex on the first Tuesday of last November, from whence it 
was continued to the last term of this Court for this County by consent & so 
from thence unto this Court, and now both parties appeared & the demurrer 
aforesaid being waived by consent & issue joined upon the plea tendered at 
said Inferior Court & on file. The case after full hearing was conunitted to 
a jury sworn according to law to try the same wlio returned their verdict there- 
in uijon oath, that is to say, they find for appellant reversion of the former 
judgiTient four pounds money damage & costs. It's therefore considered by 
the Court, that the former judgment be reversed & that the said Slew recover 
against the said Whipple the sum of four pounds lawful money of this Prov- 
ince damage & costs taxed 9/. 9^. (3d. 

'■ Exon. issued 4 Dec. 1766." Records of the Superior Court of Judica- 
ture {vol. 1 766-7), /(7of 175. 

The next of the "freedom cases," in chronolo_Q;ical order, was 
the case of Newport vs. Billing;, and was doubtless the one in 
which John Adams was engaged in the latter part of September, 
176S.' It was begun in the Inferior Court, where the decision 
was against the slave, Amos Newport. The plaintiff took an 
appeal to the highest court in the colony ; and that court gave as 
its solemn opinion, "that the said Amos [Newport] was not a 
freeman, as he alleged, but the proper slave of the said Joseph 

^ Adauis's Woiks, vol. ii. p. 213. 



23Q HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

[Billing]." ' It should not be lost sight of, that not only the 
Fundamentallaws of 1641, but the highest court in Massachusetts, 
held, as late as 1768, that there was property in man ! 

The case of James vs. Lechmere is the one " which has been 
for more than half a century the grand chcval dc bataillc of the 
champions of the historic fame of Massachusetts." ^ Richard 
Lechmere resided in Cambridge, and held to servitude for life a 
Negro named "James." On the 2d of May, 1769, this slave 
began an action in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. The 
action was "in trespass for assault and battery, and imprisoning 
and holding the plaintiff in servitude from April 11, 1758, to the 
date of the writ." The judgment of the Inferior Court was adverse 
to the slave ; but on the 31st of October, 1769, the Superior Court 
of Suffolk had the case settled by compromise. A long line of 
worthies in Massachusetts have pointed with pride to this decision 
as the legal destruction of slavery in that State. But it " is sJiown 
by tJic records and files of Court to liavc been brought up from the 
Inferior Court by sham demurrer, and, after one or tioo continuances, 
settled by the parties." ^:' The truth of history demands that the 
facts be given to the world. It will not be pleasant for the people 
of Massachusetts to have this delusion torn from their affectionate 
embrace. It was but a mere historical chimera, that ought not to 
have survived a single day ; and, strangely enough, it has existed 
until the present time among many intelligent peoj^le. This case 
has been cited for the last hundred years as having settled the 
question of bond servitude in Massachusetts, when the fact is, 
there was no decision in this instance ! And the claim that 
Richard Lechmere's slave James was adjudged free " upon the 
same grounds, substantially, as those upon which Lord Mansfield 
discharged Sommersett," is absurd and baseless.-^ For on the 
27th of April, 1785 (thirteen years after the famous decision). 
Lord Mansfield himself said, in reference to the Sommersett case, 
"that his decision went no farther than that the master cannot by 
force compel the slave to go out of the kingdom." Thirty-five 
years of suffering and degradation remained for the Africans after 
the decision of Lord Mansfield. His lordship's decision was ren- 

' Kccords, 176S, fol., p. 2S4. 

2 This is the case referred to by the late Charles Simmer in his famous speech in answer to 
Senator Butler of South Carolina; see also Slavery m Mass., p. 115, 116; Washburn's Judicial 
Hist, of Mass., p. 202; Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc, 1S63-64, p. 322. 

^ Records, 1769, fol. p. 196. Gray m Quincy's Reports, p. 30, note, quoted by Dr. Moore. 

* Slavery in Mass., pp. 115, 116, note. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 231 

dercd on the 22cl of June, 1772 ; and in 1807, thirty-five years after- 
wards, tiie British government abolished the slave-trade. And then, 
after twenty-seven years more of rcfleetion, slavery was abolished 
in ICnglish possessions. So, sixiy-Zwo years after Lord Mans- 
field's decision, England emancipated her slaves I It took only two 
generations for the people to get rid of slavery under the British 
flag. How true, then, that " facts are stranger than fic- 
tion " ! 

In 1770 John Swain of Nantucket brought suit against Elisha 
Folger, captain of the vessel " Friendship," for allowing a Mr. 
Roth to receive on board his ship a Negro boy named "Boston," 

|j and for the recovery of the slave. This was a jury-trial in the 
Court of Common Fleas. The jury brought in a verdict in favor 
of the slave, and he was " manumitted by the magistrates." John 

II Swain took an appeal from the decision of the Nantucket Court 
to the Supreme Court of Boston, but never prosecuted it.' In 
1770, in Hanover, Plymouth County, a Negro asked his master to 

tj grant him his freedom as his right. The master refused ; and the 
Negro, with assistance of counsel, succeeded in obtaining his 
liberty.^ 

" In October of 1773, an action was brought again.st Richard Greenleaf, of 
Newburyport, by Casar [Hendrick.] a colored man, whom he claimed as his 
slave, for holding him in bondage. He laid the damages at fifty pounds. The 
counsel for the plaintiff, in whose favor the jury brought in their verdict and 
awarded him eighteen pounds damages and costs, was John Lowell, esquire, 
afterward judge Lowell. This case excited much interest, as it was the first, 
if not the only one of the kind, that ever occurred in the county." 3 

This case is mentioned in full by Mr. Dane in his "Abridg- 
ment and Digest of American Law," vol. ii. p. 426. 

In the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, in the county of 
Esse.x, July term in 1774, a Negro slave of one Caleb Dodge of 
Beverly brought an action against his master for restraining his 
liberty. The jury gave a verdict in favor of the Negro, on the 
ground that there was " no law of the Province to hold a man to 
I serve for life." 4 This is the only decision we have been able to 
find based upon such a reason. The jury may have reached this 
conclusion from a knowledge of the provisions of the charter of 
the colony ; or they may have found a verdict in accordance with 

' Lvman's Report, 1S22. = Slavery in Mass., p. iiS. J Hist, of Newbury, p. 339. 

* The Watchman's Alarm, p. 2S, note; also Slavery in Mass., p. 119. 



232 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the charge of the court. The following significant language in the 
charter of the colony could not have escaped the court : — 

"That all and every of (he subjects of us, our heirs and successors, which 
go to and inhabit within our said province and territory, and every of their 
children which shall happen to be born there, or on the seas in going thither, 
or returning from thence, shall have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of 
free and natural subjects within the dominions of us, our heirs and successors, 
to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever, as if they and every of 
them were born within our realm of England." 

The Rev. Dr. Belknap, speaking of these cases which John 
Adams speaks of as "suing for liberty," gives an idea of the line 
of argument used by the Negroes : — 

" On the part of the blacks it was pleaded, that the royal charter expressly 
declared all persons born or residing in the province, to be as free as the King's 
subjects in Great Britain; that by the laws of England, no man could be de- 
prived of his liberty but by the judgment of his peers ; that the laws of the 
province respecting an evil e.\isting, and attempting to mitigate or regulate it, 
did not authorize it; and, on some occasions, the plea was, that though the 
slavery of the parents be admitted, yet no disability of that kind could descend 
to children." ' 

The argument pursued by the masters was, — 

"The pleas on the part of the masters were, that the negroes were pur- 
chased in open market, and bills of sale were produced in evidence; that the ' 
laws of the province recognized slavery as existing in it, by declaring that no ( 
person should manumit his slave without giving bond for his maintenance." ^ 

It is well that posterity should know the motives that inspired I 
judges and juries to grant these Negroes their prayer for liberty. ' 

"In 1773, etc., some slaves did recover against their masters; but these 
cases are no evidence that there could not be slaves in the Province, for some- 
times masters permitted their slaves to recover, to get clear of maintaining them ; 
^% paupers when old and infirm; the effect, as then generally understood, of a \ 
judgment against the master on this point of slavery; hence, a very feeble 
defence was often made by the masters, especially when sued by the old or 
infirm slaves, as the masters could not even manumit their slaves, without in- 
demnifying their towns against their maintenance, as town paupers." 

And Chief-Justice Parsons, in the case of Winchendon vs. 
Hatfield, in error, says, — 

"Several negroes, born in this country of imported slaves demanded their 
freedom of their masters by suit at law, and obtained it by a judgment of court. 

^ Masb. Hibt. Soc. Coll., vol. iv. 1st Series, pp. 202, 203. ^ Hildreth, vol. ii. p. 564. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 233 

The defence of the master was feebly made, for such was the temper of the 
times, that a restless discontented slave was worth little ; and when his free- 
dom was obtained in a course of legal proceedings, the master was not holden 
for his future support, if he became poor." 

Thus did the slaves of Massachusetts fill their mouths with 
arguments, and go before the courts. The majority of them, aged 
and infirm, were allowed to gain their cause in order that their 
masters might be relieved from supporting their old age. The 
more intelligent, and, consequently, the more determined ones, 
were allowed to have their freedom from prudential reasons, more 
keenly felt than frankly expressed by their masters. In some 
instances, however, noble, high-minded Christians, on the bench 
and on jtn-ics, were led to their conclusions by broad ideas of 
justice and humanity. But the spirit of the age was cold and 
materialistic. With but a very few exceptions, the most selfish 
and constrained motives conspired to loose the chains of the 
bondmen in the colony. 

The slaves were not slow to see that the colonists were in a 
frame of mind to be persuaded 011 the question of emancij-iation. 
Their feelings were at white heat in anticipation of the Revolu- 
tionary struggle, and the slaves thought it time to strike out a few 
sparks of sympathy. 

On the 25th of June, 1773, a petition was presented to the 
House of Representatives, and read before that body during the 
afternoon session. It was the petition "of Felix Holbrook, and 
others, Negroes, praying that they may be liberated from a state 
of Bondage, and made Freemen of-this Community ; and that this 
Court would give and grant to them some part of the unimproved 
Lands belonging to the Province, for a settlement, or relieve them 
in such other Way as shall seem good and wise upon the Whole." 
After its reading, a motion prevailed to refer it to a select com- 
mittee for consideration, with leave to report at any time. It was 
therefore "ordered, that Mr. Hancock, Mr. Greenleaf, Mr. Adams, 
Capt. Dix, Mr. Pain, Capt. Heath, and Mr. Pickering consider this 
Petition, and report what may be proper to be done." ' It was a 
remarkably strong committee. There were the patriotic Hancock, 
the scholarly Greenleaf, the philosophic Pickering, and the elo- 
quent Samuel Adams. It was natural that the Negro petitioners 
should have expected something. Three days after the committee 

' House Journal, p. 85, quoted by Dr. Moore. 



234 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

was appointed, on the 28th of June, they recommended "that the 
further Consideration of the Petition be referred till next session." 
The report was adopted, and the petition laid over until the " next 
session." ' 

But the slaves did not lose heart. They found encouragement 
among a few noble spirits, and so were ready to urge the Legis- 
lature to a consideration of their petition at the next session, in 
the winter of 1774. The following letter shows that they were 
anxious and earnest. 

"SAMUEL ADAMS TO JOHN PICKERING, JR. 

" Boston, Jany. 8, 1774. 
" Sir, — 

As the General Assembly will undoubtedly meet on the 26th of this 
montli, the Negroes whose petition lies on file, and is referred for consid- 
eration, are very solicitous for the Event of it, and having been informed 
that you intended to consider it at your leisure Hours in the Recess of the 
Court, they earnestly wish you would compleat a Plan for their Relief. And in 
the meantime, if it be not too much Trouble, they ask it as a favor that you 
would by a Letter enable me to communicate to them the general outlines of 
your Design. I am, with sincere regard," etc.^ 

It is rather remarkable, that on the afternoon of the first day 
of the session, — Jan. 26, 1774, — the "Petition of a number of 
Negro Men, which was entered on the Journal of the 25th of 
June last, and referred for Consideration to this session," was 
" read again, together, with a Memorial of the same Petitioners, 
and Ordered, that Mr. Speaker, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Hancock, Mr. 
Adams, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Pain, and Mr. Greenleaf consider the 
same and report." 3 The public feeling on the matter was 
aroused. It was considered as important as, if not more impor- 
tant than, any measure before the Legislature. 

The committee were out until March, considering what was 
best to do about the petition. On the 2d of March, 1774, they 
reported to the House "a Bill to prevent the Importation of 
Negroes and others as slaves into this Province," when it was 
read a first time. On the 3d of March it was read a second time 
in the morning session ; in the afternoon session, read a third 
time, and passed to be engrossed. It was then sent up to the 
Council to be concurred in, by Col. Gerrish, Col. Thayer, Col. 

' House Journal, p. 94. ^ Slavery in Mass., p. 136. - House Journal, p. 104. 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 235 

Bowers, IVrr. Pickering, and Col. Bacon.' On the next day tlie 
bill "passed in Council with Amendments," - and was returned to 
the House. On the sth of March the House agreed to concur in 
Council amendments, and on the 7th of March passed the bill as 
amended. On the day following it was placed upon its passage 
in the Council, and carried. It was then sent down to the 
governor to receive his signature, in order to become the law 
of the Province. That official's approval was withheld ; and the 
reason given was, "the secretary said (on returning the approved 
bills) that his Ii.\cellency had not had time to consider the other 
Hills that had been laid before him." ' 

It is quite fortunate that the bill was preserved ;■! for it is now, 
in the certain light of a better civilization, a document of great 
historic value. 

"Anno Rf.gni Regis Georgii Tertii &c. Dr.ciMO Quarto. 

••An Act to prevent tlio importation of Negroe.s or otlier Persons as Slaves 
into tliis Province; and tlie purcha.sinj; them witliin the same; and for 
ma/a'iii; provision for relief of the children of such as are already sub- 
jected to slavery A'ei;roes Mulattoes &-= Indians born within this Province. 

"\\'ur.RE.\s tlie Importation of Persons as Slaves into tiiis Province lias 
been found detrimental to the interest of his Majesty's subjects therein; .And 
it being apprehended that the abolition thereof will be beneficial to the 
Province — 

"Be it therefore Enacted by the Governor Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives tliat whoever shall after the Tenth Day of April ne.\t import or bring 
into this Province by Land or Water any Negro or other Person or Persons 
vvhetlicr Male or Female as a Slave or Slaves sliall for each and every such 
Person so imported or brought into this Province forfeit and pay the sum of 
one hundred Pounds to be recovered by presentment or indictment of a Grand 
Jury and when so recovered to be to his Majesty for the use of tliis Govern- 
ment: or by action of debt in any of liis Majesty's Courts of Record and in 
case of such recovery the one moiety thereof to be to his majesty for the use of 
this Government tlie otlicr moiety to the Person or Persons wlio sliall sue for 
the same. 

^^ And be it further Enacted that from and after the Tenth Day of .'\pril 
ne.\t any Person or Persons that shall purchase any Negro or other Person or 
Persons as a Slave or Slaves imported or brought into this Province as afore- 
said shall forfeit and pay for every Negro or (ither Person so purchased Fifty 
Pounds to be recovered and disposed of in the same way and manner as before 
directed. 

' House Journal, p. 224. - Ibid., p. 226. 

^ House Journal, Gen. Court Records, xxx. pp. 24S, 264 ; also. Slavery in Mass., p. 137. 

♦ Mass. .•\rchives. Domestic Relations, 1643-I774, vol. ix. p. 457. 



236 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"And he it furtlio- Enacted \\\^X every Person, concerned in importing or 
bringing into tliis Province, or purchasing any such Negro or other Person or 
Persons as aforesaid within the same : who shall be unable, or refuse, to pay 
the Penalties or forfeitures ordered by this Act: shall for every such offence 
suffer Twelve months' imprisonment without Bail or mainprise. 

'■'■Provided alhvays that nothing in this act contained shall extend to 
subject to the Penalties aforesaid the Masters, Mariners, Owners or Freighters 
of any such Vessel or Vessels, as before the said Tenth Day of April next 
shall have sailed from any Port or Ports in this Province, for any Port or 
Ports not within this Government, for importing or bringing into this Province 
any Negro or other Person or Persons as Slaves who in the prosecution of the 
same voyage may be imported or brought into the same. Provided he shall 
not offer tliem or any of them for sale. 

" Provided also that this act shall not be construed to extend to any such 
Person or Persons, occasionally hereafter coming to reside within this 
Province, or passing thro' the same, who may bring such Negro or other 
Person or Persons as necessary servants into this Province provided that the 
stay or residence of such Person or Persons shall not exceed Twelve months 
or that such Person or Persons within said time send such Negro or other 
Person or Persons out of this Province there to be and remain, and also that 
during said Residence such Negro or other Person or Persons shall not be 
sold or alienated within the same. 

"Y And be it fnrtJicr Enacted and declared that not/iing in this act 
contained shall extend or be construed to extend for retaining or holding in 
perpetual servitude any Negro or other Person or Persons now inslaved within 
this Province but that every such Negro or other Person or Persons shall be 
intituled to all the Pcnejits such Negro or other Person or Persons might by 
Law liavc been intituled to, in case this act had not been tnade. 

" In the House of Representatives March 2, 1774. Read a first & second Time. 
March 3, 1774. Read a third Time & passed to be engrossed. Sent up for 
concurrence. T. Cu.shing, Spkr. 

" In Council March 3, 1774. Read a first time. 4. Read a second Time and 
passed in Concurrence to be Engrossed with the Amendment at y dele the 
whole Clause. Sent down for concurrence. 

Thos. Flucker, Secry. 

" In the House of Representatives March 4, 1774. Read and concurred. 

T. CUSHI.NG, Spkr." 

Like all other measures for the suppression of the slave-trade, 
this bill failed to become a law. If Massachusetts desired to free 
herself from this twofold cross of woe, — even if her great 
jurists could trace the law that justified the abolition of the 
curse, in the pages of the royal charter, — were not the British 
governors of the Province but conserving the corporation inter- 
ests of the home government and the members of the Royal 
African Company .' By the Treaty of Utrecht, England had 



THE COLONY OF MASSACHUSETTS. 237 

agreed to furnish the Siianisli West Iiulies with Negroes for the 
space of thirty years. She had aidetl all her colonies to establish 
slavery, and had sent her navies to guard the vessels that robbed 
Africa of five hundred thousand souls annually." This was the 
cruel work of England. For all her sacrifices in the war, the 
millions of treasure she had spent, the blood of her children so 
prodigally shed, with the glories of Blenheim, of Raniillies, of 
Oudenarde and Malplaquet, England found her consolation and 
reward in seizing and enjoying, as the lion's share of results of 
the grand alliance against the Bourbons, the exclusive right for 
thirty years of selling African slaves to the Spanish West Indies 
and the coast of America!- Why slwnld Gov. Hutchinson sign 
a bill that was intended to choke the channel of a commerce 
in human souls that was so near the heart of the British throne .' 
Gov. Hutchinson w^as gone, and Gen. Gage was now governor. 
He convened the General Court at Salem, in June, 1774. On the 
loth of June the same bill that Gov. Hutchinson had refused to 
sign was introduced, with a few immaterial changes, and pushed 
to a third reading, and engrossed the same day. It was called up 
on the 16th of June, and passed. It was sent up to the Council, 
where it was read a third time, and concurred in. But the next 
day the General Court was dissolved ! And over the grave of 
this, the last attempt at legislation to suppress the slave-trade in 
Massachusetts, was written : "Not to have been consented to by the 



governor 



" I 



These repeated efforts at anti-slavery legislation were strate- 
gic and politic. The gentlemen who hurried those bills through 
the House and Council, almost regardless of rules, knew that the 
rox'al governors would never affi.x their signatures to them. But 
the colonists, having put themselves on record, could appeal to 
the considerate judgment of the impatient Negroes; while the 
refusal of the royal governors to give the bills the force of law 
did much to drive the Negroes to the standard of the colonists. 
In the long night of darkness that was drawing its sable curtains 
about the colonial government, the loyalty of the Negroes was 
the lonely but certain star that threw its peerless light upon the 
pathway of the child of England so soon to be forced to lift its 
parricidal hand against its rapacious and cruel mother. 

' Ethiope, p. 12. = lioUngbroke, pp. 346-348. 



-o 



S HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE COLONY OF MARYLAND. 
1634-1775. 

M.ARVI.AND UNDER THE LawS OF VlRClNMA UNTIL 1630. — FiRST LEGISLATION ON THE SLAVERY QUES- 
TION IN 1657-38. — Slavery established by Statute in 1663. — The Discussion of Slavery. 

— An Act passed encouraging the Importation of Negroes and White Slaves in 1671. — 
An Act laving an Impost on Negroes and White Servants imported into the Colony. — 
Duties imposed on Rum and Wine. — Treat.ment of Sl.\ves and Papists. — Convicts im- 
ported INTO the Colony. — An Atte.mpt to justify the Convict-Trade. — Spirited Replies. 

— The Laws of 1723, 1729, 1752. — Rights of Slaves. — Negro Population in 1728. — Increase 
of Slavery in 1756. — No Efforts made to prevent the Evils of Slavery. — The Revo- 
lution nearing. — New Life for the Negroes. 

UP to the 20th of June, 1630, the territory that at present 
constitutes the State of Maryland was included within the 
limits of the colony of Virginia. During that period the 
laws of Virginia obtained throughout the entire territory. 

In 1637 ' the first assembly of the colony of Maryland agreed 
upon a number of bills, but they never became laws. The list is 
left, but nothing more. The nearest and earliest attempt at legis- 
lation on the slavery question to be found is a bill that was intro- 
duced "for piinishmcjit of ill sc7-vatits." During the earlier years 
of the e.xistence of slavery in Virginia, the term " servant " was 
applied to Negroes as well as to white persons. The legal distinc- 
tion between slaves and servants was, "servants for a term of 
years," — white persons; and "servants for life," — Negroes. 
In the first place, there can be no doubt but what Negro slaves 
were a part of the population of this colony from its organization;^ 
and, in the second place, the above-mentioned bill of 1637 for the 
'• fiDiishuicut of ill servants " was intended, doubtless, to apply 



' Dr. Abiel Holmes, in his American Annals, vol. ii. p. 5. says, " Maryland now contained 
about tlurty-six thousand persons, of white men from si.steen years of age and upwards, and 
negroes male, and female from sixteen to sixty." I infer from this statement that slavery was 
in existence in Maryland in 1634 ; and I cannot find any thing in history to lead me to doubt but 
that slavery was born with the colony. 

- Cabinet Cyclopaedia, vol. i. p. 61, 



THE COLONY OF JJARYLAXD. 239 

to Negro servants, or slaves. So few were they in number, that 
they were seldom referred to as " slaves." They were " servants ; " 
and that a[ipcllation dropped out only when the growth of slavery 
as an institution, and the necessity of specific legal distinction, 
made the Negro the only person that was suited to the condition 
of absolute property. 

In 1638 there was a list of bills that reached a second reading, 
but never passed. There was one bill "for the liberties of the 
/•tv//^," that declared "all Christian inhabitants (slaves only ex- 
cepted) to have and enjoy all such rights, liberties, immunities, 
privileges and free customs, within this province, as any natural 
born subject of England hath or ought to have or enjoy in the 
realm of England, by force or virtue of the common law or statute 
law of England, saving in such cases as the same are or may be 
altered or changed by the laws and ordinances of this province." • 
There is but one mention made of "slaves" in the above Act, but 
in none of the other Acts of 1638. There are certain features of 
the Act worthy of special consideration. The reader should keep 
the facts before him, that by the laws of England no Christian 
could be held in slavery; that in the Provincial governments the 
laws were made to conform with those of the home government ; 
that, in specifying the rights of the colonists, the Provincial as- 
semblies limited the immunities and privileges conferred by the 
Magna Charta upon British subjects, to Christians ; that Negroes 
were considered heathen, and, therefore, denied the blessings of 
the Church and State ; that even where Negro slaves were bap- 
tized, it was held by the courts in the colonies, and was the law- 
opinion of the solicitor-general of Great Britain, that they were not 
ipso facto free ; = and that, where Negroes were free, thev had no 
rights in the Church or State. So, while this law of 163S did not 
say that Negroes sJiould be slaves, in designating those who were 
to enjoy the rights of freemen, it excludes the Negro, and there- 
by fixes his condition as a slave by implication. If he were not 
named as a freeman, it was the intention of the law-makers that 



■ Sec Bacon's Laws ; also Holmes's Annals, vol. i, p. 250. 

- The following appeared in the Plantation Laws, printed in London in 1705: "Where 
any negro or slave, being in servitude or bondage, is or sh.ill become Christian, and receive the 
sacrament of baptism, the same shall not nor ought not to be deemed, adjudged or construed to 
be a manumission or freeing of any such negro or slave, or liis or her issue, from their servitude or 
bondage, but that notwithstanding they shall at all times hereafter be and remain in servitude 
and bondage as tliey were before baptism, any opinion, matter or tiling to the contrary notwith- 
standing." 



240 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

he should remain a bondman, — the exception to an established 
rule of law.' 

In subsequent Acts reference was made to "servants," "fugi- 
tives," " runaways," etc. ; but the first statute in this colony estab- 
lishing slavery was passed in 1663. It wzs " Ati Act concerfiing 
7iegrocs and other slaves." It enacts section one : — 

" All negroes or other slaves within the province, and all negroes and other 
slaves to be hereafter imported into the province, shall serve durante vita j and 
all children born of any negro or other slave, shall be slaves as their fathers 
were for the term of their lives." 

Section two : — 

" And forasmuch as divers freeborn English women, forgetful of their free 
condition, and to the disgrace of our nation, do intermarry with negro slaves, 
by wliicli also divers suits may arise, touching the issue of such women, and a 
great damage doth befall the master of such negroes, for preservation whereof 
for deterring such free-born women from such shameful matches, be it enacted, 
&c. ; That whatsoever free-born woman shall intermarry with any slave, from 
and after the last day of the present assembly, shall serve the master of such 
slave during the life of her husband; and that all the issue of such free-born 
women, so married, shall be slaves as their fathers were." 

Section three : — 

"And be it furtlier enacted, that all the issues of £'«^V/j//, or other free- 
born women, that have already married negroes, shall serve the master of their 
parents, till they be thirty years of age and no longer." 2 

Section one is the most positive and sweeping statute we have 
ever seen on slavery. It fi.xes the term of servitude for the longest 
time man can claim, — the period of his earthly existence, — and 
dooms the children to a service from which they were to find 
discharge only in death. Section two was called into being on 
account of the intermarriage of white women with slaves. Many 
of these women had been indentured as servants to pay their 
passage to this country, some had been sent as convicts, while 
still others had been apprenticed for a term of years. Some of 
them, however, were very worthy persons. No little confusion 
attended the fixing of the legal status of the issue of such mar- 
riages ; and it was to deter Englishwomen from such alliances, 
and to determine the status of the children before the courts, that 
this section was passed. Section three was clearly an ex post 

■ McSherry's Hist, of Maryland, p. 86. - Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 249. 



THE COLONY OF MARYLAND. 24 1 

facto law : but the public sentiment of the colony was reflected in 
it ; and it stood, and was re-enacted in 1676. 

Like Virginia, the colony of Maryland found the soil rich, and 
the cultivation of tobacco a profitable enterprise. The country 
was new, and the physical obstructions in the way of civilization 
numerous and formidable. Of course all could not pursue the 
one path that led to agriculture. Mechanic and trade folk were 
in great demand. Laborers were scarce, and the few that could 
be obtained commanded high wages. The Negro slave's labor 
could be made as cheap as his master's conscience and heart were 
small. Cheaper labor became the cry on every hand, and the 
Negro was the desire of nearly all white men in the colony.' In 
167 1 the Legislature passed " An Act cucouraginf; the importation of 
negroes and slaves into" the colony, which was followed by another 
and similar Act in 1692. Two motives inspired the colony to build 
up the slave-trade ; viz., to have more laborers, and to get some- 
thing for nothing. And, as soon as Maryland was known to be 
a good market for slaves, the traflSc increased with wonderful 
rapidity. Slaves soon became the bone and sinew of the working- 
force of the colony. They were used to till the fields, to fell the 
forests, to assist mechanics, and to handle light crafts along the 
water-courses. They were to be found in all homes of ojnilence 
and refinement ; and, unfortunate!}', their presence in such large 
numbers did much to lower honorable labor in the estimation of 
the whites, and to enervate women in the best white society. 
While the colonists persuaded themselves that slavery was an 
institution indispensable to the colony, its evil effects soon became 
apparent. It were impossible to engage the colony in the slave- 
trade, and escape the bad results of such an inhuman enterprise. 
It made men cruel and avaricious. 

It was the motion of individuals to have legislative encourage- 
ment tendered the venders of human flesh and blood ; but the 
time came when the government of the colony saw that an impost 
tax upon the slaves imported into the colony would not impair 
the trade, while it would aid the government very materially. In 
l6g6 "An Act laying an imposition on negroes, slaves and ivliite 
persons imported" into the colony was passed. It is plain from 
the reading of the caption of the above bill, that it was intended 
to reach three classes of persons ; viz., Negro servants, Negro 

' McMahon's Hist, of Maryland. vqL i. p. 274. 



242 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

slaves, and white servants. The word " imported " means such 
persons as could not pay their passage, and were therefore inden- 
tured to the master of the vessel. When they arrived, their time 
was hired nut, if they were free, for a term of years, at so much 
per year ; ' but if they were slaves the buyer had to pay all claims 
against this species of property before he could acquire a fee sim- 
ple in the slave. Some historians have too frequently misinter- 
preted the motive and aim of the colonial Legislatures in imposing 
an impost ta.\ upon Negroes and other servants imported into 
their midst. The fact that the law applied to white persons does 
not aid in an interpretation that would credit the makers of the 
act with feelings of humanity. A people who could buy and sell 
wives did not hesitate to see in the indentured white servants prop- 
erty that ought to be taxed. Why not .■" These white servants 
represented so many dollars invested, or so many years of labor 
in prospect ! So all persons imported into the colony of Mary- 
land, " Negroes, slaves, and white persons," were taxed as any 
other marketable article. A swift and remorseless civilization 
ao'ainst the stolid forces of nature made men indiscriminate and 
cruel in their impulses to obtain. Public sentiment had been 
formulated into law: the law contemplated "servants and slaves" 
as chattel property ; and the political economists of the Province 
saw in this species of property rich gains for the government. It 
was condition, circumstances, that made the servant or slave ; but 
at length it was nationality, color. 

When, on the threshold of the eighteenth century, "white 
indentured " servants were rapidly ceasing to exist under color 
or sanction of law, religious bigotry and ecclesiastical intolerance 
joined hands with the suj^porters of Negro slavery in a crusade ^ 

^ The following foim was used for a long time in Maryland for binding out a servant. 

This Indenture vtade the day of in the yeere of onr Soz'eratgne Lord 

AVw^ Charles, ^^tr. betwecne of the one party, and on ihe other party, 

Witnesseth, that the said doth hereby covenayit promise, and grants to and with the 

said his Executors and Assignes, to serve him from the day of the date hereof, vntill 

hisfirst and next arrivall in Mar^dand; and after for and during the tear me of yeeres, 

in such service and imployment, as the said or his assignes shall there imploy him, 

according to the custome of the Countrey in the like kind. In consideration whereof, the said 
doth promise and grant, to and 7viih the said to pay for his passing, and to 

find him -with Meat, Drinke, Apparell and Lodging, rvith other necessaries during the said terme; 
and at the end of the said terme , to give him one whole yeeres provision of Come, and fifty acres of 
Land, according to ihe order of ihe countrey. In 7vitnesse whereof, ihe said hath 

hereunto put his hand and seale, the day and yeere above ivritten. 

Sealed and delivered in ihe presence of 

— Relation of the state of Maryland, pp. 62, 63. 

^ Modern Traveller, vol. i. pp. 122, 123. 



THE COLOXY OF MARYLAND. 243 

against the Irish Catholics. In 1704 the Legislature passed ''An 
Act imposing th'cc pence per gallon on mm and zviiu; brandy and 
spirits, and tzvcnty shillings per poll for negroes, for raising a 
supply to defray the public charge of this province, and tzvcnty shil- 
lings, per poll, on Irish servants, to prevent the importing too great 
a number of Irish papist into this province." Although this Act 
was intended to remain on the statute-books only three years, 
its life was prolonged by a supplemental Act, and it disgraced the 
colony for twenty-one years. As in New York, so here, the gov- 
ernment regarded the slave and Papist with feelings of hatred and 
fear. The former was only suited to a condition of perpetual 
bondage, the latter to be ostracized and driven out from before 
the face of the exclusive Protestants of that period. Both were 
cruelly treated ; one on account of his face, the other on account 
of his faith. 

" Unfortunately for the profcssor.s of the Catliolic religion, by the force of 
circumstances which it is not necessary to detail, their religious persuasions 
became identified, in the public mind, with opposition to the principles of the 
revolution. Their political disfranchisement was the consequence. Charles 
Calvert, the deposed proprietary, shared the common fate of his Catholic 
brethren. Sustained and protected by the crown in the enjoyment of his mere 
private rights, the general jealousy of Catholic power denied him the govern- 
ment of the province." ' 

A knowledge of the antecedents of the master-class will aid 
the reader to a more accurate conception of the character of the 
institution of slavery in the colony of Maryland. 

It is not very pleasing for the student of history at this time 
to remember that the British colonies in North America received 
into their early life the worst poison of European society, — the 
criminal element. From the first the practice of transporting 
convicts into the colonies obtained. And, during the reign of 
George I., statutes were passed "authorizing transportation as a 
commutation punishment for clergyable felonies." These con- 
victs were transported by private shippers, and then sold into 
the colony; and thus it became a gainful entcrp'-isc. From 1700 
until 1760 this nefarious and pestiferous traflic greatly increased. 
At length it became, as already indicated, the subject of a special 
impost tax. Three or four hundred convicts were imported into 
the colony annually, and the people began to complain.^ In "The 

' McXIahon's Maryland, vol. i. p. 2-S. - ist Pitkin's United States, p. 133. 



244 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Maryland Gazette" of the 30th of July, 1767, a writer attempted 
to show that the convict element was not to be despised, but was 
rather a desirable addition to the Province. He says, — 

" I suppose that for these last thirty years, communibus annis, there have 
been at least 600 convicts per year imported into this province : and these have 
probably gone into 400 families." 

After answering some objections to their importation because 
of the contagious diseases likely to be communicated by them, he 
further remarks, — 

"This makes at least 400 to one, that they do no injury to the country in 
the way complained of : and the people's continuing to buy and receive them 
so constant!)-, shows plainly the general sense of the country about the matter; 
notwithstanding a few gentlemen seem so angry that convicts are imported 
here at all, and would, if they could, by spreading this terror, prevent the peo- 
ple's buying them, I confess I am one, says he, who think a young country 
cannot be settled, cultivated, and improved, without people of some sort : and 
that it is much better for the country to receive convicts than slaves. The 
wicked and bad amongst them, that come into this province, mostly run away 
to the northward, mix with their people, and pass for honest men: wliilst those 
more innocent, and who came for very small offences, serve their times out 
here, behave well, and become useful people," 

This attempt to justify the convict trade elicited two able 
and spirited replies over the signatures of " Philanthropos " and 
" C. D." appearing in "Green's Gazette" of 20th of August, 
1767, in which the writer of the first article is handled "with the 
gloves off," 

" His remarks [says Philanthropos] remind me of the observation of a 
great pliilosopher, who alleges that there is a certain race of men of so selfish 
a cast, that they would even set a neighbour's house on fire, for the con- 
venience of roasting an egg at the blaze. That these are not the reveries of 
fanciful speculatists, the author now under consideration is in a great measure 
a proof; for who, but a man swayed with the most sordid selfishness, would 
endeavor to disarm the people of all caution against such imminent danger, 
lest their just apprehensions should interfere with his little schemes of profit.' 
And who but such a man would appear publicly as an advocate for the impor- 
tation of felons, the scourings of jails, and the abandoned outcasts of the 
British nation, as a mode in any sort eligible for peopling a young country ? " 

In another part of his reply he remarks, — 

" In confining the indignation because of their importation to a few, and 
representing that the general sense of the people is in favor of this vile impor- 
tation, he is guilty of the most shameful misrepresentation and the grossest 



THE COLONY OF MARYLAND. 245 

calumny upon the wliole province. What opinion must our mother country, 
and our sister colonies, entertain of our virtue, when they see it confidently 
asserted in the Maryland Gazette, that we are fond of peopling our country 
with the most abandoned profligates in the universe? Is this the way to purge 
ourselves from that false and bitter reproach, so commonly thrown upon us, 
that lue are tin descendants of convicts? As far as it has lain in my way to 
be acquainted with the general sentiments of the people upon this subject, I 
solemnly declare, that the most discerning and judicious amongst them esteem 
it the greatest grievance imposed upon us by our mother country." 

The writer felt that a young country could not be settled 
" without people of some sort," and that it was better to secure 
" convicts than slaves." Upon what grounds precisely this de- 
fender of buying convict labor based his conclusion that he would 
rather have "convicts than slaves " is not known. It could not 
have been that he believed the convicts of lingland more indus- 
trious or skilful than Negro slaves .' Or, had he theoretical objec- 
tions to slavery as a permanent institution .' Perhaps the writer 
had himself graduated from the criminal class ! But there were 
gentlemen who differed with him, and couched their objections 
to the convict system of importation in very vigorous English. 
On the 20th of August, 1767, two articles appeared in " Greene's 
Gazette." Says one of these writers, — 

" For who, but a man swayed with the most sordid selfishness, would 
endeavor to disarm the people of all caution against such imminent danger, 
lest their just apprehensions should interfere with his little schemes of profit? 
And who but such a man would appear publicly as an advocate for the impor- 
tation of felons, the scourings of jails, and the abandoned outcasts of the 
British nation, as a mode in any sort eligible for peopling a young country?" 

There can be no doubt but that many of the convicts thus 
imported, having served out their time, in a brief season became 
slave-drivers and slave-owners. With hearts reduced to flinty 
hardness in the fires of unrestrained passions, the convict element, 
as it became absorbed in the great free white population of the 
Province," created a most positive sentiment in favor of a cruel 
code for the government of the Negro slave. There were two 
motives that inspired the ex-convict to cruelty to the Negro : to 

* McMalione says of this convict element: "The pride of this age revolts at the idea of 
going back to such as these, for the roots of a genealogical tree ; and they, whose delight it would 
be, to trace their blood through many generations of stupid, sluggish, imbecile ancestors, with no 
claim to merit but the name tliey carry down, will even submit to be called ' nmi homtius,' if a 
convict stand in the line of ancestry." 



246 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

divert attention from himself, and to persuade himself, in his 
doubting mind, that the Negro was inferior to him by nature. It 
was, no doubt, a great undertaking ; but the findings of such a 
court must have been comforting to an anxious conscience ! The 
result can be judged. Maryland made a slave-code, which, for 
cruelty and general iidiumanity, has no equal in the South.' The 
Maryland laws of 171 5 contained, in chapter forty-four, an act 
with one hundred and thirty-five sections relating to Negro slaves. 
A most rigorous pass-system was established. By section si.x, no 
Negro or other servant was allowed to leave the county without 
a pass under the seal of the county in which their master resided ; 
for which pass the slave or other servant was compelled to pay 
ten pounds of tobacco, or one shilling in money. If such persons 
were apprehended, a justice of the peace could impose such fines 
and inflict such punishment as were fixed by the law applying to 
runaways. By the Act of 1723, chapter fifteen, under the caption of 
^' An Act to prevent the tunuiltuoics meeting and otJicr irregnlarities 
of negroes and other slaves" the severity of the laws was increased 
tenfold. According to section four, a Negro or other slave who 
had the temerity to strike a white person, was to have his ears 
''■crept on order of a jfnstiee." Section six denies slaves the right 
of possession of property : they could not own cattle. Section 
seven gave authority to any white man to kill a Negro who resisted 
an attempt to arrest him ; and by a supplemental Act of 175 1, chap- 
ter fourteen, the owner of a slave thus killed was to be paid out of 
the public treasury. In 1729 an Act was passed providing, that 
upon the conviction of certain crimes, Negroes and other slaves 
shall be not only hanged, but the body should be quartered, and 
exposed to public view. When slaves grew old and infirm in the 
service of their masters, and the latter were inspired by a desire to 
compliment the faithfulness of their servants by emancipation, 
the law came in and forbade manumission by the " last will or 
testament," or the making free in any way of Negro slaves. It 
was a temporary Act, passed in 1752, void of every element of 
humanity ; and yet it stood as the law of the colony for twenty 
long years. 

In 1748 the Negro population of Maryland was thirty-six 
thousand, and still rapidly increasing. 



' With perhaps the single exception of Soutli Carohna, of which the reader will learn more 
farther on. 



THE COLONY OF MARYLAXD. 



H7 



" By a ' very accurate census,' taken tliis year, this was found to be the 
number of white inhabitants in Maryland; — 





FREE. 


SERVANTS. 


CONVI'!'; 


TOTAL. 


Men . . . 


:4,05s 


3,576 


'.507 


29,141 


Women . . 


23.5=' 


1,824 


3S6 


25,73' 


Boys . . . 


26,637 


1,04s 


67 


27,752 


Girls . . . 


24,141 


422 


21 


2^,5S4 




98,357 


6,870 


1,981 


107,208 



" By the same account the total number of mulattoes in Maryland 
amounted to 3,592 ; and the total number of Negroes, to 42,764. Pres. Stiles' 
MS. It was reckoned (say the authors of Univ. Hist.), that above 2,000 Negro 
slaves were annually imported into Maryland." ' 

In 1756 the blacks had increased to 46,225, and in 1761 to 
49,675. There was nothing in the laws to prohibit the instruction 
of Negroes, and yet no one dared to bra\"e public sentiment on 
that point. The churches gave no attention or care to the slaves. 
During the first half or three-quarters of a century there was an 
indiscriminate mingling and marrying among the Negroes and 
white servants ; and, although this was forbidden by rigid statutes, 
it went on to a considerable extent. The half-breed, or Mulatto, 
population increased;^ and so did the number of free Negroes. 
The contact of these two elements — of slaves and convicts — 
was neither prudent nor healthy. The Negroes suffered from the 
touch of the moral contagion of this effete matter driven out of 
European society. Courted as rather agreeable companions by the 
convicts at first, the Negro slaves were at length treated worse by 
the e.x-convicts than by the most intelligent and opulent slave- 
dealers in all the Province. And with no rights in the courts, 
incompetent to hold an office of any kind, the free Negroes were 
in almost as disagreeable a situation as the slaves. 

From the founding of the colony of Maryland in 1632 down 
to the Revolutionary War, there is no record left us that any effort 
was ever made to cure the most glaring evils of slavery. For the 
Negro this was one long, starless night of oppression and out- 



' American Annals. 

' Dr. Holmes ^ys, " The total number of mulattoes in Mar)'land amounted to 3,592," in :755. 



248 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

rage. No siren's voice whispered to him of a distant future, 
propitious and gracious to hearts almost insensible to a throb of 
joy, to minds unconscious of the feeblest rays of light. Being 
absolute property, it was the right of the master to say how much 
food, or what quantity of clothing, his slave should have. There 
were no rules by which a slave could claim the privilege of ceas- 
ing from labor at the close of the day. No, the master had the 
same right to work his slaves after nightfall as to drive his horse 
morning, noon, and night. Poor clothes, rough and scanty diet, 
wretched quarters, overworked, neglected in body and mind, the 
Negroes of Maryland had a sore lot. 

The Revolution was nearing. Public attention was largely 
occupied with the Stamp Act and preparations for hostilities. The 
Negro was left to toil on ; and, while at this time there was no 
legislation sought for slavery, there was nothing done that could 
be considered hostile to the institution. The Negroes hailed the 
mutterings of the distant thunders of revolution as the precursor 
of a new era to them. It did furnish an opportunity for them in 
Maryland to prove themselves patriots and brave soldiers. And 
how far their influence went to mollify public sentiment concern- 
ing them, will be considered in its appropriate place. Suffice it 
now to say, that cruel and hurtful, unjust and immoral, as the 
institution of slavery was, it had not robbed the Negro of a lofty 
conception of the fundamental principles that inspired white 
men to resist the arrogance of England ; nor did it impair bis 
enthusiasm in the cause that gave birth to a new republic amid 
the shock of embattled arms. 



THE COLONY OF DELAWARE. 249 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE COLONY OF DELAWARE. 
1636-1775. 

The Territory of Delaware settled m Part bv Swedes and Danes, Anterior to the Year 
1638. — Thr Duke of York transfers the Territory of Delaware to William Penn. — 
Penn grants the Colony the Privilege of Separate Government. — Slavery introduced 
ON the Delaware as early as 1636. — Complaint against Peter Alricks for using Oxen 
AND Negroes belonging to the Company. — The First Legislation on the Slavery 
Question in the Colony. — An Enactment of a Law for the Better Regulation of 
Servants. — An Act restraining Manumission. 

ANTERIOR to the year 1638, the territory now occupied by 
the State of Delaware was settled in part by Swedes and 
Danes. It has been recorded of them that they early 
declared that it was "not lawful to buy and keep slaves." ' But 
the Dutch claimed the territory. When New Netherlands was 
ceded to the Duke of York, Delaware was occupied by his repre- 
sentatives. On the 24th of August, 1682, the Duke transferred 
that territory to William Penn.^ But in 1703 Penn surren- 
dered the old form of government, and gave the Delaware 
counties the privilege of a separate administration under the 
Charter of Privileges. Delaware inaugurated a legislature, but 
remained under the Council and Governor of Pennsylvania. But 
slavery made its appearance on the Delaware as early as 1636.3 

"At this early period there .ippears to have been slavery on the Delaware. 
As one Coinclisse was 'condemned, on the 3d of February, to serve the 
company witli the blacks on South River for wounding a soldier at Fort 
Amsterdam. He was also to pay a fine to the fiscal, and damages to the 
wounded soldier.' On the 22d, a witness testifying in the case of Governor 
Van Twiller, (the governor of New Neitherlands before Kieft,) who was 
charged with neglect and mismanagement of the company's affairs, said that 

^ Dr. Stevens, in his History of Georgia, vol. i. p. 2SS, says, *' In the Swedish and German 
colony, which Gustavus .Adolphus planted in Delaware, and which in many points resembled the 
plans of the Trustees, negro servitude was disallowed." But he gives no authority, I regret. 

- See Laws of Delaware, vol. i. Appendix, pp. 1-4. ^ .\Ibany Records, vol. ii. p. 10. 



250 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

' he Iiad in his custody for Van Twiller, at Fort Hope and Nassau, twenty-four 
to thirty goats, and that tliree negroes bought by the director in 1636, were since 
employed in his private service.' Thus it will be seen that slavery was intro- 
duced on the Delaware as early as 1636, though probably not in this State, as 
the Dutch at that time had no settlement here." ' 

And on the 15th of September, 1657, complaint was made 
that Peter Ahicks had " used the company's oxen and negroes ; " 
thus showing that there were quite a number of Negroes in the 
colony at the time mentioned. In September, 1661, there was a 
meeting between Calvert, D'Hinoyossa, Peter Alricks, and two 
Indian chiefs, to negotiate terms of peace. At this meeting the 
Marylanders agreed to furnish the Dutch annually three thousand 
hogsheads of tobacco, provided the Dutch would " supply them 
with negroes and other commodities." - Negroes were numerous, 
and an intercolonial trafific in slaves was established. 

The first legislation on the slavery question in the colony of 
Delaware was had in 1721. "An Act foi- the trial of Negro cs" 
provided that two justices and si.\ freeholders should have full 
power to try " negro and mulatto slaves " for heinous offences. 
In case slaves were executed, the Assembly paid the owner two- 
thirds the value of such slave. It forbade convocations of slaves, 
and made it a misdemeanor to carry arms. During the same 
year an Act was passed punishing adultery and fornication. In 
case of children of a white woman by a slave, the county coiut 
bound them out until they were thirty-one years of age. In 1739 
the Legislature passed an Act for the better regulation of servants 
and slaves, consisting of si.xteen articles. It provided that no 
indentured servant should be sold into another government with- 
out the approval of at least one justice. Such servant could 
not be assigned over except before a justice. If a person 
maniunitted a slave, good security was required : if he failed to 
do this, the manumission was of no avail. If free Negroes did 
not care for their children, they were liable to be bound out. In 
1767 the Legislature passed another Act restraining manumission. 
It recites : — 

" Section 2. And be it enacted by the honorable fobn Penn, esq. with his 
Majesty's royal approbation., Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief of 
the counties of Neiv-Castle, Kent and Sussex, upon Delaware, and province of 
Pennsylvania, under the honorable Tliomas Penn and Richard Penn, esquires, 

^ Vincent's History of Del.'wvare, ji. 159. - Ibid., p. 3S1. 



THE COLONY OF DELAWARE. 251 

true and absolute proprietaries of the said counties and province, by and luitk 
the advice and consent of the Representatives of the freemen of the said coun- 
ties, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same. That if any 
master or mistress shall, by will or otherwise, discharge or set free any Mulatto 
or Negro slave or slaves ; he or she, or his or her executors or administrators, 
at the next respective County Court of Quarter Sessions, shall enter into a 
recognizance with sufficient sureties, to be taken in the name of the Treasurer 
of the said county for the time being, in the sum of Sixty Pounds for each slave 
so set free, to indemnify the county from any charge they or any of them may 
be unto the same, in case of such Negro or Mulattoe's being sick, or otherwise 
rendered incapable to support him or herself; and that until such recognizance 
be given, no such Negro or Mulatto shall be deemed free." ' 

The remainder of the slave code in this colony was like unto 
those of the other colonics, and therefore need not be described. 
Negroes had no rights, ecclesiastical or political. They had no 
property, nor could tliey conimunicatc a relation of any character. 
They had no religious or secular training, and none of the bless- 
ings of home life. Goaded to the performance of the most severe 
tasks, their only audible reply was an occasional growl. It sent a 
feeling of terror through their inhuman masters, and occasioned 
them many ugly dreams. 

' Laws of Delaware, vol. i. p. 436. 



252 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 
1646-I775. 

The Founding of Connecticut, 1631-36. — No Reliable Data given for the Introduction of 
Slaves. — Negroes were first introduced dv Ship during the Early Years of the 
Colony. — " Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations." — Interrogating the 
Governor as to the Number of Negroes in the Colony in 1680. — The Legislature 
(1690) passes a Law pertaining to the Purchase and Treatment of Slaves and Free 
Persons. — An Act passed by the General Court in 1711, requiring Persons manumitting 
Slaves to maintain them. — Regulating the Social Conduct of Slaves in 1723. — The 
Punishment of Negro, Indian, and Mulatto Slaves, for the Use of Profane Language, 
in 1630. — Lawfulness of Indian and Negro Slavery recognized by Code, Sept. 5, 1646. 
— Limited Rights of Free Negroes in the Colony. — Negro Population in 1762. — Act 
ag,\inst Import.\tion of Sl.\ves, 1774. 

ALTHOUGH the colony of Connecticut was founded between 
the years 1631 and 1636, there are to be found no reliable 
data by which to fi.x the time of the introduction of slavery 
there." Lil^e the serpent's entrance into the Garden of Eden, 
slavery entered into this colony stealthily; and its power for evil 
was discovered only when it had become a formidable social and 
jDolitical element. Vessels from the West Coast of Africa, from 
the West Indies, and from Barbadoes, landed Negroes for sale in 
Connecticut during the early years of its settlement. And for 
many years slavery existed here, without sanction of law, it is 
true, but perforce of custom. Negroes were bought as laborers 
and domestics, and it was a long time before their number called 
for special legislation. But, like a cancer, slavery grew until there 
was not a single colony in North America that could boast of its 
ability to check the dreadful curse. When the first slaves were 
introduced into this colony, can never be known ; but, that there 
were Negro slaves from the beginning, we have the strongest 



^ In the Capital Laws of Connecticut, passed on the ist of December, 1642, the tenth law 
reads as follows . "10. If any man stealeth a man or mankind, he shall be put to death. Ex. 
21 16." But this was the law in Massachusetts, and yet slavery existed there for one hundred and 
forty-three (143) years. 



THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 



= 3.i 



historical presumption. For nearly two decades there was no 
reference made to slavery in the records of the colony. 

In i6So "the Committee for Trade and Foreign Plantations" 
addressed to the governors of the North-American plantations or 
colonies a series of questions. Among the twenty-seven ques- 
tions put to Gov. Leete of Connecticut, were two referring to 
Negroes. The questions were as follows : — 

"17. What number of English, Scotch, Irish or Forreigners have (for 
these seaven yeares last past, or any other space of time) come yearly to plant 
and inhabit within your Corporation. And also, what Blaclvs and Slaves liave 
been brought in within the said time, and att what rates ? 

" 18. What number of Whites, Blacks or Mulattos have been born and 
cliristeneJ, for these seaven yeares last past, or any other space of time, for as 
many yeares as you are able to state on account of ? " ' 

To these the governor replied as follows : — 

" 17. Answ. For English, Scotts and Irish, tlicre are so few come in that 
we cannot give a certain acco'- Som yeares come none ; sometimes, a famaly 
or two, in a year. And for Blacks, there comes sometimes 3 or 4 in a year 
from Barbadoes ; and they are sold usually at the rate of 22''- a piece, some- 
times more and sometimes less, according as men can agree with the master of 
vessells, or merchants that bring them hither. 

" iS. Answ. We can give no acco' of the perfect number of either born; 
but fewe blacks; and but two blacks christened, as we know of."^ 

It is evident that the number of slaves was not great at this 
time, and that they were few and far between. The sullen and 
ofttimcs revengeful spirit of the Indians had its effect upon the 
few Negro slaves in the colony. Sometimes they were badly 
treated by their masters, and occasionally they would run away. 
The country was new, the settlements scattered ; and slavery as 
an institution, at this time and in this colony, in its infancy. The 
spirit of insubordination among the slave population seemed to 
call aloud for legislative restriction. In October, 1690, the Legis- 
lature passed the following bill : — 

" Whereas many persons of this Colony doe for their necessary use pur- 
chase negroe seruants, and often times the sayd seruants run away to the great 
wronge, damage and disapoyntment of their masters and owners, for preven- 
tion of which for [221] the future, as much as || may be, it is ordered Ijy this 
Court that Whateuer negroe or negroes shall hereafter, at any time, be fownd 
wandring out of the towne bownds or place to which they doe belong, without 



' Conn. Col. Recs., i6;S-S9, p. 293. - Ibid., p. 29S. 



2 54 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

a ticket or pass from the autliority, or their masters or owners, shall be stopt 
and secured by any of the inhabitants, or such as shall meet with them, and 
brought before the next authority to be examined and returned to their owners, 
who shall sattisfy for the charge if any be ; and all ferrymen within this Colony 
are hereby required not to suffer any negroe without such certificate, to pass 
ouer their ferry by assisting them therein, upon the penalty of twenty shillings, 
to be payd as a tine to the county treasury, and to be leuyed upon theire estates 
for non-payment in way of distresse by warrant from any one Assistant or 
Comr- This order to be obserued as to vagrant and susspected persons fownd 
wandring from town to town, haueing no passes ; such to be seized for exami- 
nation and farther disspose by the authority ; and if any negroes are free and 
for themselues, trauelling without such ticket or certificate, they to bear the 
charge themselues of their takeing up." ' 

The general air of complaint that pervades the above bill leaus 
to the conclusion that it was required by an alarming state of 
affairs. The pass-system was a copy from the laws of the older 
colonies where slavery had long existed. By implication free 
Negroes had to secure from the proper authorities a certificate of 
freedom ; and the bill required them to carry it, or pay tlie cost 
of arrest. 

One of the most pal]3able ex'idences of the humanit)' of the 
Connecticut government was the following act passed in May. 
1702 ; — 

'• Whereas it is observed that some persons in this Colonie having pur- 
chased Negro or Malatta Servants or Slaves, after they have spent the princi- 
pal! part of their time and strength in their masters service, doe sett them at 
liberty, and the said slaves not being able to provide necessaries for themselves 
may become a charge and burthen to the towns wliere they have served: for 
prevention whereof, 

" It is ordered and enacted by this Court and the authority thereof: That 
every person in this Colonie that now is or hereafter shall be owner of a negro 
or mulatta servant or slave, and after some time of his or her being taken into 
imployment in his or her service, shall sett such servant or slave at liberty to 
provide for him or herselfe, if afterwards such servant or slave shall come to 
want, every such servant shall be relieved at the onely cost and charge of the 
jjerson in whose service he or she was last reteined or taken, and by whome 
sett at liberty, or at the onely cost and charge of his or lier heirs, executors or 
administrators, any law, usage or custome to the contrary notwithstanding."' = 

]\Iassachusetts had acted and did act very cowardly about this 
matter. But Connecticut showed great wisdom and humanity in 
making a just and equitable provision for such poor and decrepit 
slaves as might find themselves turned out to charity after a long 

' Conn. Col. Recs., 16S9-1706, p. 40. ' ^ Ibid., ]0S9-i/-o6, pp. 375, 376. 



THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 255 

life of unrequited toil. Slavery was in itself " the sum of all vil- 
lanies," — the blackest curse that ever scourged the earth. To 
buy and sell human beings ; to tear from the famishing breast of 
the mother her speechless child ; to separate the liusband from 
the wife of his heart ; to wring riches from the un[)aid toil of 
human beings ; to tear down the family altar, anil let lecherous 
beasts, who claim the name of " Christian," run over defenceless 
womanhood as swine over God's altar! — is there any thing worse, 
do you ask } Yes ! To work a human being from youth to old 
age, to appropriate the labor of that being exclusively, to rob it 
of the blessings of this life, to poison every domestic charity, to 
fetter the intellect by the power of fatal ignorance, to withhold 
the privileges of the gospel of love ; and then, when the hollow 
cough comes under an inclement sky, when the shadows slant, 
when the hand trembles, when the gait is shuffling, when the car 
is deaf, the eye dim, when desire failcth, — then to turn that 
human being out to die is by far the profoundest crime man can 
be guilty of in his dealings with mankind ! And slavery had so 
hardened men's hearts, that the above act was found to be neces- 
sary to teach the alphabet of human kindness. No wonder human 
forbearance was strained to its greatest tension when masters, 
thus liberating their slaves, assumed the lofty air of humanitarians 
who had actually done a noble act in manumitting a slave ! 

In 1708 the General Court was called upon to legislate against 
the commercial communion that had gone on between the slaves 
and free persons in an unrestricted manner for a long time. 
Slaves would often steal articles of household furniture, wares, 
clothing, etc., and sell them to white persons. And, in order to 
destroy the ready market this wide-spread klc[)tomania found, an 
Act was passed making it a misdemeanor for a free person to pur- 
chase any article from slaves. It is rather an interesting law, and 
is quoted in full. 

"Whereas divers rude and evil minded persons for the sake of filthie lucre 
do frequently receive from Indians, malattoes and negro servants, money and 
goods stolen or obteined by other indirect and unlawful means, thereby incour- 
aging such servants to steal from their masters and others ; for redress 
whereof, 

[35] Be it enacted by the Govcriioiir, Council and Representatives, in 
General Court assembled, and by the authoritie of the same, That every free 
person whomsoever, which shall presume either openly or privately to buy 
or receive of or from any Indian, molato or negro servant or slave, any goods, 
money, merchandize, wares, or provisions, without order from the master or 



256 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

mistress of such servant or slave, every person so offending and being thereor 
convicted, shall be sentenced to restore all such money, goods, wares, merchan- 
dizes, or provisions, unto the partie injured, in specie, (if not altered,) and also 
forfeit to the partie double the value thereof over and above, or treble the value 
where the same are disposed of or made away. And if the person so offend- 
ing be unable, or shall not make restitution as awarded, then to be openly 
whipt with so many stripes (not exceeding twentie,) as the court or justices 
that have cognizance of such offence shall order, or make satisfaction by ser- 
vice. And the Indian, negro, or molalto servant or slave, of or from whom 
such goods, money, wares, merchandizes or provisions shall be received or 
bought, if it appear to be stolen, or that shall steal any money, goods, or chat- 
tells, and be thereof convicted, although the buyer or receiver be not found, 
shall be punished by whipping not exceeding thirtie stripes, and the money, 
goods or chattels shall be restored to the partie injured, if it be found. And 
every assistant and justice of peace in the countie where such offence is com- 
mitted, is hereby authorized to hear and determine all offences against this law, 
provided the damage e.xceed not the sum of fortie shillings." > 

On the same clay another act was passed, charging that as 
Mulatto and Negro slaves had become muiierotis in parts of the 
colony, destined to become insubordinate, abusive of white peo- 
ple, etc., and is as follows : — 

"And whereas negro and molatto servants or slaves are become numerous 
in some parts of tliis Colonie, and are very apt to be turbulent, and often quar- 
relling with white people to the great disturbance of the peace : 

" // IS tlicrcfore ordered and enacted by the Governoiir, Council and Repre- 
sentatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authoritie of the same. That 
if any negro or malatto servant or slave disturb the peace, or shall offer to 
strike any white person, and be thereof convicted, such negro or malatto ser- 
vant or slave shall be punished by whipping, at the discretion of the court, 
assistant, or justice of the peace that shall have cognizance thereof, not e.xceed- 
ing thirtie stripes for one offence." 2 

In 171 1 the General Court of Connecticut Colony signally dis- 
tinguished itself by the passage of an act in harmony with that of 
1702. Il was found that indentured servants as well as slaves 
had been made the victims of the cruel policy of turning slaves 
and servants out into the world without means of support after 
they had become helpless, or had served out their time. This 
class of human beings had been cast aside, like a squeezed lemon, 
to be trodden under the foot of men. The humane and thought- 
fid men of the colony demanded a remedy at law, and it came in 
the following admirable bill : — 

' Conn. Col. Recs., 1706-16, p. 52. - Ibki., pp. 52, 53. 



THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 257 

"An Act relating to Slaves, and such in particular as shall happen to 
become Servants for Time. 

" It is ordered and enac/c-ii by /he Gover?toiir, Council and /Representatives, 
in General Court assetnbled, and by the authority of the same. That all slaves 
set at liberty by their owners, and all negro, malatto, or Spanish Indians, who 
are servants to masters for time, in case they come to want, after they shall be 
so set at liberty, or the time of their said service be expired, shall be relieved 
by such owners or masters respectively, their heirs, executors, or administra- 
tors ; and upon their, or cither of their refusal so to do, the said slaves and 
servants shall be relieved by the selectmen of the towns to which they belon", 
and the said selectmen shall recover of the said owners or masters, their heirs, 
executors, or administrators, all the charge and cost they were at fur such 
relief, in the usual manner as in the case of any other debts." ' 

111 1723 an Act was pas.secl regulating the social conduct, and 
restricting the personal rights, of slaves. The slaves were quite 
numerous at this time, and hence the colonists decmctl it proper 
to secure repressive legislation. It is strange how anticipatory 
the colonies were during the zenith of the slavery institution ! 
They were always expecting something of the slaves. No doubt 
they thought that it would be but the normal action of goaded 
humanity if the slaves should rise and cut their masters' throats. 
The colonists lived in mortal dread of their slaves, and the cliar- 
acter of the legislation was but the thermometer of their fear. 
This Act was a slight indication of the unrest of the people of 
this colony on the slavery question : — 

"[37''] ■-^>>' Act to prevent the Disorder of Negro and In'dia.n Ser- 
vants AND Slaves in the Xight Season. 

" Be it enacted by the Governour, Council and Representatives, in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That fiom and after the 
publication of this act, if any negro or Indian servant or slave shall be found 
abroad from home in the night season, after nine of the clock, without special 
order from his or their master or mistress, it shall be lawful for any person or 
persons to apprehend and secure such negro or Indian servant or slave so 
oflending, and him or them bring before the next assistant or justice of peace; 
which assistant or justice of peace shall have full power to pass sentence upon 
such negro or Indian servant or slave so offending, and order him or them to 
be publickly whipt on his or their naked body, not exceeding ten stripes, and 
pay cost of court, except his or their master or mistress shall redeem them by 
paying a fine not exceeding twenty shillings. 

'■'■ And it is hereby enacted by tSie authority aforesaid. That if any such negro 
or Indian servant or slave as abovesaid shall have entertainment in any house 
after nine of the clock as aforesaid, except to do any business they may be sent 

* Conn. Col. Recs., 1706-16, p. 233. 



258 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

upon, the head of the family that entertaineth or tolerates them in his or their 
house, or any the dependencies thereof, and being convicted thereof before any 
one assistant or justice of the peace, who shall have power to hear and deter- 
mine the same, shall forfeit the sum of twenty shillings, one-half to the com- 
plainer and the other half to the treasury of the town where the offence is 
committed ; any law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding. And that it 
shall be the duty of the several grand-jurors and constables and tything-men, 
to make diligent enquiry into and present of all breaches of this act." ■ 

The laws regulating slavery in the colony of Connecticut, up 
to this time, had stood, and been faithfully enforced. There had 
been a few infractions of the law, but the guilty had been pun- 
ished. And in addition to statutory regulation of slaves, the refrac- 
tory ones were often summoned to the bar of public opinion and 
dealt with summarily. Individual owners of slaves felt themselves 
at liberty to use the utmost discretion in dealing with this species 
of their property. So on every hand the slave found himself 
scrutinized, suspicioned, feared, hated, and hounded by the entire 
community of whites who were by law a perpetual /oj'.fi? comitatiis. 
The result of too great vigilance and severe censorship was posi- 
tive and alarming. It made the slave desperate. It into.xicated 
him with a malice that would brook no restraint. It is said that 
the use of vigorous adjectives and strong English is a relief to 
one in moments of trial. But even this was denied the oppressed 
slaves in Connecticut; for in May, 1730, a bill was passed punish- 
ing them for using strong language. 

"An Act for the PunishiMent of Negroes, Indian and Molatto 
Slaves, for speaking Defamatory Words. 
" Be it enacted by the Governou)\ Cauttcil and Reprcsentath'es^ in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same. That if any Negro, Indian 
or Molatto slave shall utter, publish and speak such words of any person that 
would by law be actionable if the same were uttered, published or spoken by 
any free person of any other, such Negro, Indian or Molatto slave, being thereof 
convicted before any one assistant or justice of the peace, (who are hereby im- 
powred to hear and determine the same.) shall be punished by whipping, at 
the discretion of the assistant or justice before whom the tryal is, (respect being 
had to the circumstances of the case,) not e.vceeding forty stripes. And the 
said slave, so convict, shall be sold to defray all charges arising thereb)-, unless 
the same be by his or their master or mistress paid and answered, &c." = 

The above act is the most remarkable document in this period 
of its kind. And yet there are two noticeable features in it : viz., 

' Conn. Col. Recs., 1717-25, pp. 390, 391. - Ibid., 1726-35, p. 290. 



THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 259 

the slave is to be proceeded against tlie same as if he were a free 
person ; and he was to be entitled to offer evidence, enter his plea, 
and otherwise defend himself against the charge. This was more 
than was allowed in any of the other colonics. 

On the 9th of September, 1730, (iov. J. Talcott, in a letter to 
the "Board of Trade," said that there were "about 700 Indian 
and Negro slaves " in the colony. The most of these were Negro 
slaves. For on the 8th of July, 1715, a proclamation was issued 
by the governor against the importation of Indians ; ' and on 
the 13th of October, 171 5, a bill was passed "prohibiting the Im- 
portation or bringing into " the colony any Indian slaves. It was 
an e.xact copy of the Act of May, 1712, passed in the colony of 
Massachusetts. 

The colony of Connecticut never established slavery by direct 
statute ; but in adopting a code which was ordered by the General 
Court of Hartford to be "copied by the secretary into the book of 
public records," it gave the institution legal sanction. This code 
was signed on the 5th of September, 1646. It recognized the 
lawfulness of Indian and Negro slavery. This was done under 
the confederacy of the " United Colonies of New England." - 
For some reason the part of the code recognizing slavery is 
omitted from the revised laws of 17 15. In this colony, as in 
Massachusetts, only members of the church, "and living within 
the jurisdiction," could be admitted to the rights of freemen. In 
1715 an Act was passed requiring persons who desired to become 
"freemen of this corporation," to secure a certificate from the 
selectmen that they were " persons of quiet and peaceable 
behavior and civil conversation, of the age of twenty-one years, 
and freeholders." This provision exxluded all free Negroes. It 
was impossible for one to secure such a certificate. Public senti- 
ment alone would have frowned upon such an innovation upon the 
customs and manners of the Puritans. On the 17th of May, 1660, 
the following Act was passed : " It is ordered by this court, that 
neither Indian nor negar serv" shall be required to traine, watch 
or ward in the Collo : " 3 

To determine the status of the Negro here, this Act was neces- 
sary. He might be free, own his own labor ; but if the law ex- 
cluded him from the periodical musters and trainings, fron; the 

' Conn. Col. Recs., 1706-16, pp. 515, 516. - Hazard, State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 1 6. 
^ Conn. Col. Kecs., vol. i. p. 349. 



26o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

church and civil duties, his freedom was a mere misnomer. It is 
difficult to define the rights of a free Negro in this colony. He 
was restricted in his relations with the slaves, and in his inter- 
course with white people was regarded with suspicion. If he had, 
in point of law, the right to purchase property, the general preju- 
dice that confronted him on every hand made his warmest friends 
judiciously conservative. There were no provisions made for 
his intellectual or spiritual growth. He was regarded by both 
the religious and civil government, under which he lived, as a 
heathen. Even his accidental conversion could not change his 
condition, nor mollify the feelings of the white Christians (.') about 
him. Like the wild animal, he was possessed with the barest 
privilege of getting something to eat. Beyond this he had noth- 
ing. Everywhere he turned, he felt the withering glance of a 
suspicious people. Prejudice and proscriptive legislation cast 
their dark shadows on his daily path ; and the conscious superiority 
of the whites consigned him to the severest drudgery for his daily 
bread. The recollection of the past was distressing, the trials 
and burdens of the present were almost unbearable, while the 
future was one shapeless horror to him. 

Perhaps the lowly and submissive acquiescence of the Negroes, 
bond and free, had a salutary effect upon the public mind. There 
is something awfully grand in an heroic endurance of undeserved 
pain. The white Christians married, and were given in marriage ; 
they sowed and gathered rich harvests ; they bought and built 
happy homes ; beautiful children were born unto them ; they built 
magnificent churches, and worshipped the true God : the present 
was joyous, and the future peopled with sublime anticipation. 
The contrast of these two peoples in their wide-apart conditions 
must have made men reflective. And added to this came the loud 
thunders of the Revolution. Connecticut had her orators, and 
they touched the public heart with the glowing coals of patriotic 
resolve. They felt the insecurity of their own liberties, and were 
now willing to pronounce in favor of the liberty of the Negroes. 
The inconsistency of asking for freedom, praying for freedom, fight- 
ing for freedom, and dying for freedom, when they themselves held 
thousands of human beings in bondage the most cruel the world 
ever knew, helped the cause of the slave. In 1762 the Negro popu- 
lation of this colony was four thousand five hundred and ninety.' 

' Pres. Stiles's MSS. 



THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 261 

Public sentiment was aroused on the slavery question ; and in Octo- 
ber, 1774, the following [irohibition was directed at slavery : — 

'■^ Act against importation of slaves — "No Indian, negro, or mulatto slave 
shall at any time hereafter be brought or imported into this State, by sea or land, 
from any place or places whatsoever, to be disposed of, left or sold, within this 
State." ' 

The above bill was brief, but pointed ; and showed that Con- 
necticut was the only one of the New-England colonies that had 
the honesty and courage to legislate against slavery. And the 
patriotism and incomparable valor of the Negro soldiers of Con- 
necticut, who proudly followed the Continental flag through the 
fires of the Revolutionary War, proved that they were worthy of 
the humane sentiment that demanded the Act of 1774. 

' Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. pp. 272, 273. 



262 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 

1647-I775. 

Colonial Government in Rhode Island, May, 1647. — An Act passed to abolish Slavery in 

1652, BUT WAS never enforced. — An AcT SPECIFVING WHAT TiMES INDIAN AND NeGRO SlAVES 
should NOT APPEAR IN THE STREETS. — An ImpOST-TaX ON SLAVES (1708;. — PENALTIES IMPOSED 

ON Disobedient Slaves. — Anti-Slavery Sentiment in the Colonies receives Little 
Encouragement. — Circular Letter from the Board of Trade to the Governor of the 
English Colonies Relative to Negro Slaves. — Governor Cranston's Reply. — List of 
Militia-Men, including White and Black Servants. — Another Letter from the Board 
OF Trade, — An Act preventing Clandestine Importations and Exportations of Pas- 
sengers, Negroes, or Indi,\n Slaves. — Masters of Vessels required to repokt the Names 
AND Number of Passengers to the Governor. — Violation of the Impost- Tax Law on 
Slaves punished by Severe Penalties. — Appropriation by the General Assembly, July 
5, 1715, FROM THE Fund derived fro.m the I.mpost-Tax, for the paving of the Streets of 
Newport. —An Act passed disposing of the Money raised by Impost-Tax, — Impost-Law 
repealed. May, 1732. — .\n Act relating to freeing Mulatto and Negro Slaves passed 
1728. — An Act passed preventing Masters of Vessels from carrying Slaves out of the 
Colony, June 17, 1757. — Eve of the Revolution. — An'^ Act^prohibiting Importation op 
Negroes into the Colony in 1774. — The Population of Rhode Island in 1730 and 1774. 

INDIVIDUAL Negroes vi-ere held in bondage in Rhode Island 
from the time of the formation of the colonial government 
there, in May, 1647, down to the close of the eighteenth 
century. Like her sister colonies, she early took the poison of 
the slave-traffic into her commercial life, and found it a most 
difficult political task to rid herself of it. The institution of 
slavery was never established by statute in this colony ; but it 
was so firmly rooted five years after the establishment of the 
government, that it required the positive and explicit prohibition 
of law to destroy it. On the 19th of May, 1652, the General 
Court passed the following Act against slavery. It is the earliest 
positive prohibition against slavery in the records of modern 
nations. 

" Whereas, tliere is a common course practiced amongst English men to 
buy negers, to that end they may have them for service or slaves forever; for 
the preventinge of such practices among us, let it be ordered, that no biacke 
mankind or white being forced by covenant bond, or otherwise, to serve any 
man or his assighnes longer than ten yeares, or until they come to bee twentie- 



THE COLONY OF R//0/)/-: JS/..L\1). 263 

four yeares of ago, if they bee talcen in under fourteen, from the time of their 
comingc within the lilierties of this Collonie. And at the end or terme of ten 
veares to sett them free, as the manner is with the English servants. And that 
man that will not let them goe free, or shall sell them away elsewhere, to that 
end that they may bee enslaved to others for a long time, hee or they shall for- 
feit to the Collonie forty pounds." ' 

The above law was admirable, but there was lacking the public 
sentiment to give it practical force in the colony. It was never 
repealed, and yet slavery flourished under it for a century and a 
half. Mr. Bancroft says, "The law was not enforced, but the 
principle lived among the people." - No doubt the principle lived 
among the people ; but, practically, they did but little towards 
emancipating their slaves until the Revolutionary War cloud broke 
over their homes. There is more in the statement Mr. Bancroft 
makes than the casual reader is likely to discern. 

The men who founded Rhode Island, or Providence Plantation 
as it was called early, were of the highest type of Christian gen- 
tlemen. They held advanced ideas on civil government and 
religious liberty. They realized, to the full, the enormity of the 
sinfulness of slavery ; but while they hesitated to strike down 
what many men pronounced a necessary social evil, it grew to be 
an institution that governed more than it could be governed. 
The institution was established. Slaves were upon the farms, in 
the towns, and in the families, of those who could afford to buy 
them. The population of the colony was small ; and to manumit 
the slaves in whom much money was invested, or to suddenly 
cut off the supply from without, was more than the colonists felt 
able to perform. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. 

For a half-century there was nothing done by the General 
Court to check or suppress the slave-trade, though the Act of 
1652 remained the law of the colony. The trade was not exten- 
sive. No vessels from Africa touched at Newport or Providence. 
The source of supply was Barbadoes ; and, occasionally, some 
came by land from other colonies. Little was said for or against 
slavery during this period. It was a question difficult to handle. 
The sentiment against it was almost unanimous. It was an evil ; 
but how to get rid of it, was the most important thing to be con- 
sidered. During this period of perplexity, there was an ominous 
silence on slavery. The conservatism of the colonists produced 

' R. I. Col. Recs., vol. i. p. 243. ' Bancroft, vol. i. 5th ed. p. 175. 



264 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the opposite in the Negro population. They began to think and 
talk about their "rights." The Act of 1652 had begun to bear 
fruit. At the expiration of ten years' service, slaves began to 
demand their freedom-papers. This set the entire Negro class in 
a state of expectancy. Their eagerness for liberty was inter- 
preted by the more timid among the whites as the signal for 
disorder. A demand was made for legislation that would curtail 
the personal liberties of the Negroes in the evening.?. It is well 
to produce the Act of Jan. 4, 1703, that the reader may see the 
similarity of the laws passed in the New-England colonies against 
Negroes : — 

"An Act to restrict negroes and Indians for walking in unseasonable 
times in the night, and at other times not allowable. 

"Voted, Be it enacted by this Assembly and the authority, thereof, and it 
is hereby enacted. If any negroes or Indians, either freemen, servants, or 
slaves, do walk in the streets of tlie town of Newport, or any other town in 
this Collony, after nine of the clock of the night, without a certificate from tlieir 
masters, or some English person of said family with them, or some lawfull 
excuse for the same, that it shall be lawfull for any person to take them up and 
deliver them to a Constable, to be secured, or see them secured, till the next 
morning, and then to be brought before some Justice of the Peace in said 
town, to be dealt withall, according to the recited Act, which said Justice shall 
cause said person or persons so offending, to be whipped at the publick whip- 
ping post in said town, not exceeding fifteen stripes upon their naked backs, 
except their incorrigible behavior require more. And all free negroes and free 
Indians to be under the same penalty, without a lawful excuse for their so 
being found walking in the streets after such unseasonable time of night. 

"And be it further enacted, All and every house keeper, within said town 
or towns or Collony, that shall entertain men's servants, either negroes or 
Indians, without leave of their masters or to whom they do belong, after said 
set time of the night before mentioned, and being convicted of the same before 
any one Justice of the Peace, he or they shall pay for each his defect five 
shillings in money, to be for the use of the poor in the town where the person 
lives ; and if refused to be paid down, to be taken by distraint by a warrant to 
any one Constable, in said town ; any Act to the contrary notwithstanding.'' ■ 

It is rather remarkable that this Act should prohibit free 
Negroes and free Indians from walking the streets after nine 
o'clock. In this particular this bill had no equal in any of the 
other colonies. This act seemed to be aimed with remarkable 
precision at the Negroes as a class, both bond and free. The 
influence of free Negroes upon the slaves had not been in har- 
mony with the condition of the latter ; and the above Act was 

' R. I. Col. Recs., vol. iii. pp. 492, 493. 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 265 

itUendcd as a reminder, in jmrt, to free Negroes and Indians. It 
went to show that there was but little meaning in the word " free," 
when placed before a Negro's name. No such restriction could 
have been placed upon the personal rights of a white colonist ; 
for, under the democratical government of the colony, a subject 
was greater than the government. No law could stand that was 
inimical to his rights as a freeman. But the free Negro had no 
remedy at law. He was literally between two conditions, bondage 
and freedom. 

Attention has been called to the fact, that the Act of 1652 was 
never enforced. In April, 1708, an Act, laying an impost-tax upon 
slaves imported into the colony, was passed which really gave 
legal sanction to the slave-trade.' The following is the Act re- 
ferred to : — 

" And it is fvirther enacted bv the authority aforesaid, that whereas, by an 
act o£ Assembly, in February last past, concerning the importing negroes,, one 
article of said act, e.xpressing that three pounds money shall be paid into the 
treasury for each negro imported into this colony ; but upon exporting such 
negro in time limited in said act, said three pounds were to be drawn out of the 
treasury again by the importer: 

" It is hereby enacted, that said sum for the future, shall not be drawn out, 
hut there continued for the use in said act expressed; any act to the contrary, 
notwithstanding." = 

The Act referred to as having passed " in February last past," 
cannot be found. 3 But, from the one cjuoted above, it is to be 
inferred that two objects were aimed at, viz. : First, under the 
codes of Massachusetts and Virginia, a drawback was allowed to 
an importer of a Negro who exported him within a stated time : the 
Rhode-Island Act of " February " had allowed importers this privi- 
lege. Second, notwithstanding the loiid-sounding Act of 1652, this 
colony was not only willing to levy an impost-ta.\ upon all slaves 
imported, but, in her greed for "blood money," even denied the 
importer the mean privilege, in exporting his slave, of drawing 
his rebate ! The consistency of Rhode Island must have been a 
jewel that the other colonies did not covet. 

The last section of the Act of 1703 was directed against "house 

' There is no law making the manufacturing of whiskey legal in the United States ; and yet 
the United-States government makes laws to regulate the business, and collects a revenue from it. 
It exists by and with the consent of the government, and, in a sense, is legal. 

- R. I. Col. Kecs., vol. iv. p. 34. 

' I have searched diligently for the Act of February, among the Rhode-Island Collections 
and Records, but have not found it. It was evidently more comprehensive than the atjove .\ct 



266 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

keepers," who were to be fined for entertaining Negro or Indian 
slaves after nine o'clock. In 170S another Act was passed, sup- 
plemental to the one of 1703, £jnd added stripes as a penalty for 
non-payment of fines. Many white persons in the larger towns 
had grown rather friendly towards the slaves ; and, even where 
they did not speak out in public against the enslavement of 
human beings, their hearts led them to the performance of many 
little deeds of kindness. They discovered many noble attributes 
in the Negro character, and were not backward in expressing their 
admiration. When summoned before a justice, and fined for 
entertaining Negroes after nine o'clock, they paid the penalty 
with a willingness and alacrity that alarmed the slave-holding 
caste. This was regarded as treason. Some could not pay the 
fine, and, hence, went free. The new Act intended to remedy 
this. It was as follows : — 

'■ An Act to prevent the entertainment of Negroes, &c. 

'• Whereas, there is a law in this colony to suppress any persons from 
entertaining of negro slaves or Indian ser\-ants that are not their own, in their 
houses, or unlawfully letting them have strong drink, whereby they were dam- 
nified, such persons were to pay a fine of five shillings, and so by that means 
go unpunished, there being no provision made [of] what corporeal punishment 
they should have, if they have not wherewith to pay : 

'■ Therefore, it is now enacted, that any such delinquent that shall so 
offend, if he or she shall not have or procure the sum of ten shillings for each 
defect, to be paid down before the authority before whom he or she hath been 
legally convicted, he or she shall be by order of said authority, publicly 
whipped upon their naked back, not exceeding ten stripes ; any act to the con- 
trarj-, notwithstanding." ' 

It is certain that what little anti-slavery sentiment there was 
in the British colonies in North America during the first century 
of their existence received no encouragement from Parliament. 
From the beginning, the plantations in this new world in the West 
were regarded as the hotbeds in which slavery would thrive, and 
bring forth abundant fruit, to the great gain of the English gov- 
ernment. All the appointments made by the crown were ex- 
pected to be in harmony with the plans to be carried out in the 
colonies.. From the settlement of Jamestown down to the break- 
ing out of the war, and the signing of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, not a single one of the royal governors ever suffered 
his sense of duty to the crowned heads to be warped by local 

' R. I. Col. Recs., vol. iv. p. 50. 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAXD. 267 

views on "the right of slavery." The Board of Trade was untir- 
ing in its attention to the colonies. And no subject occupied 
oreater space in the correspondence of that colossal institution 
than slavery. The following circular letter, addressed to the 
governors of the colonies, is worthy of reproduction here, rather 
than in the Appendi.x. It is a magnificent window, that lets the 
light in upon a dark subject. It gives a very fair idea of the pro- 
found concern that the home government had in foreign and 
domestic slavery. 

"CIRCULAR LETTER FROM THE BOARD OF TR.\DE TO 
THE GOVERNORS OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES, REL.\- 
TIVE TO NEGRO SL.WES. 

"April 17, i7cS. 

'■ Sir : Some time since, the Queen was pleased to refer to us a petition 
relating to the trade of Africa, upon which we have heard what the Royal 
African Company, and the separate traders had to offer; and having otherwise 
informed ourselves, in the best manner we could, of the present state of that 
trade, we laid the same before Her Majestj-. The consideration of that trade 
came afterwards into the house of commons, and a copy of our report was laid 
before the house ; but the session being then too far spent to enter upon a 
matter of so great weight, and other business intervening, no progress was 
made therein. However, it being absolutely necessary that a trade so beneficial 
to the kingdom should be carried on to the greatest advantage, there is no 
doubt but the consideration tliereof will come early before the Parliament at 
their next meeting; and as the well supplying of the plantations and colonies 
with sufficient number of negroes at reasonable prices, is in our opinion the 
chief point to be considered in regard to that trade, and as hitherto we have 
not been able to know how they have been supplied by the company, or by 
separate traders, otherwise than according to the respective accounts given by 
them, which for the most part are founded upon calculations made from their 
exports on one side and the other, and do differ so very much, that no certain 
judgment can be made upon those accounts. 

" Wherefore, that we may be able at the next meeting of the Parliament 
to lay before both houses when required, an exact and authentic state of that 
trade, particularly in regard to the several plantations and colonies : we do 
hereby desire and strictly require you, that upon the receipt hereof, you do 
inform yourself from the proper officers or otherwise, in the best manner you 
can, what number of negroes have been yearly imported directly from .-\frica 
into Jamaica, since the 24th of June, 169S, to the 25th of December, 1707. and 
at what rate per head they have been sold each year, one with another, distin- 
guishing the numbers that have been imported on account of the Royal African 
Company, and those which have been imported by separate traders; as like- 
wise the rates at which such negroes have been sold by tlie company and by 
separate tr.iders. We must recommend it to your care to be as exact and 
diligent therein as possibly you can. and with the first opportunity to transmit 



268 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

to us such accounts as aforesaid, that they may arrive here in clue time, as also 
duplicates by the first conveyance. 

" And that we may be the better able to make a true judgment of the 
present settlement of that trade, we must further recommend it to you to confer 
with some of the principal planters and inhabitants within your government 
touching that matter, and to let us know how the negro trade was carried on, 
and the island of Jamaica supplied with negroes till the year 1698, when that 
trade w'as laid open by act of Parliament ; how it has been carried on, and 
negroes supplied since that time, or in what manner they think the said trade 
may best be managed for the benefit of the plantations. 

"We further desire you will inform us what number of ships, if any, are 
employed from Jamaica to the coast of Africa in the negro trade, and how many 
separate traders are concerned therein. 

" Lastly, whatever accounts you shall from time to time send us touching 
these matters of the negro trade, we desire that the same may be distinct, and 
not intermixed with other matters ; and that for the time to come, you do 
transmit to us the like half yearly accounts of negroes, by whom imported 
and at what rates sold ; the first of such subsequent accounts, to begin from 
Christmas, 1707, to which time those now demanded, are to be given. So we 
bid you heartily farewell, 

" Your very loving friends, 

" Stamford, 
Herbert, 
Ph. Meadows, 
i. pulteney, 
r. mon'ckton. 

" P. .S. We expect the best account you can give us, with that expedition 
which the shortness of the time requires. 

" Memorandum. This letter, mutatis mutandis, was writ to the Governors 
of Barbadoes, the Leeward Islands, Bermuda, New York, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, the President of the Council of Virginia, the Governor of New Hamp- 
shire and the Massachusetts Bay, the Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, the 
Lords proprietors of Carolina, the Governors and Companies of Connecticut 
and Rhode Island." ■ 

The good Queen of England was interested in the traffic in 
human beings ; and although the House of Commons was too 
busy to give attention to "a matter of so great weight," the 
"Board of Trade" felt that it was "absolutely necessary that a 
trade so beneficial to the kingdom should be carried on to the 
greatest advantage." England never gave out a more cruel docu- 
ment than the above circular letter. To read it now, under the 
glaring light of the nineteenth century, will almost cause the 
English-speaking people of the world to doubt even " the truth of 
history." Slavery did not e.xist at sufferance. It was a crime 

^ R. I. Col. Recs., vol. iv. pp. 53, 54. 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 269 

Against the weak, ignorant, and degraded children of Africa, 
systematically perpetrated by an organized Christian government, 
bac!<ed by an army that grasped the farthest bounds of civiHza- 
tion, and a navy that overshadowed the oceans. 

The reply of the governor of Rhode Island was not as 
encouraging as their lordships could have wished. 

GOVERNOR CRANSTON'S REI'LY. 

"May it please your Lordship.s : In obedience to your Lordships' com- 
mands of tlie 15th of April last, to the trade of Africa. 

" We, having inspected into the books of Her Majesty's custom, and 
informed ourselves from the proper officers thereof, by strict 'inquiry, can lay 
before your Lordships no otiier account of that trade tlian the following, viz.: 

" I. That from the 24th of June, l6g8, to the 25th of December, 1707, we 
have not had any negroes imported into this colony from the coast of Africa, 
neither on the account of the Royal African Company, or by any of the 
separate traders. 

"2. That on the 30th day of May, 1696, arrived at this port from the coast 
of Africa, the brigantine Seaflower, Thomas Windsor, master, having on board 
her forty-seven negroes, fourteen of wliicli he disposed of in this colony, for 
betwixt ^30 and ^35 per head ; the rest he transported by land for Boston, 
where his owners lived. 

"3. That on the loth of August, the 19th and 2Sth of October, in the year 
1700, sailed from this port three vessels, directly for tlie coast of .Africa; the two 
former were sloops, the one commanded by Nicho's Hillgroue, the other by 
Jacob Bill ; the last a ship, commanded by Edwin Carter, who was part owner 
of the said three vessels, in company with Thomas Bruster, and John Bates, 
merchants, of Barbadoes, and separate traders from thence to the coast of 
Africa; the said three vessels arriving safe to Barbadoes from the coast of 
Africa, where they made the disposition of their negroes. 

'"4. That we have never had any vessels from the coast of Africa to this 
colony, nor any trade there, the brigantine above mentioned, excepted. 

" 5. That the whole and only supply of negroes to this colony, is from the 
island of Barbadoes ; from whence is imported one year with another, betwixt 
twenty and thirty; and if those arrive well and sound, the general price is from 
^30 to/40 per head. 

'■ According to your Lordships" desire, we have advised with the chiefest of 
our planters, and find but small encouragement for that trade to this colony; 
since by the best computation we can make, there would not be disposed in this 
colony above twenty or thirty at the most, annually ; the reasons of which are 
chiefly to be attributed to the general dislike our planters have for them, by 
reason of their turbulent and unruly tempers. 

"And that most of our planters that are able and willing to purchase any of 
them, are supplied by the offspring of those they have already, which nicrcase 
daily; and that the mclination of our people in general, is to employ white 
servants before Nejrroes. 



270 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Tims we have given our Lordships a true and faithful account of what 
hath occurred, relating to the trade of Africa frotn this colony ; and if, for the 
future, our trade should be extended to those parts, we shall not fail transmit- 
ting accounts thereof according to your Lordships' orders, and that at all times 
be ready to show ourselves, 

" Your Lordships' obedient servant, 

" Samuel Cranston, Governor. 
"Newport, on Rhode Island, December 5, 1708." ' 

So in nine years there had been no Negro slaves imported into 
the colony ; that in 1696 fourteen had been sold to the colonists 
for between thirty pounds and thirty-five pounds apiece ; that 
this was the- only time a vessel direct from the coast of Africa 
had touched in this colony ; that the supply of Negro slaves came 
from Barbatloes, and that the colonists who would purchase slaves 
were supplied by the offspring of those already in the plantation ; 
and that the colonists preferred white servants to black slaves. 
The best that can be said of Gov. Cranston's letter is, it was very 
respectful in tone. The following table was one of the enclosures 
of the letter. It is given in full on account of its general inter- 
est : — 

"A list of the number of freemen and militia, with the servants, white and 
black, in the respective towns; as also the number of inhabitants in Her 
Majesty's colony of Rhode Island, &c., December the 5th, 1708. 



TOWNS. 


Freemen. 


Militia. 


White 
Serv.'ints. 


Black 
Servants. 


Total 
Number of 
Inhabitants 


Newport . . 
Providence. . 
Portsmouth 
Warwick . . 
Westerly . . 
New Shoreham 
Kingstown . . 
Jamestown . . 
Greenwich . . 




190 
241 
gS 
So 
95 
3S 
200 

33 
40 


358 
^S3 
104 

95 
100 

47 

282 

28 

65 


20 
6 
S 
4 

5 

9 
3 


220 

7 
40 
10 
20 

6 
85 
3- 

6 


2,203 

1,446 

628 

480 

570 

20S 

1,200 

206 

240 


Total . . 




1,015 


1,362 


56 


426 


7,iSi 



R. I. Coll. Rccs., vol. IV, pp. 54, 55. 



THE COLONY OF RflOnE ISr.AXD. 271 

" It is to be understood tliat all men witliin this colon}', from tlis age of 
sixteen to the age of sixty years, are of the militia, so that all freemen above 
and under said ages, arc inclusive in the abovesaid number of the militia. 

'•As to the increase or decrease of tlie inhabitants within five years last 
past, we are not capable to give an exact account, by reason there was no list 
ever taken before this (the militia excepted), which hath increased since the 
14th of February, 1704-5 (at which time a list was returned to your Lordsliips), 
the number of 2S7. 

" S.VMUEL Ck.vnston, Govenior. 

"Newi'ort, on Rhode Island, December the 5th, 170S." ' 

The Board of Trade replied to Gov. Cranston, imder date of 
"Whitehall, January i6th, 1709-10.," saying they should be glad to 
hear from him "in regard to Negroes," etc.- 

The letter of inquiry from the Board of Trade imjiarted to 
slave-dealers an air of importance and respectability. The insti- 
tution was not near so bad as it had been thought to be ; the roval 
family were interested in its growth ; it was a gainful enterprise ; 
and, more than all, as a matter touching the conscience, the Bible 
and universal practice had sanctified the institution. To attempt 
to repeal the Act of 1652 would have been an occasion unwisely 
furnished for anti-slavery men to use to a good purpose. The bill 
was a dead letter, and its enemies concluded to let it remain on 
the statute-book of the colony. 
R The experiment of le\-ying an irnj^ost-tax ujion Negro slaves 

imported into the colony had proved an enriching success. After 
1709 the slave-trade became rather brisk. As the population 
increased, public improvements became necessary, — there were 
new public buildings in demand, roads to be repaired, bridges to 
be built, and the poor and afflicted to be provided for. To do all 
this, taxes had to be levied upon the freeholders. A happy thought 
struck the leaders of the government. If men would import slaves, 
and the freemen of the colony would buy them, they should pay a 
tax as a penalty for their sin.' And the people easily accommo- 
dated their views to the state of the public treasury. 

Attention has been called already to the impost Act of 1708. 
On the 27th of February, 1712, the General Assembly passed 
"An ^Ict for preventing clandestine importations and cxportations 



^ R. I. Col. Recs., vol. iv. p. 59. - J. Cirter Brow-n's Manuscripts, vol. viii. Nos. 306, 512. 

^ It was a specious sort of reasoning. I learn that the bank over on the comer is to be robbed 
to-night at twelve o'clock. Shall I go and rob it at ten o'clock ; because, if I do not do so, another 
person will, two hours later ? 



2 72 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of passengers, o)- negroes, or Indian slaves into or out of t/iis eolo'ny," 
etc. The Act is quite lengthy. It required n.a.sters of ves.sels to 
report to the governor the names and number of all passengers 
landed into the colony, and not to carry away any person without 
a pass or permission from the governor, upon pain of a fine of 
fifty pounds current money of New England. Persons desiring 
to leave the colony had to give public notice for ten days in the 
most public place in the colony; and it specifies the duties of 
naval officers, and closes with the following in reference to Negro 
slaves, calling attention to the impost Act of 1708 : — 

"It was then and there enacted, that for all negroes imported into this 
colony, there shall be £2, current money, of New England, paid into the general 
treasury of this colony for each negro, by the owner or importer of said 
negro; reference being had unto the said act will more fully appear. 

" liut were laid under no obligation by the said act, to give an account to 
the Governor what negroes they did import, whereby the good intentions of 
said act were wholly frustrated and brought to no effect ; and by the clandes- 
tinely hiding and conveying said negroes out of the town into the country, 
where they lie concealed : 

" For the prevention of which for the future, it is hereby enacted by the 
authority aforesaid, that from and after the publication of tliis act, all masters 
of vessels that shall come into the harbor of Newport, or into any port of this 
government, that hath imported any negroes or Indian slaves, shall, before he 
puts on shore in any port of this government, or in the town of Newport, any 
negroes or Indian slaves, or suffers any negroes or Indian slaves to be put on 
shore by any person whatsoever, from on board his said vessel, deliver unto the 
naval officer in the town of Newport, a fair manifest under his hand, which shall 
specify the full number of negroes and Indian slaves he hath imported in his 
said vessel, of what sex, with their names, the names of their owners, or of 
those they are consigned to; to the truth of which manifest so given in, the 
said master shall give his corporal oath, or solemn engagement unto the said 
naval officer, who is hereby empowered to administer the same unto him , which 
said manifest being duly sworn unto, the said naval officer shall make a fair 
entry thereof in a book, which shall be prepared for that use, whereunto the 
said master shall set his hand 

" And when the said master hath delivered his said manifest and sworn to 
it, as abovesaid, and before he hath landed on shore, or suffer to be landed, 
any negroes or Indian slaves as aforesaid, he, the said master, shall pay to the 
naval ofiicer the sum of ^3 current money, of New England, for each negro; 
and the sum of forty shillings of the like money for each Indian that shall be 
by him imported into this colony, or that shall be brought into this colony in 
the vessel whereof he is master. 

'• But if he hath not ready money to pay down, as aforesaid, he shall then 
give unto the said naval officer a bill, as the law directs, to pay unto him the 
full sum above mentioned, for each and every negro and Indian imported as 
above said, which bill shall run payable in ten days from the entering tlie mani- 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 273 

fest as above said; and if at tlie end of the ten days, tlie said master shall 
refuse to pay tlie full contents of his bill, tliat then the said naval officer shall 
deliver the said bill unto the (governor, or in his absence, to the next officer of 
the peace, as aforesaid who shall immediately proceed with the said master in 
the manner above said, by committing of him tu Her Majesty's jail, where he 
shall remain witliout bail or mainprizc, until he hath paid unto the naval officer, 
for the use of this colony, double the sum specified in his said bill, and all 
cliarges that shall accrue thereby; vk-hich money shall be paid out by the said 
naval officer, as the General Assembly of this colony shall order the same. 

" And it is further enacted, that the naval officer who now is, and who ever 
shall l)c for the future put into said office, shall at his entering into the said 
otfice, take his engagement to the faithful performance of the above said acts. 
And for his encouragement, shall have such fees as are hereafter mentioned at 
the end of this act. 

"And for the more effectual putting in execution those acts, and that none 
may plead ignorance : 

" It is enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all masters of vessels trading 
to this government, shall give bond, with sufficient surety in the naval office, 
for the sum of ^50, current money of New England." ' 

Wc have omitted a large portion of the liill, because of its 
length ; but have quoted sufficient to give an excellent idea of the 
marvellous caution taken by the good Christians of Rhode Island 
to get every cent due them on account of the slave-trade, which 
their prohibition did not prohibit. It was a carefully drawn bill 
for those days. 

The diligence of the jHiblic officers in the sea])ort town of 
Newport was richly rewarded. The slave-trade now had the 
sanction and regulation of colonial law. The demand for Negro 
laborers was not affected in the least, while traders did not turn 
asiile on account of three pounds per head tax upon every slave 
sold into Rhode Island. On the 5th of July, 17 15, the General 
Assembly appropriated a portion of the fimd derived from the 
impost-tax on imported Negroes to repairing the streets ; and then 
strengthened and amplified the original law on impost-duties, etc. 
The following is the Act : — 

"This Assembly, taking into consideration that Newport is the metropolitan 
town in this colony, and that all the courts of judicature within this colony are 
held there; and also, that it is the chief market town in the government; and 
that it hath very miry streets, especially that leading from the ferry, or landing 
place, up to the colony house, so that the members of the courts are very much 
discommoded therewith, and is a great hindrance to the transporting of pro- 



' R. I. Coi. Recs., vol. iv. pp. 133-135. 



2 74 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

visions, &c., in and out of the said towns, to the great loss of the inhaliitants 
thereof ; — 

" Tlierefore, be it enacted liy this present Assembly, and by the authority 
thereof it is enacted, that the sum of ^289 17s. 3d., now lying in the naval 
officer's hand, (being duties paid to this colony for importing of slaves), shall 
be, and is hereby granted to the town of Newport, towards paving the streets 
of Newport, from the ferry place, up to the colony house, in said Newport; to 
be improved by their directors, such as they shall, at their quarter meetings 
appoint for the same. 

"And whereas, there was an act of Assembly, made at Newport, in the 
year 1701-2, for the better preventing of fraud, and cozen, in paying the duties 
for importing of negro and Indian slaves into this colony, and the same being 
found in some clauses deficient, for the effecting of the full intent and purpose 
thereof ; — 

"Therefore, it is hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, that every 
master of ship, or vessel, merchant or other person or persons, importing or 
bringing into this colony any negro slave or slaves of what age soever, shall 
enter their number, names, and sex in the naval office ; and the master shall 
insert the same in the manifest of his lading, and shall pay to the naval officer 
in Newport, ^3 per head, for the use of lliis colony, for every negro, male or 
female, so imported, or brought in. And every such master, merchant, or other 
person, refusing or neglecting to pay the said duty within ten days after they 
are brought ashore in said colony, then the said naval officer, on knowledge 
thereof, shall enter an action and sue [for] the recovery of the same, against 
him or tliem, in an action of debt, in any of His Majesty's courts of record, 
within this colony. 

"And if any master of ship or vessel, merchant or others, shall refuse or 
neglect to make entry, as aforesaid, of all negroes imported in such ship or 
vessel, or be convicted of not entering the full number, such master, merchant, 
or other person, shall forfeit and pay the sum of ^6, for every one that he 
shall refuse or neglect to make entry, of one moiety thereof to His Majesty, 
for and towards the support of the government of this colony; and the other 
moiety to him or them that shall inform or sue for the same; to be recovered 
by tlie naval officer in manner as above said. 

" And also, all persons that shall bring any negro or negroes into this colony, 
from any of His Majesty's provinces adjoining, shall in like manner enter the 
number, names and se.\, of all such negroes, in the above said office, under the 
penalty of the like forfeiture, as above said ; and to be recovered in like manner 
bv the naval oflicer, and shall pay into the said office within the time above 
limited, the like sum of £-^ per head; and for default of payment, the same to 
be recovered by the naval officer in like manner as aforesaid. 

" l-'rovided always, that if any gentleman, who is not a resident in this 
colony, and shall pass through any part thereof, with a waiting man or men with 
him. and doth not reside in this colony six months, then such waiting men shall 
be free from the aljove said duty : the said gentleman giving his solemn en- 
gagement, that they are not for sale : any act or acts, clause or clauses of acts, 
to the contrary hereof, in any ways, notwithstanding. 

" I^rovided, that none of the clauses in the aforesaid act, shall extend to 



THE COLONY OF RHODE JSI..LXD. 275 

any masters or-vessels, who import negroes into this cohmy, directly from tlie 
coast of Africa. 

" And it is furtlier enacted Iiy the uulliority aforesaid, tlial tlie money raised 
by the impost of negroes, as aforesaid, sliall be disposed of as foUowetli, viz.; 

•' The one moiety of the said impost money to be for the use of the town 
of Newport, to be disposed of by the said town towards paving tlie streets of 
said town, and for no other use whatsoever, for and during tlie full time of 
seven vears from the publication of this act; and that ;^6o of said impost 
money be for, and towards the erecting of a substantial bridge over Potowo- 
niut river, at or near the house of Ezckiel Hunt, in East Greenwich, and to no 
other use whatsoever. 

"And that iVLiJor Thomas Frye and Capt. John Eldredge be the persons 
appointed to order and oversee the building of said bridge, and to render an 
account thereof, to the Assembly; and the said Major Frye and Capt. Eldredge 
to be paid for their trouble and pains, out of the remaining part of said impost 
money ; and the remainder of said impost money to be disposed of as the 
Assembly shall from time to time see fit." ' 

And in October, 171 7, the following order passed the as- 
sembly : — 

"It is ordered by this Assembly, that the naval officer pay out of the impost 
money on slaves, ^100, to the overseer that oversees the paving of the streets 
of Newport, to be improved for paying the charges of paving said streets." ^ 

The fund accruing from the impost-duty on slaves was re- 
garded with great favor everywhere, especially in Newport. It 
had cleaned her streets and lightened the binxlens of taxation 
which rested so grievously upon the freeholders. There was no 
voice lifted against the inicjuitous traffic, and the conscience of 
the colony was at rest. In June, 1729, the following Act was 
passed : — 

"An Act disposing of the money raised in this colony on importing negro 

slaves into this colony. 

" Forasmuch as there is .an act of Assembly made in this colony the 
27th day of February, A.D. 1711, laying a duty of /3 per head on all slaves 
imported into this colony, as is in said act is expressed ; and several things of a 
public nature rec|uiring a fund to be set apart for carrying them on : — 

"Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority of 
the same it is enacted and declared, that henceforward all monies that shall be 
raised in this colony by the aforesaid account, on any slaves imported into this 
colony, shall be employed, the one moiety thereof for the use of the town of 
Newport, towards paving and amending the streets thereof; and the other 
moiety, for, and towards the support, repairing and mending the great bridge,-- 

' R. I. Col. Recs., vol. iv. pp. 191-193. " R- I- Col. Recs., vol. iv. p. 225. 



276 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

on tlie tiLiin, in the country roads, and for no otlier use whatsoever; any thing 
in the aforesaid act to tlie contrary, in anywise notwithstanding." ■ 

It is wonderful how potential the influence of money is upon 
mankind. The sentiments of the good people had been scattered 
to the winds ; and they had found a panacea for the violated 
convictions of the wrong of slavery in the reduction of their 
taxes, new bridges, and cleansed streets. Conscience had been 
bribed into acquiescence, and the iniquity thrived. There were 
those who still endeavored to escape the vigilance of the naval 
officers, and save the three pounds on each slave. But the dili- 
gence and liberality of the authorities were not to be outdone by 
the skulking stinginess of Negro-smugglers. On the i8th of 
June, 17-3, ^l^t; General Assembly passed the following order: — 

'■ Voted, that Mr. Daniel Updike, the attorney general, be, and he hereby 
is ordered, appointed and empowered to gather in the money due to tliis colony, 
for the importation of negroes, and to prosecute, sue and 'mplead such person 
or persons as shall refuse to pay the same : and that he be allowed five shil- 
lings per head, for every slave that shall be hereafter imported into this colony, 
out of the impost money; and that he be also allowed ten per cent, more for 
all such money as he shall recover of the outstanding debts ; and in all respects 
to have the like power as was given to the naval officer by the former act."- 

The above illustrates the spirit of the times. There was a 
mania for this impost-ta.x upon stolen Negroes, and the law was to 
be enforced against all who sought to evade its requirements. 
But the Assembly had a delicate sense of equity, as well as an 
inexorable opinion of the precise demands of the law in its letter 
and sijirit. On the 19th of June, 1716, the following was 
passed : — 

" It is ordered by this Assembly, that the duty of two sucking slaves im- 
ported into this colony by Col. James Vaughan, of Barbadoes, be remitted to 
the said James \'aughan." 3 

It was not below the dignity of the Legislature of the colony of 
Rhode Island to pass a bill of relief for Col. Vaughan, and refund 
to him the six pounds he had paid to land his two sucking Negro 
baby slaves! In June, 1731, the naval officer, James Cranston, 
called the attention of the Assembly to the case of one Mr. Roy- 
all, — who had imported forty-five Negroes into the colony, and 

' K. 1. Col. Recs., vol. iv. pp. 423, 424. - Ibid., p. 330. ' Ibid., vol. iv. |). 209. 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAM). 277 

after a short time sold sixteen of them into tiie Province of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, where there was also an impost-tax, — and asived 
directions. The Assembly replied as follows : — 

" Upon consideration whereof, it is voted and ordered, that the duty to this 
colony of the said sixteen negroes transported into the Massachusetts Bay, as 
aforesaid, be tal<en off and remitted ; but tliat he collect the duty of tlie other 
twenty-nine." ' 

But the zeal of the colony in seeking the enforcement of the 
impost-law created a strong influence against it from without ; 
and by order of the king the entire law was repealed in May, 
1732.= 

The cruel practice of manumitting aged and helpless slaves 
became so general in this plantation, that the General Assembly 
passed a law regulating it, in February, 1728, It was borrowed 
very largely from a similar law in Massacliusetts, and reads as 
follows : — 

"An Act relating to freeing mulatto and negro slaves. 

" Forasmuch, as great charge, troul)Ic and inconveniences have arisen to the 
inhabitants of divers towns in this colony, by the manumitting and setting free 
mulatto and negro slaves ; for remedying whereof, for the future, — 

" Be it enacted by the General Assembly of this colony, and by the au- 
thority of the same it is enacted, that no mulatto or negro slave, shall be 
hereafter manumitted, discharged or set free, or at liberty, until sufficient 
security be given to the town treasurer of the town or place where such person 
dwells, in a valuable sum of not less than j{[loo, to secure and indemnify the 
town or place from all charge for, or about such mulatto or negro, to be manu 
mitted and set at liberty, in case he or she by sickness, lameness or otherwise, 
be rendered incapable to support him or herself. 

" And no mulatto or negro hereafter manumitted, shall be deemed or 
accounted free, for whom security shall not be given as aforesaid, but shall be 
tlie proper charge of their respective masters or mistresses, in case they should 
stand in need of relief and support ; notwithstanding any manumission or 
instruinent of freedom to them inade and given ; and shall be liable at all times 
to be put forth to service by the justices of the |)eace, or wardens of the 
town." < 

It is very remarkable that there were no lawyers to challenge 
the legality of such laws as the abo\-e, which fomid their way into 
the statute books of all the New-England colonies. There could 
be no conditional emancipation. If a sla\'c were set at liberty, 
why he was free, and, if he afterwards became a pauper, was 
entitled to the same care as a white freeman. But it is not difTi- 

' R. 1. Col. Recs., vol. iv. p. 454. - Ibid., vol. iv. p. 471. ^ ibid., vol. iv. pp. 415, 416. 



278 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

cult to sec that the status of a free Negro was chfficult of defini- 
tion. When the Negro slave grew old and infirm, his master no 
longer cared for him, and the public was protected against him by 
law. Death was his most beneficent friend. 

In October, 1743, a widow lady named Comfort Taylor, of 
Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay, sued and obtained judgment 
against a Negro named Cuff Borden for two hundred pounds, and 
cost of suit " for a grievous trespass." Cuff was a slave. An 
ordinary execution would have gone against his person : he would 
have been imprisoned, and nothing more. In view of this condi- 
tion of affairs, Mrs. Taylor petitioned the General Assembly of 
Rhode Island, praying that authority be granted the sheriff to sell 
Cuff, as other property, to satisfy the judgment. The Assembly 
granted her j^raycr as follows : — 

" Upon consifleration whereof, it is voted and resolved, that the sheriff of 
the said county of Newport, when he shall receive the execution against tlie 
said negro Cuff, be, and he is hereby fully empowered to sell said negro Cuff 
as other personal estate ; and after the fine of £zo be paid into the general 
treasury, and all other charges deducted out of the price of said negro, the 
remainder to be appropriated in said satisfying said e.xecution." ' 

This case goes to show that in Rhode Island Negro slaves 
were rated, at law, as chattel property, and could be taken in 
e.xecution to satisfy debts as other personal property. 

A great many slaves availed themselves of frequent opportu- 
nities of going away in privateers and other vessels. With but 
little before them in this life, they were even willing to risk being 
sold into slavery at some other place, that they might experience 
a change. They made excellent seamen, and were greatly desired 
by masters of vessels. This went on for a long time. The loss 
to the colony was great ; and the General Assembly passed the 
subjoined bill as a check to the stampede that had become quite 
general : — 

" An .Act to prf.ve.nt the commanders of priv.ateers, or masters 

OF ANY other VESSELS, FROM CARRYING SLAVES OUT OF THIS COLONY. 

" Whereas, it frequently happens that the commanders of privateers, and 
masters of other vessels, do carry off slaves that are the property of inhabit- 
ants of tliis colony, and that without the privity or consent of their masters 
or mistresses; and whereas, there is no law of this colony for remedying so 
great an evil, — 

' R. I. Col. Rccs., vol. V. pp. 72, 73. 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 279 

"I5c it therefore cnactcil Ijy tliis General Assembly, and by the authority 
of the same, it is enacted, tliat from and after the publication of this act, if 
any commander of a private man of war, or master of a merchant ship or otlier 
vessel, shall knowingly carry away from, or out of this colony, a slave or slaves, 
the property of any inhabitant thereof, the commander of such privateer, or 
the master of tlie said merchant ship or vessel, shall pay, as a fine, the sum of 
_^5oo, to be recovered by the general treasurer of this colony for tlie time being, 
by bill, plaint, or information in any court of record within tliis colony. 

" And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the owner or 
owners of any slave or slaves that may be carried away, as aforesaid, shall 
have a right of action against the commander of the said priv.ateer, or master 
of the said merchant ship or vessel, or against tlie owner or owners of the 
same, in wliich the said slave or slaves is, or are carried away ; and by the said 
action or suit, recover of him or them, double damages. 

"And whereas, disputes may arrise respecting the knowledge tliat the 
owner or owners, commanders or masters of the said private men of war, mer- 
chant ships or vessels may have of any slave or slaves being on board a priva- 
teer, or merchant ship or vessel, — 

" I3e it therefore further enacted, and by the authority aforesaid, it is 
enacted, that when any owner or owners of any slave or slaves in this colony, 
shall suspect that a slave or slaves, to him, her or them belonging, is, or are, 
on board any private man of war, or merchant ship or vessel, the owner or 
owners of such slave or slaves may make application, either to the owner or 
owners, or to the commander or master of the said sliip or vessel, before its 
sailing, and inform him or them thereof; wliich being done in the presence of 
one or more substantial witness or witnesses, the said information or applica- 
tion shall amount to, and be construed, deemed and taken to be a full proof of 
his or their knowledge thereof; provided, the said slave or slaves shall go in 
any such ship or vessel. 

'•And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, tliat if the owner or 
owners of any slave or slaves in this colony, or any other person or persons, 
legally authorized by the owner or owners of a slave or slaves, sliall attempt to 
go on board any privateer, or a merchant ship or vessel, to search for his, her 
or their slave or slaves, and the commander or master of such sliip or vessel, 
or other officer or officers on board the same, in the absence of the commander 
or master, shall refuse to permit such owner or owners of a slave or slaves, or 
other person or persons, authorized, as aforesaid, to go on board and search 
lor the slave or slaves by him, her or them missed, or found absent, such refus- 
al shall be deemed, construed, and taken to be full proof that the owner or 
owners, commander or master of the said privateer or other ship or vessel, 
hath, or have a real knowledge, that such slave or slaves is, or are on board. 

"And this act shall be forthwith published, and therefrom have, and take 
force and effect, in and throughout this colony. 

"Accordingly the said act was published by the beat of drum, on the 17th 
day of June, 1757, a few minutes before noon, by 

"TIIO. WARD, Secretary."' 
^ R. I. Col. Recs., vol. vi. pp. 64, 65. 



28o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The education of the Negro slave in this colony was thought 
to be inimical to the best interests of the masterclass. Ignorance 
was the sine qua non of slavery. The civil government and eccle- 
siastical establishment ground him, body and spirit, as between 
"the upper and nether millstones." But the Negro was a good 
listener, and was not unconscious of what was going on around 
him. He was neither blind nor deaf. 

The fires of the Revolutionary struggle began to melt the frozen 
feelings of the colonists towards the slaves. When they began 
to feel the British lion clutching at the throat of their own liber- 
ties, the bondage of the Negro stared them in the face. They 
knew the Negro's power of endurance, his personal courage, his 
admirable promptitude in the performance of difficult tasks, and 
his desperate spirit when pressed too sharply. The thought of 
such an ally for the English army, such an element in then- rear, 
was louder in their souls than the roar of the enemy's guns. The 
act of June, 1774, shows how deeply the people felt on the subject. 

"An Act prohibiting the importation of Negroes into this Colony. 

Whereas, the inhabitants of America are generally engaged in the preser- 
vation of their own rights and Uberties, among which, that of personal freedom 
must be considered as the greatest ; as those who are desirous of enjoying all 
the advantages of liberty themselves, should be willing to extend personal lib- 
erty to others ; — ' 

"Therefore, lie it enacted by this General Assembly, and by the authority 
thereof it is enacted, that for the future, no negro or mulatto slave shall be 
brought into this colony ; and in case any slave shall hereafter be brought in, 
he or she shall be, and are hereby, rendered immediately free, so far as respects 
personal freedom, and the enjoyment of private property, in the same manner 
as the native Indians. 

" Provided, nevertheless, that this law shall not extend to servants of per- 
sons travelling through this colony, who are not inhabitants thereof, and who 
carry them out with them, when they leave the same. 

" Provided, also, that nothing in this act shall extend, or be deemed to 
extend, to any negro or mulatto slave, belonging to any inhabitant of either of 
the British colonies, islands or plantations, who shall come into this colony, 
with an intention to settle or reside, for a number of years, therein; but such 
negro or mulatto, so brought into this colony, by such person inclining to 
settle or reside therein, shall be, and remain, in the same situation, and subject 
m like manner to their master or mistress, as they were in the colony or plan- 
tation from whence they removed. 

" Provided, nevertheless, that if any person, so coming into this colony, to 
settle or reside, as aforesaid, shall afterwards remove out of the same, such 
person shall be obliged to carry all such negro or mulatto slaves, as also all 
such as shall be born from them, out of the colony with them. 



THE COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND. 28 1 

"Provided, also, tlint nothinj; in tliis net sliall extend, or be deemed to 
extend, to any negro or mulatto slave brought from the coast of Africa, into 
the West Indies, on board any vessel belonging to tliis colony, and which 
negro or nudatto slave could not be disposed of in tlie West Indies, but shall 
be brought into this colony. 

'■Provided, tliat tlie owner of such negro or mulatto slave give bond to the 
general treasurer of the said colony, within ten days after such arrival in the 
sum of /too, lawful money, for each and every such negro or mulatto slave so 
brought in, that sucli negro or mulatto slave shall be exported out of the colony, 
within one vear from the date of such bond; if such negro or mulatto be alive, 
and in a condition to be removed. 

"Provided, also, that nothing in this act sliall extend, or be deemed to 
extend, to any negro or mulatto slave that may be on Ijoard any vessel belong- 
ing to this colony, now at sea, in her present voyage." ' 

In 1730 the population of Rhode Island was, whites, 15,302; 
Indians, 985 ; Negroes, 1,648; total, 17,935. In 1749 there were 
28,439 whites, and 3,077 Negroes. Indians were not given this 
year. In 1756 the whites numbered 35,939, the Negroes 4,697. 
In 1774 Rhode Island contained 9,439 families, Newport had 
9,209 inhabitants. The whites in the entire colony ntnnbered 
54,435, the Negroes, 3,761, and the Indians, 1,482.- It will be 
observed that the Negro population fell off between the years 
1749 and 1774. It is accounted for by the fact mentioned before, 
— that many ran away on ships that came into the Province. 

The Negroes received better treatment at this time than at 
any other period during the existence of the colony. There was 
a general relaxation of the severe laws that had been so rigidly 
enforced. They took great interest in public meetings, devoured 
with avidity every scrap of news regarding the movements of the 
Tory forces, listened with rapt attention to the patriotic conver- 
sations of their masters, and when the storm-cloud of war broke 
were as eager to fight for the independence of North America as 
their masters. 

' R. I. Col. Rccs., vol. vii. pp. 251, 252. 

^ .American Annals, vol. ii. pp. 107, 155, 156, 184, and 265. 



28? HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY. 
1664-1775. 

New Jersey passes into the Hands of the English. — Political Powers conveyed to Berkeley 
AND Cauteket. — Legislation on the Subject of Slavery during the Eighteenth Century. 
— The Colony divided into East and West Jersey. — Separate Governjients. — An Act 
concerning Slavery by the Legislature of East Jersey. — General Apprehension 
respecting the rising of Negro and Indian Slaves. — East and West Jersey surrender 
their Rights of Government to the Queen. — An Act for regulating the Conduct of 
Slaves. — Impost-Tax of Ten Pounds levied upon each Negro imported into the Colony. — 
The Genee.vl Court passes a Law regul.\ting the Trial op Slaves. —Negroes ruled out of 
the Militia Establishment upon Condition. — Popul.vtion of the Jerseys in 173S and 1745. 

THE colony of New Jersey passed into the control of the 
English in 1664; and the first grant of political powers, 
upon which the government was erected, was conveyed by 
the Duke of York to Berkeley and Carteret during the same 
year. In the " Proprietary Articles of Concession," the words ser- 
vants, slaves, and Christian servants occur. It was the intention 
of the colonists to draw a distinction between '' servants for a 
term of years," and " servants for life," between white servants 
and black slaves, between Christians and pagans. 

When slavery was introduced into Jersey is not known.' 
There is no doubt but that it made its appearance there almost as 
early as in New Netherlands. The Dutch, the Quakers, and the 
English held slaves. But the system was milder here than in any 
of the other colonies. The Negroes were scattered among the 
families of the whites, and were treated with great humanity. 
Legislation on the subject of slavery did not begin until the 
middle of the eighteenth century, and it was not severe. Before 
this time, say three-quarters of a century, a few Acts had been 
passed calculated to protect the slave element from the sin of 
intoxication. In 1675 an Act passed, imposing fines and punish- 



■ It is unfortunate that there is no good history of New Jersey. The records of the 
Historical Society of that State are not conveniently printed, nor valuable in colonial data. 



THE COLONY OF NFAV JERSEY. 2S3 

ments upon any wliite person who should transport, harbor, or 
entertain "apprentices, servants, or slaves." It was perfectly 
natural that the Negroes should be of a nomadic disposition. 
They had no homes, no wives, no children, — nothing to attach 
them to a locality. Those who resided near the seacoast 
watched, with unflagging interest, the coming and going of the 
mysterious white-winged vessels. They hung upon the storied 
lips of every fugitive, and dreamed of lands afar where they 
might find that liberty for which their souls thirsted as the hart 
for the water-brook. Far from their native country, without the 
blessings of the Church, or the warmth of substantial friendship, 
they fell into a listless condition, a somnolence that led them to 
stagger against some of the regulations of the Province. Their 
wandering was not inspired by any subjective, inherent, generic 
evil : it was but the tossing of a weary, distressed mind under 
the dreadful influences of a hateful dream. And what little there 
is in the early records of the colony of New Jersey is at once a 
compliment to the humanity of the master, and the docility of 
the slave. 

In 1676 the colony was divided into East and W'est Jersey, 
with separate governments. The laws of East Jersey, promul- 
gated in 1682, contained laws prohibiting the entertaining of 
fugitive servants, or trading with Negroes. The law respecting 
fugitive serwants was intended to destroy the hopes of runaways 
in the entertainment they so frequently obtained at the hands of 
benevolent Quakers and other enemies of "indenture" and 
slavery. The law-makers acted upon the presumption, that as the 
Negro had no property, did not own himself, he could not sell any 
article of his own. All slaves who attempted to dispose of any 
article were regarded with suspicion. The law made it a misde- 
meanor for a free person to purchase any thing from a slave, and 
hence cut off a source of revenue to the more industrious slaves, 
who by their frugality often prepared something for sale. 

In 1694 "an Act concerning slaves" was passed by the Legis- 
lature of East Jersey. It ^irovided, among other things, for the 
trial of " negroes and other slaves, for felonies punishable ii'ith 
death, by a jury of twelve persons before three justices of the peace ; 
for theft, before tivo justices ; the punishment by ivhipping." Here 
was the grandest evidence of the high character of the white 
population in East Jersey. In every other colony in North 
America the Negro was denied the right of "trial by jury," so 



284 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

sacred to Englishmen. In Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, — in all the colonies, — the Negro went into court 
convicted, went out convicted, and was executed, upon the frailest 
evidence imaginable. But here in Jersey the only example of 
justice was shown toward the Negro in North America. "Trial 
by jury" implied the right to be sworn, and give competent 
testimony. A Negro slave, when on trial for his life, was 
accorded the privilege of being tried by twelve honest white 
colonists before three justices of the peace. This was in striking 
contrast with the conduct of the colony of New York, where 
Negroes were arrested upon the incoherent accusations of disso- 
lute whites and terrified blacks. It gave the Negroes a new and 
an anomalous position in the New World. It banished the 
cruel theory of Virginia, New York, and Connecticut, that the 
Negro was a pagan, and therefore should not be sworn in courts 
of justice, and threw open a wide door for his entrance into a 
more hopeful state than he had, up to that time, dared to antici- 
pate. It allowed him to infer that his life was a little more than 
that of the brute that perisheth ; that he could not be dragged by 
malice through the forms of a trial, without jury, witness, counsel, 
or friend, to an ignominious death, that was to be regretted only by 
his master, and his regrets to be solaced by the Legislature paying 
"the price ; " that the law regarded him as a man, whose life was 
too dear to be committed to the disposition of irascible men, 
whose prejudices could be mollified only in extreme cruelty or 
cold-blooded murder. It had much to do toward elevating the 
character of the Negro in New Jersey. It first fired his heart 
with the noble impulse of gratitude, and then led him to hope. 
And how much that little word means ! It causes the soul to 
spread its white pinions to every favoring breeze, and hasten on 
to a propitious future. And then the fact that Negroes had 
rights acknowledged by the statutes, and respectfully accorded 
them by the courts, had its due influence upon the white 
colonists. The men, or class of men, who have rights not chal- 
lenged, command the respect of othys. The fact clothes them 
with dignity as with a garment. And then, by the inevitable 
logic of the position of the courts of East Jersey, the colonists 
were led to the conclusion that the Negroes among them had 
other rights. And, as it has been said already, they received bet- 
ter treatment here than in any other colony in the country. 

In West Jersey happily the word " slave " was omitted from the 



THE COLONY OF NEW JERSEY. 285 

laws. Only servants and runaway servants were mentioned, and 
the selling of rum to Negroes and Indians was strictly forbidden. 
The fear of insurrection among Indians and Negroes was 
general throughout all of the colonies. One a savage, and the 
other untutored, they knew but two manifestations, — gratitude 
and revenge. It was deemed a wise precaution to keep these 
unfortunate people as far removed from the exciting influences of 
rimi as possible. Chapter twenty-three of a law passed in West 
Jersey in 1676, providing for publicity in judicial proceedings, 
concludes as follows : — 

"Th.it all aiul every person and persons inhabiting the said province, shall, 
as far as in us lies, be free from oppression and slavery.'' ■ 

In 1702 the proprietors of East and West Jersey surrendered 
their rights of government to the queen. The Province was 
immediately placed with New York, and the government commit- 
ted to the hands of Lord Cornbury.^ In 1704 "An Act for regu- 
lating negroc, Indian and Mulatto slaves tvithin the province of 
New Jersey," was introduced, but was tabled and disallowed. 
The Negroes had just cause for the fears they entertained as to 
legislation directed at the few rights they had enjoyed under the 
Jersey government. Their fellow-servants over in New York had 
suffered under severe laws, and at that time had no privilege 
in which they could rejoice. In 171 3 the following law was 
passed : — 

" An act /or regulating slaves, (i Nev. L., c. 10.) .Sect. i. Against trading 
with slaves. 2. For arrest of slaves being witliout pass. 3. Negro belonging 
to another province, not having license, to be whipped and committed to jail. 
4. Punishment of slaves for crimes to be by three or more justices of the 
peace, with five of the principal freeholders, without a grand jury; seven 
agreeing, shall give judgment. 5. Method in such causes more particularly 
described. Provides that 'the evidence of Indian, negro, or mulatto slaves 
shall be admitted and allowed on trials of such slaves, on all causes criminal.' 
6. Owner may demand a jury. 7, S. Compensation to owners for death of 
slave, g. A slave for attempting to ravish any white woman, or i)resuming 
'to assaidt or strike any free man or woman professing Christianity,' any two 



' Freedom xnA Bondage, vol. i. p. 283. 

^ The following were the instructions his lordship received, concerning the treatment of 
Negro slaves : " You shall endeavour to get a law past for the restraining of any inhuman severity, 
which by ill masters or overseers may be used towards their Christi.-in servants .and their slaves, and 
that provision be made therein that the wilfull !:ilhng of Indians and negroes may be punished with 
death, and that a fit penalty be emposed for the maiming of them." — pricJom and Bondage, vol. 
i.,p. 2S0, note. 



286 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

justices have discretionar)' powers to inflict corporal punishment, not extending 
to life or limb. lo. Slaves, for stealing, to be whipped, ii. Penalties on 
justices, &c., neglecting duty. 12. Punishment for concealing, harboring, or 
entertaining slaves of others. 13. Provides that no Negro, Indian, or mulatto 
that shall thereafter be made free, shall hold any real estate in his own right, 
in fee simple or fee tail. 14. 'And whereas it is found by experience that free 
Negroes are an idle, slothful people, and prove very often a charge to the place 
where they are,' enacts that owners manumitting, shall give security, (S;c." ' 

Nearly all the humane features of the Jersey laws were sup- 
planted by severe prohibitions, requirements, and penalties. The 
trial by jury was construed to mean that one Negro's testimony 
was good against another Negro in a trial for a felony, allowing 
the owner of the slave to demand a jury. Humane masters were 
denied the right to emancipate their slaves, and the latter were 
prohibited fr(jm owning real property in fee simple or fee tail. 
Having stripped the Negro of the few rights he possessed, the 
General Court, during the same year, went on to reduce him to 
absolute property, and levied an impost-tax of ten pounds upon 
every Negro imported into the colony, to remain in force for 
seven years. 

In 1754 an Act provided, that in the borough of Elizabeth any 
white servant or servants, slave or slaves, which shall " be brought 
before the Mayor, &c., by their masters or other inhabitant of the 
Borough, for any misdemeanor rude or disorderly behavior, may 
be committed to the workhouse to hard labor and receive correc- 
tion not exceeding thirty lashes."- This Act was purely local in 
character, and indiscriminate in its application to e\'erv class of 
servants. It was nothing more than a police regulation, and as 
such was a wholesome law. 

In 1768 the General Court passed An Act to regulate tlie trial 
of slaves for murder and other crimes and to repeal so much of an 
act, &c. Sections one and two provided for the trial of slaves by 
the ordinary higher criminal courts. Section three provided that 
the expenses incurred in the execution of slaves should be levied 
upon all the owners of able-bodied slaves in the county, by order 
of the justices presiding at the trial. Section four repealed sec- 
tions four, five, six, and seven of the Act of 1713. This was 
significant. It portended a better feeling toward the Negroes, and 
illumined the dark horizon of slavery with the distant light of 

' Freedom and Bond.ige, vol. i. p. 2S4. - Hurd, vol. i. p. 2S5. 



THE COLONY OF NFAV JERSEY. 287 

hope. A strong feeling in favor of better treatment for Negru 
slaves made itself manifest at this time. When the Quaker found 
the prejudice against himself subsiding, he turned, like a good 
Samaritan, to pour the wine of human sympathy into the lacerated 
feelings of the Negro. Private instruction was given to them in 
many parts of Jersey. The gospel was expounded to them in its 
beauty and simplicity, and produced its good fruit in better lives. 
The next year, 1769, a mercenary spirit inspired and secured 
the passage of another Act levying a tax upon imported .slaves, 
and requiring persons manumitting slaves to give better securi- 
ties. It reads, — 

" Whereas dulie.s on the importation of negroes in several of the neighbor- 
ing colonies hath, on experience, been found beneficial in the introduction of 
sober industrious foreigners, to settle under his Majesty's allegiance, and the 
promoting a spirit of industry among the inhabitants in general, in order there- 
fore to promote the same good designs in this government and that such as 
purchase slaves may contribute some equitable proportion of the public 
burdens."' ' 

How an impost-tax upon imported slaves would be "benefi- 
cial in the introduction of sober industrious foreigners," is not 
easily perceived ; and how it would promote "a s[)irit of industry 
among the inhabitants in general," is a problem most difficult of 
solution. But these were the lofty reasons that inspired the 
General Court to seek to fill the coffers of the Province with 
money drawn from the slave-lottery, where himian beings were 
raffled off to the highest bidders in the colony. The cautious 
language in which the Act was couched indicated the sensitive 
state of the public conscience on slavery at that time. They were 
afraid to tell the truth. They did not dare to say to the people: 
We propose to repair the streets of your towns, the public roads, 
and lighten the burden of taxation, by saying to mcn-stealers, we 
will allow you to sell your cargoes of slaves into this colony pro- 
vided you share the spoils of your superlative crime! No, they 
had to tell the people that the introduction of Negro slaves, upon 
whom there was a ta.v, would entice sober and industrious white 
people to come among them, and would quicken the entire Prov- 
ince with a spirit of thrift never before witnessed ! 

In 1760 the Negro was ruled out of the militia establishment 
upon a condition. The law provided against the enlistment of 



Hurd, vol. i. p. 2S5. 



288 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

any ''young man under tlic age of tiventy-OJie years, or any slaves 
who arc so for terms of life, or apprentices," without leave of their 
masters. This was the mildest prohibition against the entrance 
of the slave into the militia service in any of the colonies. 
There is nothing said about the employment of the free Negroes 
in this service ; and it is fair to suppose, in view of the mild 
character of the laws, that they were not excluded. In settle- 
ments where the German and Quaker elements predominated, the 
Negro found that his "lines had fallen unto him in pleasant 
places, and that he had a goodly heritage." In the coast towns, 
and in the great centres of population, the white people were of a 
poorer class. Many were adventurers, cruel and unscrupulous 
in their methods. The speed with which the people sought to 
obtain a competency wore the finer edges of their feeling to the 
coarse grain of selfishness ; and they not only drew themselves 
up into the miserable rags of their own selfish aggrandizements 
as far as all competitors were concerned, but regarded slavery 
with imperturbable complacency. 

In 1738 the population of the Jerseys was, whites, 43,388; 
blacks, 3,981. In 1745 the whites numbered 56,797, and the 
blacks, 4,606. • 

' American Annals, vol. ii. pp. 127, 143. 



THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 289 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
1665-1775. 

The CAR0UNA5 receive -nvo Different Charters from the Crown of Great Britais-— Era 
OF Slaverv Legislation. — Law establishing Slavery. — The Slave Poi'ulation of this 
Province regarded as Ch.\ttel PRorERTV— Trial of Slaves. — Increase of Slave Poru- 
LATioN. — The Increase in the Rice-Trade. — Severe Laws regul.ating the Private and 
Public Conduct of Slaves. — Punishment of Slaves for running away. — The Life of 
Slaves regarded as of Little Consequence by the Violent Master Class. — An Act 
emi'Owering two Justices of the Peace to investigate Treatment of Slaves. — An Act 
PROiiiiiiTiNG the Overworking of Slaves —Slave-Market ,\t Charleston.- Insurrection. 

— A Law authorizing the carrying of Fire-AriMS among the Whites —The Enlistment 
of Slaves to serve in Time of Alarm. — Negroes admitied to the Militia Service.— 
Compensation to Masters for the Loss of Slaves killed by the Enemy or who desert. 

— Few Slaves manumitted. — From 1754-1776 Little Legisl.\tion on the Subject of 
Si-.«erv. — Threatening War between England and her Provincial Dependencies. — The 
Effect upon Public Sentiment. 

THE Carolinas received two different charters from the crown 
of Great Britain. The first was witnessed by the king at 
Westminster, March 24, 1663 ; the second, June 30, 1665. 
The last charter was surrendered to the king by seven of the eight 
proprietors on the 25th July, 1729. The government became 
regal ; and the Province was immediately divided into North and 
South Carolina by an order of the British Council, and the bound- 
aries between the two governments fi.xed. 

There were Negro slaves in the Carolinas from the earliest 
days of their existence. The era of slavery legislation began about 
the year 1690. The first Act for the " Better Ordering of Slaves " 
was " read three times and passed, and ratified in open Parliament, 
the seventh day of February, Anno Domini, 1690." It bore the 
signatures of Seth Sothell, G. Muschamp, John Beresford, and 
John Harris. It contained fifteen articles of the severest charac- 
ter. On the 7th of June, 1712, the first positive law establishing 
slavery passed, and was signed.' The entire Act embraced thirty- 



■ An eminent lawyer, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State of , and a 

warm personal friend of mine, recently said to me, during an afternoon stroll, that he never knew 
that slavery was ever established by statute in any of the British colonies in North America. 



2QO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

five sections. Section one is quoted in full because of the interest 
that centres in it in connection with the problem of slavery legis- 
lation in the colonies. 

"I. Be it therefore enacted, by his Excellency, William, Lord Craven, 
Palatine, and the rest of the true and absolute Lords and Proprietors of this 
Province, by and with the advice and consent of the rest of the members of 
the General Assembly, now met at Charlestown, for the South-west part of this 
Province, and by the authority of the same, That all negroes, mulatoes, musti- 
zoes or Indians, which at any time heretofore have been sold, or now are held 
or taken to be, or hereafter shall be bought and sold for slaves, are hereby 
declared slaves ; and they, and their children, are hereby made and declared 
slaves, to all intents and purposes; excepting all such negroes, mulatoes, mus- 
tizoes or Indians, which heretofore have been, or hereafter shall be, for some 
particular merit, made and declared free, either by the Governor and council 
of this Province, pursuant to any Act or law of this Province, or by their 
respective owners or masters ; and also, excepting all such negroes, mulatoes, 
mu-j-. oes or Indians, as can prove they ought not to be sold for slaves. And 
in case any negro, mulatoe, mustizoe or Indian, doth lay claim to his or her 
freedom, upon all or any of the said accounts, the same shall be finally heard 
and determined by the Governor and council of this Province."' ' 

The above section was re-enacted into another law, containing 
forty-three sections, passed on the 23d of February, 1722. Vir- 
ginia declared that children should follow the condition of their 
mothers, but never passed a law in any respect like unto this most 
remarkable Act. South Carolina has the unenviable reputation 
of being the only colony in North America where by positive 
statute the Negro was doomed to perpetual bondage.^ On the 
lOth of May, 1740, an act regulating slaves, containing fifty sec- 
tions, recites : — 

" Whereas, in his Majesty's plantations in America, slavery has been 
introduced and allowed, and the people commonly called negroes, Indians, 
mulattoes and mustizoes, have been deemed absolute slaves, and the subjects 
of property in the hands of particular persons, the extent of whose power over 
such slaves ought to be settled and limited by positive laws, so that the slave 
may be kept in due subjection and obedience, and the owners and other per- 
sons having the care and government of slaves may be restrained from exer- 
cising too great rigour and cruelty over them, and that the public peace and 
order of this Province may be preserved: We pray your most sacred Majesty 
that it may be enacted." 3 



' Statutes of S. C, vol, vii. p. 352. 

= Virginia made slavery statutory as did other colonies, but we liave no statute so explicit 
is> the above. But slavery was slavery in all the colonies, cruel and hurtful. 
3 Statutes of S. C, vol. vii. p. 397. 



THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 291 

The first section of this Act was made more elaborate than any 
/)ther law previously passed. It bore all the marks of ripe schol- 
arship and profound law learning. The first section is produced 
here : — 

'• I. And be it enacted., by the honorable WiUiani Bull, Esquire, Lieutenant 
Governor and Commander-in-chief, by and with the advice and consent of his 
?.!aiesty"s honorable Council, and the Commons House of Assembly of this 
Province, and by the authority of the same. That all negroes and Indians, (free 
Indians in amity with this government, and negroes, mulattoes and mustizoes, 
who are now free, excepted,) mulattoes or mustizoes who now are, or shall 
hereafter be, in this Province, and all their issue and ot^'spring, born or to be 
born, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be, and remain forever here- 
after, absolute slaves, and shall follow the condition of the mother, and shall 
be deemed, held, taken, reputed and adjudged in law, to be chattels personal, 
in the hands of their owners and possessors, and their executors, administra- 
tors and assigns, to all intents, constructions and purposes whatsoever; pro- 
vided always., that if any negro, Indian, mulatto or mustizo, shall claim his or 
her freedom, it shall and may be lawful for such negro, Indian, inulatto or 
mustizo, or any person or persons whatsoever, on his or her behalf, to apply 
to the justices of his Majesty's court of common pleas, by petition or motion, 
either during the sitting of the said court, or before any of the justices of the 
same court, at any time in the vacation ; and the said court, or any of the jus- 
tices thereof, shall, and they are hereby fully impowered to, admit any person 
so applying to be guardian for any negro, Indian, mulatto or mustizo, claiming 
his, her or their freedom ; and such guardians shall be enabled, entitled and 
capable in law, to bring an action of trespass in the nature of ravishment of 
ward, against any person who shall claim property in, or who shall be in pos- 
session of, any such negro, Indian, mulatto or mustizo; and the defendant 
shall and may plead the general issue on such action brought, and the special 
matter may and shall be given in evidence, and ujjon a general or special ver- 
dict found, judgment shall be given according to the very right of the cause, 
witliout having any regard to any defect in the proceedings, either in form 
or substance ; and if judgment shall be given for the plaintiff, a special entry 
shall be made, declaring that the ward of the plaintiff is free, and the jury shall 
assess damages which the plaintiff's ward hath sustained, and the court shall 
give judgment, and award execution, against the defendant for such damage, 
with full costs of suit; but in case judgment shall be given for the defendant, 
the said court is hereby fully impowered to inflict such corporal punishment, 
not extending to life or limb, on the ward of the plaintiff, as they, in their 
discretion, shall think fit; provided akvays, that in any action or suit to be 
brought in pursuance of the direction of this Act, the burthen of the proof shall 
lay on the plaintiff, and it shall be always presumed that every negro. Indian, 
mulatto and mustizo, is a slave, unless the contrary can be made appear, the 
Indians in amity with this government excepted, in which case the burthen of 
the proof shall lye on the defendant ; provided also, that nothing in this Act 
shall be construed to hinder or restrain any other court of law or equity in this 
Province, from determining the property of slaves, or their right of freedom. 



292 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE JN AMERICA. 

which now have cognizance or jurisdiction of tlie same, when the same shall 
happen to come in judgment before such courts, or any of them, always taking 
this Act for their direction therein." ' 



The entire slave population of this Province was regarded as 
chattel property, absolutely. They could be seized in execution as 
in the case of other property, but not, however, if there were 
other chattels available. In case of "burglary, robbery, burning 
of houses, killing or stealing of any meat or other cattle, or other 
petty injuries, as maiming one of the other, stealing of fowls, pro- 
visions, or such like trespass or injuries," a justice of the peace 
was to be informed. He issued a warrant for the arrest of the 
offender or offenders, and summoned all competent witnesses. 
After examination, if found guilty, the offender or offenders were 
committed to jail. The justice then notified the justice next to 
him to be associated with him in the trial. He had the authority 
to fix the day and hour of the trial, to summon witness, and " three 
discreet and sufificient freeholders." The justices then swore the 
"freeholders," and, after they had tried the case, had the authority 
to pronounce the sentence of death, "or such other punishment" 
as they felt meet to fix. "The solemnity of a jury" was never 
accorded to slaves. " Three freeholders " could dispose of huinan 
life in such cases, and no one could hinder.^ The confession of 
the accused slave, and the testimony of another slave, were " held 
for good and convincing evidence in all petty larcenies or tres- 
passes not exceeding forty shillings." In the case of a Negro on 
trial for his life, " the oath of Christian evidence " was required, 
or the "positive evidence of two Negroes or slaves," in order to 
convict. 

The increase of slaves was almost phenomenal. The rice- 
trade had grown to enormous proportions. The physical obstruc- 
tion gave away rapidly before the incessant and stupendous efforts 
of Negro laborers. The colonists held out most flattering induce- 
ments to Englishmen to emigrate into the Province. The home 
government applauded the zeal and executive abilities of the local 
authorities. Attention was called to the necessity of legislation for 
the government of the vast Negro population in the colony. The 
code of South Carolina was without an example among the civil- 
ized governments of modern times. It was unlawful for any free 



Statutes of S. C, vol. vii. pp. 397, 398. ^ 'bid., vol. vii. pp. 343, 344. 



THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 293 

person to inhabit or trade with Negroes." Slaves could not leave 
the plantation on which they were owned, except in livery, or 
armed with a pass, signed by their master, containing the name 
of the possessor. For a violation of this regulation they were 
whijjped on the naked back. No man was allowed to conduct a 
"plantation, cow-pen or stock," that shall be six miles distant 
from his usual place of abode, and wherein six Negroes were 
employed, without one or more white persons were residing on 
the place.- Negro slaves found on another plantation than the 
one to which they belonged, "on the Lord's Day, fast days, or 
holy-days," even though they could produce passes, were seized 
and whipped. If a slave were found "keeping any horse, horses, or 
neat cattle," any white man, by warrant, could seize the animals, 
and sell them through the church-wardens ; and the money arising 
from such sale was devoted to the poor of the parish in which 
said presumptuous slaves resided. If more than seven slaves 
were found travelling on the highway, except accompanied by a 
white man, it was lawful for any white man to ai)[)rehend each 
and every one of such slaves, and administer twenty lashes upon 
their bare back. No slave was allowed to hire out his time. 
Some owners of slaves were poor, and, their slaves being trusty 
and industrious, permitted them to go out and get whatever work 
they could, with the understanding that the master was to have 
the wages. An Act was passed in 1735, forbidding such transac- 
tions, and fining the persons who hired slaves who had no written 
certificate from their masters setting forth the terms upon which 
the work was to be done. No slave could hire a house or planta- 
tion. No amount of industry could make him an exception to 
the general rule. If he toiled faithfully for years, amassed a for- 
tune for his master, earned quite a competence for himself during 
the odd moments he caught from a busy life, and then, with 
acknowledged character and business tact, he sought to hire a 
plantation or buy a house, the law came in, and pronounced it a 
misdemeanor, for which both purchaser and seller had to pay in 
fines, stripes, and imprisonment. A slave could not keep in his 
own name, or that of his master, any kind of a house of enter- 
tainment. He was even prohibited by law from selling corn or 
rice in the Province. The penalty was a fine of forty shillings, 

■ This Act, passed on the i6th of March, 1696, was made '-perpetual" on the 12th of 
December, 1712. It remained througliout the entire period. See Statutes of S. C, vol. U. p. 598. 
^ Statutes of S. C, vol. vii. p. 363. 



294 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and the forfeiture of. tlie articles for sale. They could not keep a 
boat or canoe. 

The cruelties of the code are without a parallel, as applied to 
the correction of Negro slaves. 

" If any negro or Indian slave [says the act of Feb. 7, i6go] shall offer 
any violence, by stricking or the like, to any white person, he shall for the first 
offence be severely whipped by the constable, by order of any justice of peace ; 
and for the second offence, by like order, shall be severely whipped, his or her 
nose slit, and face burnt in some place ; and for the third offence, to be left 
to two justices and three sufficient freeholders, to inflict death, or any other 
punishment, according to their discretion."' 

As the penalties for the smallest breach of the slave-code 
grew more severe, the slaves grew more restless and agitated. 
Sometimes under great fear they would run away for a short time, 
in the hope that their irate masters would relent. But this, 
instead of helping, hindered and injured the cause of the slaves. 
Angered at the conduct of their slaves, the master element, hav- 
ing their representatives on the floor of the Assembly, secured 
the passage of the following brutal law: — 

" That every slave of above sixteen years pf age, that shall run away from 
his master, mistress or overseer, and shall so continue for the space of twenty 
days at one time, shall, by his master, mistress, overseer or head of the family's 
procurement, for the first offence, be publicly and severely whipped, not e.xxeed- 
ing forty lashes ; and in case the master, mistress, overseer, or head of the family, 
shall neglect to inflict such punishment of whipping, upon any negro or slave 
that shall so run away, for the space of ten days, upon complaint made thereof, 
within one month, by any person whatsoever, to any justice of the peace, the 
said justice of the peace shall, by his warrant directed to the constable, order 
the said negro or slave to be publicly and severely whipped, the charges of 
such whipping, not exxeeding twenty shillings, to be borne by the person 
neglecting to have such runaway negro whipped, as before directed by ihi.s .Act. 
And in case such negro or slave shall run away a second time, and shall so 
continue for the space of twenty days, he or she, so offending, shall be branded 
witli the letter R, on the right cheek. .And in case the master, mistress, over- 
seer, or head of the family, shall neglect to inflict the punishment upon such 
slave running away the second time, the person so neglecting shall forfeit the 
sum of ten pounds, and upon any complaint made by any person, within one 
month, to any justice of the peace, of the neglect of so punishing any slave 
for running away the second time, such justice shall order the constable to 
inflict the same punishment upon such slave, or cause the same to be done, the 
charges thereof, not e.vceeding thirty shillings, to be borne by the person 
neglecting to have tlie punishment inflicted. And in case such negro or slave 
shall run away the third time, and shall so continue for the space of thirty 
days, he or she, so offending, for the third oft'ence, shall be severely whipped, 



THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 295 

not exccedinj; forty lashes, and shall have one of his ears cut off; and in case 
the master, mistress, overseer or head of the family, shall neglect to inflict the 
punishment upon such slave running away the third time, the person so 
neglecting shall forfeit the sum of twenty pounds, and upon any complaint 
made by any person, within two months, to any justice of the peace, of the 
neglect of the so punishing any slave for running awav the third time, the said 
justice shall order the constable to inHict the same punishment upon such 
slave, or cause the same to be done, .the charges thereof, not exceeding forty 
shillings, to be borne by the person neglecting to have the punishment inflicted. 
And in case such male negro or slave shall run away the fourth time, and shall 
so continue for the space of thirty days, he, so offending, for the fourth offence, 
by order or procurement of the master, mistress, overseer or head of the 
family, shall be gelt : and in case the negro or slave that shall be gelt, shall die, 
by reason of his gelding, and without any neglect of the person that shall 
order the same, the owner of^he negro or slave so dying, shall be paid for him, 
out of the public treasury. /.'Vnd if a female slave shall run away the fourth 
time, then she shall, by ordcr-of her master, mistress or overseer, be severely 
whipped, and be branded on the left cheek with the letter R, and her left ear 
cut off. I And if the owner, if in this Province, or in case of his absence, if his 
agent, factor or attorney, that hath the charge of the negro or slave, by this 
Act required to be gelt, whipped, branded and the ear cut off, for the fourth 
time of running away, shall neglect to have the same done and executed, 
accordingly as the same is ordered by this Act, for the space of twenty days 
after such slave is in his or their custody, that then such owner shall lose his 
property to the said slave, to him or them that will sue for the same, by infor- 
mation, at any time within six months, in the court of common pleas in this 
Province. And every person who shall so recover a slave by information, for 
the reasons aforesaid, shall, within twenty days after such recovery, inflict such 
punishment upon such slave as his former owner or head of a family ought to 
have done, and for neglect of which he lost his property to the said slave, or 
for neglect thereof shall forfeit fifty pounds ; and in case any negro slave so 
recovered by information, and gelt, shall die, in sucli case, the slave so dying 
shall not be paid for out of the public treasury. .And in case any negro or 
slave shall run away the fifth time, and shall so continue by the space of thirty 
days at one time, such slave shall be tried before two justices of the peace and 
three freeholders, as before directed by this Act in case of murder, and being 
by them declared guilty of the offence, it shall be lawful for them to order the 
cord of one of the slave's legs to be cut off above the heel, or else to pronounce 
sentence of death upon the slave, at tlie discretion of the said justices ; and 
any judgment given after the first offence, shall be sufficient conviction to bring 
the offenders within the penalty for the second offence : and after the second, 
within the penalty of the third; and so for the inflicting the rest of the punish- 
ments." ' 

If any slave attempted to run away from liis or her master, 
and go out of the Province, he or she could be tried before two 

' Statutes of S. C, vol. vii. pp. 359, 360. 



296 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

justices and three freeholders, and sentenced to suffer a most cruel 
death. If it could be proved that any Negro, free or sla\'e, had 
endeavored to persuade or entice any other Negro to run off out of 
the Province, upon conviction he was punished with forty lashes, 
and branded on the forehead with a red hot iron, '' that the mark 
thereof may remain." If a white man met a slave, and demanded 
of him to show his ticket, and the slave refused, the law empowered 
the white man " to beat, maim, or assault ; and if such Negro or 
slave" could not "be taken, to kill him," if he would not "shew 
his ticket." 

The cruel and barbarous code of the slave-power in South 
Carolina produced, in course of time, a re-action in the opposite 
direction. The large latitude that the law gave to white people in 
their dealings with the hapless slaves made them careless and 
extravagant in the use of their authority. It educated them into 
a brood of tyrants. They did not care any more for the life of a 
Negro slave than for the crawling worm in their path. Many 
white men who owned no slaves poured forth their wrathful invec- 
tives and cruel blows upon the heads of innocent Negroes with 
the slightest pretext. They pushed, jostled, crowded, and kicked 
the Negro on every occasion. The young whites early took their 
lessons in abusing Gad's poor and helpless children ; while an 
overseer was prized more for his brutal powers — to curse, beat, 
and torture — than for any ability he chanced to possess for busi- 
ness management. The press and pulpit had contemplated this 
state of affairs until they, too, were the willing abettors in the most 
cruel system of bondage that history has recorded. But no man 
wants his horse driven to death, if it is a beast. No one cares to 
have every man that passes kick his dog, even if it is not the best 
dog in the commimity. It is his dog, and that makes all the dif- 
ference in the world. The men who did the most cruel things to 
the slaves they found in their daily path were, as a rule, without 
slaves or any other kind of property. They used their authority 
unsparingly. Common-sense taught the planters that better treat- 
ment of the slaves meant better work, and increased profits for 
themselves. A small value was finally placed upon a slave's life, 
— fifty pounds. Fifty pounds paid into the public treasury by a 
man who, "of wantonness, or only of bloody-mindedness, or cruel 
intention," had killed "a negro or other slave of his own," was 
enough to appease the public mind, and atone for a cold-blooded 
murder ! If he killed another man's slave, the law demanded that 



THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 297 

he pay fifty pounds current money into the public treasury, and 
the full price of the slave to the owner, but was "not to be liable 
to any other punishment or forfeiture for the same." ' The law 
just referred to, passed in 1712, was re-enacted in 1722. One 
change was made in it : i.e., if a wiiite servant, having no property, 
killed a slave, three justices could bind him over to the master 
whose slave he killed to serve him for five years. This law had a 
wholesome effect upon irresponsible white men, who often pre- 
sumed upon their nationality, having neither brains, money, nor 
social standing, to punish slaves. 

In 1740, May 10, the following Act became a law ; showing that 
there had been a wonderful change in public sentiment resuecting 
the treatment of slaves: — 

"XXXVII. And w//tvfrtj, cruelty is not only higlily unliecoming those 
who profess themselves christians, but is odious in the eyes of all men who 
have any seijse of virtue or humanity; therefore, to restrain and prevent bar- 
barity being e.xercised towards slaves, Be it cnucfed hy the' authority aforesaid, 
That if any person or persons whosoever, shall wilfully murder his own slave, 
or the slave of any other person, every such person shall, upon conviction there- 
of, forfeit and pay the sum of seven hundred pounds, current money, and shall 
be rendered, and is hereby declared altogether and forever incapable of holding, 
exercising, enjoying or receiving the prolits of any office, place or employment, 
civil or military, within this Province: And in case any such person shall not 
be able to pay the penalty and forfeitures hereby inflicted and imposed, every 
such person shall be sent to any of the frontier garrisons of this Province, or 
committed to the work house in Charlestown, there to remain for the space of 
seven years, and to serve or to be kept at hard labor. And in case the slave 
murdered shall be the property of any other person than the offender, the pay 
usually allowed by the public to the soldiers of such garrison, or the profits of 
the labor of the offender, if committed to the work house in Charlestown, shall 
be paid to the owner of the slave murdered. And if any person shall, on a 
sudden heat of passion, or by undue correction, kill his own slave, or the slave 
of any other person, he shall forfeit the sum of three hundred and fifty pounds, 
current money. And in case any person or persons shall wilfully cut out the 
tongue, put out the eye, castrate, or cruelly scald, burn, or deprive any slave of 
any limb or member, or shall inflict any other cruel punishment, other than by 
whipping or beating with a horse-whip, cow-skin, switch or small stick, or by 
putting irons on, or confining or imprisoning such slave, every such person 
shall, for every such offence, forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds, current 
money." 2 

It may be said truthfully that the slaves ii-. the colony of South 
Carolina were accorded treatment as good as that bestowed upon 

■ Statutes of S. C, vol. vii p. 36.^. - Ibid, vol. vii. pp. 410, 411. 



298 HISTORY OF THE XEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

horses, in 1750. But their social condition was most deplorable. 
The law positively forbid the instruction of slaves, and the penalty 
was "one hundred pounds current money." For a few years 
Saturday afternoon had been allowed them as a day of recreation, 
but as early as 1690 it was forbidden by statute. In the same year 
an Act was iiassed declaring that slaves should " have convenient 
clothes, once every year ; and that no slave " should " be free by 
becoming a christian," but as to payments of debts" were 
" deemed and taken as all other goods and chattels." Their houses 
were searched every fortnight "for runaway slaves" and "stolen 
goods." Druggists were not allowed to employ a Negro to handle 
medicines, upon pain of forfeiting twenty pounds current money 
for every such offence. Negroes were not allowed to practise 
medicine, nor administer drugs of any kind, except by the direction 
of some white person. Any gathering of Negroes could be broken 
up at the discretion of a justice living in the district where the 
meeting was in session. 

Poor clothing and insufficient food bred wide-spread discontent 
among the slaves, and attracted public attention.^ Many masters , 
endeavored to get on as cheaply as possible in providing for their 
slaves. In 1722 the Legislature passed an Act empowering two 
justices of the peace to inquire as to the treatment of slaves on 
the several plantations ; and if any master neglected his slaves in 
food and raiment, he was liable to a fine of not more than fifty 
shillings. In May, 1740, an Act was passed requiring masters to 
see to it that their slaves were not overworked. The time set for 
them to work, was "from the 25th day of March to the 25th day 
of September," not "more than fifteen hours in four-and- 
twenty ; " and "from the 25th day of September to the 25th day 
of March," not "more than fourteen hours in four-and-twenty." 

^ The following is the Act of the 7th of June, 1690. "XXXIV Since charit)', and the 
cliristian reliqjion, wliich we profess, obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men, and that reli- 
gion may not be made a pretence to alter any man's property and right, and that no person may 
neglect to baptize their negroes or slaves, or suffer them to be baptized, for fear that tliereby they 
should be manumitted and set free, Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that it bh.ill 
be, and is hereby declared, lawful for any negro or Indian slave, or any other slave or slaves what- 
soever, to receive and profess the christian faith, and be thereinto baptized ; but that notwithstand- 
ing such slave or slaves shall receive and profess the christian religion, and be baptized, he or they 
shall not thereby be manumitted or set free, or his or their owner, master or mistress lose his or 
their -civil right, property and authority over such slave or slaves, but that the slave or slaves, with 
respect to his servitude, shall remain and continue in the same state and condition that he or they 
was in before the making of this act." — Statutes of S- C, vol. vii. pp. 364, 365. 

' In 1740 an .^ct was passed requiring m.asters to provide "sufficient clothing" for their 
slaves. 



THE COLONY OP SOUTH CAROLINA. 299 

The history of the impost-tax on slaves imported into the 
Province of South Carolina is the history of organized greed, 
ambition, and extortion. Many were the gold sovereigns that 
were turned into the official coffers at Charleston ! With a 
magnificent harbor, and a genial climate, no city in the South 
could rival it as a slave-market. With an abundant supply from 
without, and a steady demand from within, the officials at 
Charleston felt assured that high impost-duties could not interfere 
with the slave-trade ; while the city would be a great gainer by the 
traffic, both mediately and immediately. 

Sudden and destructive insurrections were the safety-valves to 
the institution of slavery. A race long and cruelly enslaved may 
endure the yoke patiently for a season : but like the sudden 
gathering of the summer clouds, the pelting rain, the vivid, 
blinding lightning, the deep, hoarse thundering, it will assert 
itself some day; and then it is indeed a day of judgment to the 
taslc-masters ! The Negroes in South Carolina endured a most 
cruel treatment for a long time; and, when "the day of their 
wrath " came, they scarcely knew it themselves, much less the 
whites. Florida was in the possession of the Spaniards. Its 
governor had sent out spies into Georgia and South Carolina, who 
held out very flattering inducements to the Negroes to desert 
their masters and go to Florida. Moreover, there was a Negro 
regiment in the Spanish service, whose officers were from their 
own race. Many slaves had made good their escape, and joined 
this regiment. It w'as allowed the same uniform and pay as the 
Spanish soldiers had. The colony of South Carolina was fearing 
an enemy from without, while behold their worst enemy was at 
their doors! In 1740 some Negroes assembled themselves 
together at a town called Stone, and made an attack upon two 
young men, who were guarding a warehouse, and killed them. 
They seized the arms and ammunition, effected an organization by 
electing one of their number captain ; and, with boisterous drums 
and flying banners, they marched off "like a disciplined com 
pany." They entered the house of one Mr. Godfrey, slew him. 
his wife, and child, and then fired his dwelling. They next look 
up their march towards Jacksonburgh, and plundered and burnt 
the bouses of Sacheveral, Nash, Spry, and others. They killed 
ail the white people they found, and recruited their ranks from 
the Negroes they met. Gov. Bull was " returning to Charleston 
from the southward, met them, and, observing them armed. 



300 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

quickly rode out of their way." ' In a march of twelve miles, 
they had wrought a work of great destruction. News reached 
Wiltown, and the militia were called out. The Negro insurrec- 
tionists were into.\icated with their triumph, and drunk from rum 
they had taken from the houses they had plundered. They halted 
in an open field to sing and dance ; and, during their hilarity, 
Cajit. Bee, at the head of the troops of the district, fell upon 
them, and, having killed several, captured all who did not make 
their escape in the woods. 

The Province was thrown into intense e.xcitement. The Legis- 
lature called attention to the insurrection,^ and declared legal 
some very questionable and summary acts. In 1743 the people 
had not recovered from the fright they received from the insur- 
rection. On the /th of May, 1743, an Act was passed requiring 
every white male inhabitant, who resorted "to any church or any 
other public place of divine worship, within" the Province to 
"carry with him a gun or a pair of horse pistols, in good order 
and fit for service, with at least si.x charges of gun-powder and 
ball," upon pain of paying "twenty shillings." 

As there was a law against teaching slaves to read and write, 
there were no educated preachers. If a Negro desired to preach 
to his fellow-slaves, he had to secure written permission from his 
master. While Negroes were sometimes baptized into the com- 
munion of the Church, — usually the Episcopal Church, — they 
were allowed only in the gallery, or organ-loft, of white congrega- 
tions, in small numbers. No clergyman ventured to break unto 
this benighted people the bread of life. They were abandoned to 
the superstitions and religious fanaticisms incident to their con- 
dition. 

In 1704 an Act was passed "for raising and enlisting such 
slaves as shall be thought serviceable to this Province in time of 
Alarms" It required, within thirty days after the publication of 
the Act, that the commanders of military organizations through- 
out the Province should appoint "five freeholders," "sober and 
discreet men," who were to make a complete list of all the able- 
bodied slaves in their respective districts. Three of them were 
competent to decide upon the qualifications of a slave. After the 
completion of the list, the freeholders mentioned above notified 
the owners to appear before them upon a certain day, and show 

■ Hist. S. C. and Georgia, vol. ii. p. 73. ^ Statutes of S. C, vol. vii. p. 416. 



THE COLONY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 301 

cause why their slaves should not be chosen for the service of the 
colony. The slaves were then enlisted, and their masters charged 
with the duty of arming them "with a serviceable lance, hatchet 
or gun, with sufficient amunition and hatchets, according to the 
convcnicncy of the said owners, to appear under the colours of 
the respective captains, in their several divisions, throughout " 
the Province, for the performance of such " luiblic service " as 
required. If an owner refused to ecjuip or permit his slave to 
resjiond to alarms, he was fined five pounds for each neglect, 
which was to be paid to the captain of the company to which the 
slave belonged. If a slave were killed by the enemy " in the line 
of duty," the owner of such slave was paid out of the public 
treasury such sum of money as three freeholders, under oath, 
should award. The Negroes did admirably ; and four years later, 
oil the 24th of April, 170S, the Legislature re-enacted the bill 
making them militia-men. The last Act contained ten sections, 
and bears evidence of the pleasure the whites took in the employ- 
ment of Negroes as their defenders. If a Negro were taken 
jjrisoncr by the enemy, and effected his escape back into the 
Province, he was emancipated. And if a Negro captured and 
killed an enemy, he was emancipated, but if wounded himself, 
was set free at the public expense. If he deserted to the enemy, 
his master was paid for his loss. 

Few slaves were manumitted. The law required that masters 
who emancipated their slaves should make provisions for trans- 
porting them out of the Province. If they were found in the 
Province twelve months after they were set free, the manumission 
was considered void, except approved by the Legislature. 

From 1754 till 1776 there was little legislation on the subject 
of slavery. The pressure from without made men conservative 
about slavery, and radical on the question of the rights and liber- 
tics of the colonies. The threatening war between Lngland and 
her provincial dependencies made men humane and patriotic ; and 
during these years of anxiety and excitement, the weary slaves 
breathed a better atmosphere, and enjoyed the rare sensation of 
confidence and benevolence. 



HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE COLONY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

1669-1775. 

The Geographical Situation of North Cakolina Fa\-orabi.e to the Slave-Trade. — The Locke 
Constitution adopted. — William Sa'^'le commis-^ioned Govlrnou. — Legislative Career 
of the Colony. — The Introduction of the Est.\blished Church of England into the 
Colony. — The Rights of Negroes controlled absolutely by their Masters. — An Act 
re5;pecting Conspiracies. — The Wrath of Ill-natured Whites visited upon their Slaves. 
— An Act against the Emancip.\tion of Sl.\ves. — Limited Rights of Free Negroes. 

THE geographical situation of North Carolina was favorable 
to the slave-trade. 

Through the genius of Shaftesbury, and the subtle cun- 
ning of John Locke, Carolina received, and for a time adopted, 
the most remarkable constitution ever submitted to any people 
in any age of the world. The whole affair was an insult to 
humanity, and in its fundamental elements bore the palpable 
evidences of the cruel conclusions of an exclusive philosophy. 
" No elective franchise could be conferred upon a freehold of less 
than fifty acres," while all executive power was vested in the 
proprietors themselves. Seven courts were controlled by forty- 
two counsellors, twenty-eight of whom held their places through 
the gracious favor of the proprietary and " the nobility." Trial 
by jury was concluded by the opinions of the majority. 

" The instinct of aristocracy dreads the moral power of a proprietary 
yeomanry; the perpetual degradation of the cultivators of the soil was enacted. 
Tlie leet-men, or tenants, holding ten acres of land at a fixed rent, were not 
only destitute of political franchises, but were adscripts to the soil ; ' under the 
jurisdiction of their lord, without appeal :' and it was added, 'all the children 
of leet-men shall be leet-men, and so to all generations.'"' 

The men who formed the rank and file of the yeomanry of the 
colony of North Carolina were ill prepared for a government 

' Bancroft, vol. ii. 5tli ed. p. 14S. 



THE COLONY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 303 

launched upon the immense scale of the Locke Constitution. The 
hopes and fears^ the feuds and debates, the vexatious and insolu- 
ble problems, of the political science of government which had 
clouded the sky of the most astute and ambitous statesmen of 
Europe, were dumped into this remarkable instrument. The 
distance between the people and the nobility was sought to be 
made illimitable, and the right to govern was based upon perma- 
nent property conditions. Hereditary wealth was to go arm in 
arm with political power. 

The constitution was signed on the 2ist of July, 1669, and 
William Sayle was commissioned as governor. The legislative 
career of the Province began in the fall of the same year ; and 
history must record that it was one of the most remarkable and 
startling North America ever witnessed. The portions of the con- 
stitution which refer to the institution of slavery are as follows : — 

"97th. But .since the natives of th.at place, wiio will be concerned in our 
plantation, are utterly strangers to Christianity, whose idolatry, ignorance or 
mistake, gives us no right to e.vpel or use them ill ; and those who remove from 
Other parts to plant there, will unavoidably be of different opinions, concerning 
matters of religion, the liberty whereof they will e.xpect to have allowed them, 
and it will not be reasonable for us on this account to keep them out; that civil 
peace may be obtained amidst diversity of opinions, and our agreement and 
compact with all men, may be duly and faithfully observed; the violation 
whereof, upon what pretence soever, cannot be without great offence to 
Almighty God, and great scandal to the true religion which we profess : and 
also tliat Jews, Heathens and other dissenters from the purity of the Christian 
religion, may not be scared and kept at a distance from it, but by having an 
opportunity of acquainting themselves with the truth and reasonableness of its 
doctrines, and the peaceableness and inoffensiveness of its professors, may by 
good usage and persuasion, and all those convincing methods of gentleness 
and meekness, suitable to the rules and design of the gospel, be won over to 
embrace, and unfeignedly receive the truth ; therefore any seven or more per- 
sons agreeing in any religion, shall constitute a church or profession, to wliich 
they shall give some name, to distinguish it from others. . . . 

" loist. No person above seventeen years of age, shall have any benefit 
or protection of the law, or be capable of any place of profit or honor, who is 
not a member of some church or profession, having his name recorded in some 
one, and but one religious record, at once. . . . 

" 107th. .Since charity obliges us to wish well to the souls of all men, and 
religion ought to alter nothing in any man's civil estate or right, it shall be 
lawful for slaves as well as others, to enter themselves and be of what church 
or profession any of them shall think best, and thereof be as fully member!! 
as any freemen, liut yet no slave shall hereby be exempted from th.at civil 
dominion his master hath over him, but be in all things in the same state and 
condition he was in before. . . . 



304 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" I loth. Every freeman of Carolina, shall have absohite power and authori- 
ty over his negro slaves, of what opinion or religion soever." ' 

Though the Locke Constitution was adopted by the proprie- 
taries, iVIarch i, 1669, it may be doubted whether it ever had the 
force of law, as it was never ratified by the local Legislature. 
Article one hundred and ten, granting absolute power and 
authority to a master over his Negro slave, is without a parallel 
in the legislation of the colonies. And while the slave might 
enter the Christian Church, and his humanity thereby be recog- 
nized, it was strangely inconsistent to place his life at the disposal 
of brutal masters, who "neither feared God nor regarded man." 

The Negro slaves in North Carolina occupied the paradoxical 
position of being eligible to membership in the Christian Church, 
and the absolute property of their white brothers. Li the second 
draught of the constitution, signed in March, 1670, against the 
eloquent protest of John Locke, the section on religion was 
amended so as, while tolerating every religious creed, to declare 
"the Church of England" the only true Orthodox Church, and 
the national religion of the Province. This, in the face of the 
fact that the great majority of all the Christians who flocked to 
the New World were dissenters, separatists, and nonconformists, 
can only be explained in the light of the burning zeal of the 
Church of England to out-Herod Herod, — to carry the Negroes 
into the communion of the State church for political purposes. 
It was the most sordid motive that impelled the churchmen to 
open the church to the slave. His membership did not change 
his condition, nor secure him immunity from the barbarous treat- 
ment the institution of slavery bestowed upon its helpless victims. 

Li the eyes of the law the Negro, being absolute property, had 
no rights, except those temporarily delegated by the master ; and 
he acted in the relation of an agent. Negro slaves were not 
allowed " to raise horses, cattle or hogs ; " and if any stock were 
found in their possession six months after the passage of the Act 
of 1741, they were to be seized by the sheriff of the county, and 
sold by the church-wardens of the parish. The profits arising 
from such sales went, one half to the parish, the other half to the 
informer.^ A slave was not suffered to go off of the plantation 
where he was appointed to live, without a pass signed by his 

' statutes of S. C, vol. i. pp. 53-55. ^ Public Acts of N. C, vol. i. p. 64. 



THE COLONY OF NORTH CAROLINA. 305 

master or the overseer. There was an exception made in the case 
of Negroes wearing liveries. Negro slaves were not allowed the 
use of fire-arms or other weapons, except they were armed with a 
certificate from their master granting the coveted permission. If 
they hunted with arms, not having a certificate, any Christian 
could apprehend them, seize the weapons, deliver the slave' to the 
first justice of the peace ; who was authorized to administer, with- 
out ceremony, twenty lashes upon his or her bare back, and send 
him or her home. The master had to pay the cost of airest and 
punishment. The one exception to this law was, that one Negro 
on each plantation or in each district could carry a gun to shoot 
game for his master and protect stock, etc. ; but his certificate was 
to be in his possession all the time. If a Negro went from the 
plantation on which he resided, to another plantation or place, he 
was required by statute to travel in the most generally frequented 
road. If caught in another road, not much travelled, except in 
the com[)any of a white man, it was lawful for the man who owned 
the land through which he was passing to seize him, and adminis- 
ter not more than forty lashes. If Negroes visited each other in 
the night season, — the only time they could visit, — the ones who 
were found on another plantation than their master's were pun- 
ished with lashes on their naked back, not exceeding forty ; while 
the Negroes who had furnished the entertainment received twenty 
lashes for their hospitality. In case any slave, who had not been 
properly fed and clothed by his master, was convicted of stealing 
cattle, hogs, or corn from another man, an action of trespass 
could be maintained against the master in the general or county 
court, and damages recovered.' 

Here, as in the other colonies, the greatest enemy of the 
colonists was an accusing conscience. The people started at 
every breath of rumor, and always imagined their slaves con- 
spiring to cut their throats. There was nothing in the observed 
character of the slaves to justify the wide-spread consternation 
that filled the public mind. Nor was there any occasion to 
warrant the passage of the Act of 1741, respecting conspiracies 
among slaves. It is a remarkable document, and is produced here. 

"XLVII. And be it further enacted by the authoritv aforesaid, Tliat if any 
number of negroes or other slaves, tliat is to sav. three, or more, shall, at any 

* This is an instance of humanity in the Xorth-Carolina code worthy of special note. It 
stands as the only instance of justice toward the over-worked and under-fed slaves of the colony. 



306 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

time hereafter, consult, advise or conspire to rebel, or make insurrection, or 
shall plot or conspire the murder of any person or persons whatsoever, every 
such consulting, plotting or conspiring, shall be adjudged and deemed felony; 
and the slave or slaves convicted thereof, in manner herein after directed, shall 
suffer death. 

"XLV'III. And be it fnrtlicr enacted by the ajctliority aforesaid. That 
every slave committing such offence, or any other crime or misdemeanor, 
shall forthwith be cominitted, by any justice of the peace, to the common jail 
of the county within which the said offence shall be committed, there to be 
safely kept; and that the sheriff of such county, upon such commitment, shall 
forthwith certify the same to any Justice in the commission for the said court 
for the time being, resident in the county, who is thereupon required and 
directed to issue a summons for two or more Justices of the said court, and 
four freeliolders, such as shall have slaves in the said county; which said three 
Justices and four freeholders, owners of slaves, are hereby impow^red and 
required upon oath, to try all manner of crimes and offences, that shall be com- 
mitted by any slave or slaves, at the court house of the county, and to take for 
evidence, the confession of the offender, the oath of one or more credible wit- 
nesses, or such testimony of negroes, mulattoes or Indians, bond or free, with 
pregnant circumstances, as to them shall seem convincing, without the solemnity 
of a jury ; and the offender being then found guilty, to pass such judgment 
upon such offender, according to their discretion, as the nature of tlie crime 
or offence shall require ; and on such judgment, to award execution. 

'■XLIX. Provided aliuays, and be it enacted. That it shall and may be 
lawful for each and every Justice, being in the commission of the peace for 
the county where any slave or slaves shall be tried, by virtue of this act, (who 
is owner of slaves) to sit upon such trial, and act as a member of such court, 
though he or they be not summoned thereto : anything herein before contained 
to the contrary, in any wise, notwithstanding. 

" L. And to the end such negro, mulatto or Indian, bond or free, not being 
christians, as shall hereafter be produced as an evidence on the trial of any 
slave or slaves, for capital or other crimes, may be under the greater obligation 
to declare the truth; Be it furtlier enacted. There where any such negro, mu- 
latto or Indian, bond or free, shall, upon due proof made, or pregnant circum- 
stances, appearing before any county court within this government, be found to 
have given a false testimony, every such offender shall, without further trial, be 
ordered, by tlie said court, to have one ear nailed to the pillory, and there stand 
for the space of one hour, and the said ear to be cut off, and thereafter the other 
ear nailed in like manner, and cut off, at the expiration of one other hour; and 
moreover, to order every such offender thirty-nine lashes, well laid on, on his or 
her bare back, at the common whipping post. 

" LI. And be it further enacted by the aiithority aforesaid, That at every 
such trial of slaves committing capital or other offences, the first person in 
commission sitting on such trial, shall, before the examination of every negro, 
mulatto or Indian, not being a christian, charge such to declare the truth. 

" LI I. Provided always, and it is hereby intended. That the master, owner 
or overseer of any slave, to be arraigned and tried by virtue of this act, may 
appear at the trial, and make what just defence he can for such slave or slaves ; 



THE COLOXY OF NORTH CAROLIXA. 307 

so tlint such defence do not relate to any formality in the proceeding on the 
trial." ' 

The manner of condticting the trials of Negroes charged with 
felony or misdemeanor was rather peculiar. Upon one or more 
white persons' testimony, or the evidence of Negroes and Indians, 
bond or free, the iinfortiuiate defendant, " without the solemnity of 
a jury," before three justices and four freeholders, could be hurried 
through a trial, convicted, sentenced to die a dreadful death, and 
then be executed without the officiating presence of a minister of 
the gospel. 

The unprecedented discretion allowed to masters in the govern- 
ment led to the most tragic results. Men were not only reckless 
of the lives of their own slaves, but violent toward those belong- 
ing to others. If a Negro showed the least independence in con- 
versation with a white man, he coukl be murdered in cold blood; 
and it was only a case of a contumacious slave getting his dues. 
But men became so prodigal in the e.xercisc of this authority that 
the public became alarmed, and the Legislature called a halt on the 
master-class. At first the Legislature paid for the slaves who 
were destroyed by the consuming wrath of ill-natured whites, but 
finally allowed an action to lie against the persons who killed a 
slave. This had a tendency to reduce the number of murdered 
slaves ; but the fateful clause in the Locke Constitution had 
educated a voracious appetite for blood, and the extremest cruel 
treatment continued without abatement. 

The free Negro population was very small in this colony. 
The following act on manumission differs so widely from the law 
on this point in the other colonies, that it is given as an illustra- 
tion of the severe character of the legislation of North Carolina 
against the emancipation of Negroes. 

"LV'I. And be it further etiacted by the authority aforesaid. That no 
Negro or mulatto slaves shall be set free, ujion any pretence whatsoever, except 
for meritorious services, to be adjudged and allowed of by the county court, and 
Licence thereupon first had and obtained : and that where any slave shall be set 
free by his or her master or owner, otlierwise than is herein before directed, it 
shall and may be lawful for the church-wardens of tlic parish wherein such 
negro, mulatto or Indian, shall be found, at the e.xpiratiim of si.x months, ne.xt 
after his or her being set free, and they are hereby authorized and required, to 
take up and sell the said negro, mulatto or Indian, as a slave, at the next court to 

' Public Acts of X. C, p. 65. 



3o8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

be held for the said county, at public vendue : and the monies arising by such 
sale, shall be applied to the use of the parish, by the vestry thereof: and if any 
ne<yro, mulatto or Indian slave, set free otherwise than is herein directed, sliall 
depart this province, within six months next after his or her freedom, and shall 
afterwards return into this government, it shall and may be lawful for the 
churchwardens of the parish where such negro or mulatto shall be found, at the 
expiration of one month, next after his or her return into this government to 
take up such negro or mulatto, and sell him or them, as slaves, at the next 
court to be held for the county, at public vendue; and the monies arising there- 
by, to be applied, by the vestry, to the use of the parish, as aforesaid." ' 



\^ 



The free Negroes were badly treated. They were not allowed 
any'- communion with the slaves. , A free Negro man was not 
allowed to marry a white woman, nor even a Negro slave woman 
without the consent of her master. If he formed an alliance with 
a white woman, her offspring were bound out, or sold by the 
church-wardens, until they obtained their majority.^ If the white 
woman were an indentured servant, she was constrained to serve 
an additional year. If she were a free woman, she was sold for 
two years by the church-wardens. Free Negroes were greatly 
despised and shunned by both slaves and white people.^; 

As a conspicuous proof of the glaring hypocrisy of the 
"nobility," who, in the constitution, threw open the door of the 
Church to the Negro, it should be said, that, during the period from 
the founding of the Province down to the colonial war, no attempt 
was ever made, through the ecclesiastical establishment, to dissi- 
pate the dark clouds of ignorance that enveloped the Neg<-o's 
mind. They were left in a state of ignorance and crime. The 
gravest social evils were winked at by masters, whose lecherous 
examples were the occasion for the most grievous offending of the 
slaves. The Mulattoes and other free Negroes were taxed. They 
had no place in the militia, nor could they claim the meanest 
rights of the humblest "leetman." 



■ Public Acts of N. C, p. 66. = The Act of 1741 says, " until 31 years of age." 



THE COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 309 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE COLONY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
1679-1775. 

The Provincial Government of Massachusetts exercises Authority over the State of New 
Hami'shire at its Organization. — Slavery existed from the Beginning. — The Governor 
releases A Slave FROM Bondage. — Instruction against Importation of Slaves. — Several 
Acts regulating the Conduct of Servants. — The Indifferent Treatment ot- Slaves. — 
The Importation of Indian Servants forbidden. — An Act checking the Severe Treat- 
ment OF Servants and Slaves. — Slaves in th::: Colony until the Commencement of 
Hostilities. 

ANTERIOR to the year 1679, the provincial government of 
Massachusetts exercised authority over the territory that 
now comprises the State of New Hampshire. It is not at 
all improbable, then, that slavery existed in this colony from the 
beginning of its organic existence. As early as 1683 it was set 
upon by the authorities as a wicked and hateful institution. On 
the 14th of March, 1684, the governor of New Hampshire as- 
sumed the responsibility of releasing a Negro slave from bondage. 
The record of the fact is thus preserved : — 

" The go'i'ernor iould Mr. yaffery's negro hee tniglit goe from his master, hee 
would clcre him under hande and sele, so thefello no more attends his master's 

coiisernes.'' ' 

It may be inferred from the above, that the royal governor of 
the Province felt the pressure of public sentiment on the question 
of anti-slavery. While this colony copied its criminal code from 
Massachusetts, its people seemed to be rather select, and, on the 
question of human rights, far in advance of the people of Massa- 
chusetts. The twelfth article was : " If any man stealeth man- 
kind he shall be put to death or otherwise grievously punished." 
The entire code — the first one — was rejected in England as 
"fanatical and absurd."^ It was the desire of this new and 

' Belknap's Hist, of N. H., vol. i. p. 3,53. ' Hildreth, vol. i. p. 501. 



3IO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

feeble colony to throw every obstacle in the way of any legal 
recognition of slavery. The governors of all the colonies received 
instruction in regard to the question of slavery, but the governor 
of New Hampshire had received an order from the crown to have 
the tax on imported slaves removed. The royal instructions, 
dated June 30, 1761, were as follows : — 

"You are not to give your assent to, or pass any law imposing duties on 
negroes imported into New Hampsliire." ■ 

New Hampshire never passed any law establishing slavery, 
but in 1 714 enacted several laws regulating the conduct of 
servants. One was An Act to prevent disorders in the night : — 

" Whereas great disorders, insolencies and burglaries are ofttimes raised 
and committed in the night time by Indian, negro and mulatto servants and 
slaves, to the disquiet and hurt of her Majesty's good subjects , for the pre- 
vention whereof Be it, &c. — that no Indian, negro or mulatto servant or slave 
may presume to be absent from the families where they respectively belong, or 
be found abroad in the night time after nine o'clock ; unless it be upon errand 
for their respective masters." = 

The instructions against the importation of slaves were in 
harmony with the feelings of the great majority of the people. 
They felt that slavery would be a hinderance rather than a help 
to them, and in the selection of servants chose white ones. If 
the custom of holding men in bondage had become a part of the 
institutions of Massachusetts, — so like a cancer that it could not 
be removed without endangering the political and commercial life 
of the colony, — the good people of New Hampshire, acting in 
the light of experience, resolved, upon the threshold of their pro- 
vincial life, to oppose the introduction of slaves into their midst. 
The first result was, that they learned quite early that they could 
get on without slaves ; and, second, the traders in human flesh 
discovered that there was no demand for slaves in New Hamp- 
shire. Even nature fought against the crime ; and Negroes were 
found to be poorly suited to the climate, and, of course, were an 
expensive luxury in that colony. 

But, nevertheless, there were slaves in New Hampshire. The 
majority of them had gone in during the time the colony was a 
part of the territory of Massachusetts. They had been purchased 
by men who regarded them as indispensable to them. They had 

• Gordon's Hist, of Am. Rev., vol. v. Letter 2. ^ Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 266. 



THE COLOyy OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 311 

lived long in many families ; children had been born unto them, 
and in many instances they were warmly attached to their owners. 
But all masters were not alike. Some treated their servants and 
slaves cruelly. The neglect in some cases was worse than stripes 
or over-work. Some were poorly clad and scantily fed ; and, thus 
exposed to the inclemency of the severe climate, many were pre- 
cipitated into premature graves. Even white and Indian servants 
shared this harsh treatment. The Indians endured greater hard- 
ships than the Negroes. They were more lofty in their tone, 
more sensitive in their feelings, more revengeful in their disposi- 
tion. They were both hated and feared, and the public sentiment 
against them was very pronounced. A law, passed in 1714, forbid 
their importation into the colony under a heavy penalty. 

In 1 7 18 it was found necessary to pass a law to check the 
severe treatment inflicted upon servants and slaves. An Act for 
restraining inJiuvtan severities recited, — 

"For the prevention and restraining of inhuman severities which by evil 
masters or overseers, may be used towards their Christian servants, that from 
and after the pubhcation hereof, if any man smite out the eye or tooth of his 
man servant or maid servant, or otherwise maim or disfigure them much, unless 
it be by mere casualty, he shall let him or her go free from his service, and 
shall allow such further recompense as the court of quarter sessions shall 
adjudge him. 2. That if any person or persons whatever in this province shall 
wilfully kill his Indian or negroe servant or servants he shall be punished with 
death." ■ 

There were slaves in New Hampshire down to the breaking- 
out of the war in the colonies, but they were only slaves in name. 
Few in number, widely scattered, they felt themselves closely 
identified with the interests of the colonists. 

' Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 267. 



312 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE COLONV OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
1681-I775. 

Organization of the Government of Pennsylvania. — The Swedes and Dutch plant Settle- 
ments ON THE Western Bank of the Delaware River. — The Governor of New York 
seeks to exercise Jurisdiction over the Territory of Pennsylvania — The First Laws 

AGREED UPON IN ENGLAND. — PROVISIONS OF THE Law. — MEMORIAL AGAINST SlaVERV DRAUGHTED 
AND ADOPTED DY THE GerMANTOWN FriENDS. — WillIAM PENN PRESENTS A BiLL FOR THE 

Better Regulation of Servants. — An Act preventing the Importation of Negroes and 
Indians. — Rights of Negroes. — A Duty laid upon Negroes and Mulatto Slaves. — The 
Quaker the Friend of the Negro, — England begins to threaten her Dependencies in 
North America. — The People of Pennsylvania reflect upon the Probable Outrages 
their Negroes might commit. 

LONG before there was an organized government in Pennsyl- 
vania, the Swedes and Dutch had planted settlements on 
the western bank of the Delaware River. But the English 
crown claimed the soil ; and the governor of New York, under 
patent from the Duke of York, sought to exercise jurisdiction 
over the territory. On the nth of July, 1681, " Conditions and 
Concessions were agreed upon by William Penn, Proprietary," 
and the persons who were "adventurers and purchasers in the 
same province." Provision was made for the punishment of 
persons who should injure Indians, and that the planter injured 
by them should "not be his own judge upon the Indian." All con- 
troversies arising between the whites and the Indians were to be 
settled by a council of twelve persons, — si.x white men and six 
Indians. 

The first laws for the government of the colony were agreed 
upon in England, and in 1682 went into effect. Provision was 
made for the registering of all servants, their full names, amount 
of wages paid, and the time when they received their remunera- 
tion. It was strictly required that servants should not be kept 
beyond the time of their indenture, should be kindly treated, and 
the customary outfit furnished at the time of their freedom. 

The baneful custom of enslaving Negroes had spread through 



THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 313 

every settlement in North America, and was even "tolerated in 
Pennsylvania under tlie specious pretence of tlie religious instruc- 
tion of tlie slave." ' In 1688 Francis Daniel Pastorius draughted a 
memorial against slavery, which was adopted by the Germantown 
Friends, and by them sent up to the Monthly Meeting, and thence 
to the Yearly Meeting at Philadelphia.^ The original document 
was found by Nathan Kite of Philadelphia in 1844. 3 It was a 
remarkable document, and the first protest against slavery issued 
by any religious body in America. Speaking of the slaves, Pasto- 
rius asks, " Have not these negroes as much right to fight for 
their freedom as you have to keep them slaves .' " He believed 
the time would come, — 

"When, from the gallery to the f.irtliest seat. 
Slave and slave-owner shall no longer meet, 
But all sit equal at the Master's feet." 

He regarded the " buying, selling, and holding men in slavery, 
as inconsistent with the christian religion." When his memorial 
came before the Yearly Meeting for action, it confessed itself "un- 
prepared to act," and voted it "not proper then to give a positive 
judgment in the case." In 1696 tlie Yearly Meeting pronounced 
against the further importation of slaves, and adopted measures 
looking toward their moral improvement. George Keith, catch- 
ing the holy inspiration of humanity, with a considerable follow- 
ing, denounced the institution of slavery " as contrary to the 
religion of Christ, the rights of man, and sound reason and 
policy."^ 

While these efforts were, to a certain extent, abortive, yet, 
nevertheless, the Society of the Friends made regulations for the 
better treatment of the enslaved Negroes. The sentiment thus 
created went far toward deterring the better class of citizens from 
purchasing slaves. To his broad and lofty sentiments of human- 
ity, the pious William Penn sought to add the force of positive 
law. The published views of George Fox, given at Barbadoes in 
1671, in his "Gospel Family Order, being a short discourse con- 
cerning the ordering of Families, both of Whites, Blacks, and 
Indians," had a salutary effect upon the mind of Penn. In 1700 

' Gordon's History of Penn., p. 114. - Whittier's Penn. Pilgrim, p. viii. 

^ The memorial referred to was prmted /;/ exfenso in The Friend, vol. xviii. Ko 16. 
■• Minutes of Yearly Meeting, Watson's MS. Coll. Bottle's notices of N. S. Minutes, Penn. 
Hist. Soc. 



314 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

he proposed to the Council " the ncccssitic of a lazv [among othcrs\ 
about y' marriages of negroes." The bill was referred to a joint 
committee of both houses, and they brought in a bill "for regulat- 
ing Negroes in their Morals and Marriages &c." It reached a 
second reading, and was lost.' Penn regarded the teaching of 
Negroes the sanctity of the marriage relation as of the greatest 
importance to the colony, and the surest means of promoting pure 
morals. Upon what grounds it was rejected is not known. He 
presented, at the same session of the Assembly, another bill, 
which provided "for the better regulation of senuints in this prov- 
ince and territories." He desired the government of slaves to be 
prescribed and regulated 'by law, rather than by the capricious 
whims of masters. No servant was to be sold out of the Province 
without giving his consent, nor could he be assigned over except 
before a justice of the peace. It provided for a regular allowance 
to servants at the expiration of their time, and required them to 
serve five days extra for every day's absence from their master 
without the latter's assent. A penalty was fixed for concealing 
runaway slaves, and a reward offered for apprehending them. No 
free person was allowed to deal with servants, and justices and 
sheriffs were to be punished for neglecting their duties in the 
premises. 

In case a Negro was guilty of murder, he was tried by two 
justices, appointed by the governor, before six freeholders. The 
manner of procedure was prescribed, and the nature of the sen- 
tence and acquittal. Negroes were not allowed to carry a gun or 
other weapons. Not more than four were allowed together, upon 
pain of a severe flogging. An Act for raising revenue was passed, 
and a duty upon imported slaves was levied, in 1710. In 1711-12, 
an Act was passed " to prevent the importation of negroes and 
Indians" into the Province. A general petition for the emanci- 
pation of slaves by law was presented to the Legislature during 
this same year ; but the wise law-makers replied, that " it was 
neither just nor convenient to set them at liberty." The bill 
passed on the 7th of June, 171 2, but was disapproved by Great 
Britain, and was accordingly repealed by an Act of Queen Anne, 
Feb. 20, 1713. In 1714 and 1717, Acts were passed to check the 
importation of slaves. But the English government, instead of 
being touched by the philanthropic endeavors of the people of 

' Colonial Rec, vol. i. pp. 59S, 606. See also Votis of Assembly, vol. i. pp. 120-122. 



THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 315 

Pennsylvania, was scekini;, for purposes of commercial trade and 
gain, to darken the continent with the victims of its avarice. 

Negroes had no political rights in the Province. F"ree Negroes 
were prohibited from entertaining Negro or Indian slaves, or trad- 
ing with them. Masters were required, when manumitting slaves, 
to furnish security, as in the other colonies. Marriages between 
the races were forbidden. Negroes were not allowed to be abroad 
after nine o'clock at night. 

In 1773 the Assembly passed "An Act making perpetual the 
Act entitled, An Act for laying a duty on negroes and mulatto 
slaves," etc., and added ten pounds to tlie duty. The colonists 
did much to check the vile and inhuman traffic ; but, having once 
obtained a hold, it did cat like a canker. It threw its dark shadow 
over personal and collective interests, and poisoned the springs of 
human kindness in many hearts. It was not alone hurtful to the 
slave : it transformed and blackened character everywhere, and 
fascinated those who were anxious for riches beyond the power of 
moral discernment. Here, however, as in New Jersey, the Negro 
found the Quaker his practical friend ; and his upper and better 
life received the pruning advice, refining and elevating influence, 
of a godly people. But intelligence in the slave was an occasion 
of offending, and prepared him to realize his deplorable situation. 
So to enlighten him was to e.xcite in him a deep desire for liberty, 
and, not unlikely, a feeling of revenge toward his enslavers. So 
tliere was really danger in the method the guileless Friends 
adopted to ameliorate the condition of the slaves. 

When England began to breathe out threatenings against her 
contumacious dependencies in North America, the people of 
Pennsylvania began to reflect upon the [irobable outrages their 
Negroes would, in all probability, commit. They inferred that 
the Negroes would be their enemy because they were their slaves. 
This was the equitable findings of a guilty conscience. They did 
not dare expect less than the revengeful hate of the beings they 
had laid the yoke of bondage upon ; and verily they found them- 
selves with "fears within, and fightings without." 



3l6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 

1732-1775- 

Georgia once included in the Territory of Carolina. — The Thirteenth Colony planted in 
North America by the English Government. — Slaves ruled out altogether bv the 
Trustees. — The Opinion of Gen. Oglethorpe concerning Slavery. — Long and Bitter 
Discussion IN Recaku to the Admission of Slavery into the Colony. — Slavery intro- 
duced. — History of Slavery in Georgia. 

GEORGIA was once included in the territory of Carolina, 
and extended from the Savamiah to the St. John's River. 
A corporate body, under the title of " The Trustees for 
establishing the Colony of Georgia," was created by charter, bear- 
ing date of June 9, 1732. The life of their trust was tor the 
space of twenty-one years. The rules by which the trustees 
sought to manage the infant were rather novel ; but as a discus- 
sion of them would be irrelevant, mention can be made only of 
that part which related to slavery. Georgia was the last colony 
— the thirteenth — planted in North America by the English 
government. Special interest centred in it for several reasons, 
that will be explained farther on. 

The trustees ruled out slavery altogether. Gen. John Ogle- 
thorpe, a brilliant young English officer of gentle blood, the first 
governor of the colony, was identified with " the Royal African 
Company, which alone had the right of planting forts and trading 
on the coast of Africa." He said that "slavery is against the 
gospel, as well as the fundamental law of England. We refused, 
as trustees, to make a law permitting such a horrid crime." 
Another of the trustees, in a sermon preached on Sunday, Feb. 
17, 1734, at St. George's Church, Hanover Square, London, 
declared, "Slavery, the misfortune, if not the dishonor, of other 
plantations, is absolutely proscribed. Let avarice defend it as it 
will, there is an honest reluctance in humanity against buying 
and selling, and regarding those of our own species as our wealth 



THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 317 

and possessions." Beautiful sentiments ! Eloquent testimony 
against the crime of the ages ! At first blush the student of 
history is apt to praise the sublime motives of the "trustees," 
in placing a restriction against the slave-trade. But the declara- 
tion of principles quoted above is not borne out by the facts of 
history. On this point Dr. Stevens, the historian of Georgia, 
observes, " Yet in the official publications of that body [the 
trustees], its inhibition is based only on political and prudential, 
and not on humane and liberal grounds; and even Oglethorpe 
owned a plantation and negroes near Parachucia in South Caro- 
lina, about forty miles above Savannah." ' To this reliable opinion 
is added : — 

" The introduction of slaves was prohibited to the colony of Georgia for 
some years, not from motives of humanity, but for the reason it was encouraged 
elsewhere, to wit : the interest of the mother country. It was a favorite idea 
with the 'mother country,' to make Georgia a protecting barrier for the Caro- 
linas, against the Spanish settlements south of her, and the principal Indian 
tribes to the west; to do this, a strong settlement of white men was sought to 
be built up, whose arms and interests would defend her northern plantations. 
The introduction of slaves was held to be unfavorable to this scheme, and 
hence its prohibition. During tlic time of the prohibition, Oglethorpe himself 
was a slave-holder in Carolina." = 

The reasons that led the trustees to prohibit slavery in the 
colony are put thus tersely : — 

"1st. Its e.xpcnsc; which the poor emigrant would be entirely unable to 
sustain, either in the first cost of a negro, or his subsequent keeping. 2d. 
Because it would induce idleness, and render labour degrading. 3d. Because 
the settlers, being freeholders of only fifty-acre lots, requiring but one or two 
extra hands for their cultivation, the German servants would be a third more 
profitable than the blacks. Upon the last original design I have mentioned, in 
planting this colony, they also based an argument against their admission, viz., 
that the cultivation of silk and wine, demanding skill and nicety, rather than 
strength and endurance of fatigue, the whites were better calculated for such 
labour than the negroes. These were the prominent arguments, drawn from 
the various considerations of internal and external policy, which influenced the 
Trustees in making this prohibition. Many of them, however, had but a 
temporary bearing; none stood the test of experience." 3 

It is clear, then, that the founders of the colony of Georgia 
were not moved by the noblest impulses to prohibit slavery within 

' Stephens's Journal, vol. iii. p. 281. = Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 310, note. 

^ Stevens's Hist, of Georgia, vol. i. p. 289. 



3l8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



their jurisdiction. In tlie chapter on South Carolina, attention 
was called to the influence of the Spanish troops in Florida on 
the recalcitrant Negroes in the Carolinas, the Negro regiment 
with subalterns from their own class, and the work of Spanish 
emissaries among the slaves. The home government thought it 
wise to build up Georgia out of white men, who could develop its 
resources, and bear arms in defence of British possessions along 
an extensive border exposed to a pestiferous foe. But the Board 
of Trade soon found this an impracticable scheme, and the colo- 
nists themselves began to clamor "for the use of negroes." ' The 
first petition for the introduction and use of Negro slaves was 
offered to the trustees in 1735. This prayer was promptly and 
positively denied, and for fifteen years they refused to grant all 
requests for the use of Negroes. They adhered to their prohibi- 
tion in letter and spirit. Whenever and wherever Negroes were 
found in the colony, they were sold back into Carolina. In the 
month of December, 1738, a petition, addressed to the trustees, 
including nearly all the names of the foremost colonists, set forth 
the distressing condition into which affairs had drifted under the 
enforcement of the prohibition, and declared that " the use of 
negroes, with proper limitations, which, if granted, would both 
occasion great numbers of white people to come here, and also to 
render us capable to subsist ourselves, by raising provisions upon 
our lands, until we could make some produce fit for export, in 
some measure to balance our importations." But instead of 
securing a favorable hearing, the petition drew the fire of the 
friends of the prohibition against the use of Negroes. On the 
3d of January, 1739, a petition to the trustees combating the argu- 
ments of the above-mentioned petition, and urging them to remain 
firm, was issued at Darien. This was followed by another one, 
issued from Ebenezer on the 13th of March, in favor of the 
position occupied by the trustees. A great many Scotch and 
German people had settled in the colony ; and, familiar with the 
arts of husbandry, they became the ardent supporters of the 
trustees. James Habersham, the ^"^ dear fclloto-trave/ler,'^ of 
Whitefield, exclaimed, — 

" I once thought, it was unlawful to keep negro slaves, but I am now 
induced to think God may have a liigher end in permitting them to be brought 
to tills Christian country, than merely to support their masters. Many of the 

' Bancroft, vol. iii. I2th ed. p. 427. 



THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 319 

poor slaves in America have already been made freemen of the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and possibly a time may come when many thousands may embrace 
the gospel, and thereby be brouglit info the glorious liberty of the children of 
God. Tliese, and other considerations, appear to plead strongly for a limited 
use of negroes ; for, while we can buy provisions in Carolina cheaper than we 
can here, no one will be induced to plant much.'' 

But the trustees stood firm against the sul^tlc cunning of the 
politicians, and the eloquent pleadings of avarice. 

On the 7th October, 1741, a large lueeting was held at Savan- 
nah, and a petition drawn, in which the land-holders and settlers 
presented their grievances to the English authorities in London. 
On the 26th of March, 1742, Mr. Thomas Stephens, armed with 
the memorial, as the agent of the memorialists, sailed for Lon- 
don. While the document ostensibly set forth their wish for a 
definition of " the tenure of the lands," really the burden of the 
prayer was for "Negroes." He presented the memorial to the 
king, and his Majesty referred it to a committee of the " Lords of 
Council for Plantation Affairs." This committee transferred a 
copy of the memorial to the trustees, with a request for their 
answer. About this time Stephens presented a petition to Parlia- 
ment, in which he charged the trustees with direliction of duty, 
improper use of the public funds, abuse of their authority, and 
numerous other sins against the public welfare. It created a 
genuine sensation. The House resolved to go into a "committee 
of the whole," to consider the petitions and the answer of the 
trustees. The answer of the trustees was drawni by the able pen 
of the Earl of Egmont, and by them warmly approved on the 3d 
of May, and three days later was read to the House of Commons. 
A motion prevailed " that the petitions do lie upon the table," for 
the perusal of the members, for the space of one week. At the 
expiration of the time fixed, Stephens appeared, and all the peti- 
tions of the people of Georgia to the trustees in reference to "the 
tenure of lands," and for " the use of negroes," were laid before 
the honorable body. In the committee of the whole the affairs 
of the colony were thoroughly investigated ; and, after a few days 
session, Mr. Carew reported a set of resolutions, being the sense 
of the committee after due deliberation upon the matters before 
them : — 

"That the province of Georgia, in .America, by reason of its situation, 
may be an useful barrier to the British provinces on the continent of America 
against the French and Spaniards, and Indian nations in their interests ; that 



320 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the ports and harbours within the said province may be a good security to the 
trade and navigation of this I<ingdom ; that the said province, by reason of the 
fertility of the soil, the healthfulness of the climate, and the convenience of 
the rivers, is a proper place for establishing a settlement, and may contribute 
greatly to the increasing trade of this kingdom; that it is very necessary and 
advantageous to this nation that the colony of Georgia should be preserved and 
supported ; that it will be an advantage to the colony of Georgia to permit the 
importation of rum into the said colony from any of the British colonies ; that 
the petition of Thomas Stephens contains false, scandalous and malicious 
charges, tending to asperse the characters of the Trustees for Establishing the 
Colony of Georgia, in America." 

When the resolution making the importation of rum lawful 
reached a vote, it was amended by adding, " As also the use of 
negroes, who may be employed there with advantage to the 
colony, under proper regulations and restrictions." It was lost 
by a majority of nine votes. A resolution prevailed calling 
Thomas Stephens to the bar of the House, " to be reprimanded 
on his knees by Mr. Speaker," for his offence against the trustees. 

On the next day Stephens, upon his bended knees at the bar 
of the House of Commons, before the assembled statesmen of 
Great Britain, was publicly reprimanded by the speaker, and 
discharged after paying his fees. Thus ended the attempt of 
the people of the colony of Georgia to secure permission, over 
the heads of the trustees, to introduce slaves into their service. 

The dark tide of slavery influence was dashing against the 
borders of the colony. The people were discouraged. Business 
was stagnated. Internal dissatisfaction and factional strife wore 
hard upon the spirit of a people trying to build up and develop a 
new country. Then the predatory incursions of the Spaniards, 
and the threatening attitude of the Indians, unnerved the entire 
Province. In this state of affairs white servants grew insolent 
and insubordinate. Those whose term of service expired refused 
to work. In this dilemma many persons boldly put the rule of 
the trustees under foot, and hired Negroes from the Carolinas. 
At length the trustees became aware of the clandestine importa- 
tion of Negroes into the colony, and thereupon gave the magis- 
trates a severe reproval. On the 2d of October, 1747, they 
received the following reply: — 

" We are afraid, sir, from what you have wrote in relation to negroes, that 
the Honourable Trustees have been misinformed as to our conduct relating 
thereto ; for we can with great assurance assert, that this Board has always 
acted an uniform part in discouraging the use of negroes in this colony, well 



THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 32 r 

knowing it to be disagreeable to the Trustees, as well as contrary to an act 
existing for the prohibition of them, and always gave it in charge to those 
whom we had put in possession of lands, not to attempt the introduction or 
use of negroes. But notwithstanding our great caution, some people from 
Carolina, soon after settling lands on the Little Ogccchee, found means of 
bringing and employing a few negroes on the said lands, some time before it 
was discovered to us ; upon which they thought it high time to withdraw them, 
for fear of being seized, and soon after withdrew themselves and families out 
of the colony, which appears to us at present to be the resolution of divers 
others." > 

It was charged that the law-officers knew of the presence of 
Negroes in Georgia ; that their standing and constant toast was, 
"the one thing needful" (Negroes) ; and that they themselves had 
surreptitiously aided in the procurement of Negroes for the 
colony. The supporters of the colonists grew less powerful as 
the struggle went forward. The most active grew taciturn and 
conservative. The advocates of Negro labor became bolder, and 
more acrimonious in debate ; and at length the champions of 
exclusive white labor shrank into silence, appalled at the despera- 
tion of their opponents. The Rev. Martin Bolzius, one of the 
most active supporters of the trustees, wrote those gentlemen on 
May 3, 1748: — 

"Things being now in such a melancholy state, I must humbly beseech 
your honors, not to regard any more our or our friend's petitions against 
negroes." 

The Rev. George Whitefield and James Habersham used their 
utmost influence upon the trustees to obtain a modification of the 
prohibition against "the use of negroes." On the 6th of Decem- 
ber, 1748, Rev. Whitefield, speaking of a plantation and Negroes 
he had purchased, wrote the trustees : — 

" Upwards of five thousand pounds have been expended in that under- 
taking, and yet very little proficiency made in the cultivation of mv tract of 
land, and that entirely owing to the necessity I lay under of making use of 
white hands. Had a negro been allowed, I should now h.ive had a sufficiency 
to support a great many orphans, without expending above half the sum whicii 
has been laid out. An unwillingness to let so good a design drop, and having 
a rational conviction that it must necessarily, if some other method was not 
fixed upon to prevent it — these two considerations, honoured gentlemen, prevailed 
on me about two years ago, through the bounty of my good friends, to 
purchase a plantation in South Carolina, where negroes are allowed. Blessed 

* Stevens's Hist, of Georgia, vol. i, p, 307, 



322 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

be God, this plantation has succeeded; and though at present I have only- 
eight working hands, yet in all probability there will be more raised in one 
year, and with a quarter the expense, than has been produced at Bethesda for 
several years last past. This confirms me in the opinion I have entertained 
for a long time, that Georgia never can or will be a flourishing province with- 
out 7tegroes are allowed.'' ' 



The sentiment in favor of the importation of Negro slaves 
had become well-nigh unanimous. The trustees began to waver. 
On the loth of January, 1749, another petition was presented to 
the trustees. It was carefully drawn, and set forth the restric- 
tions under which slaves should be introduced. On the i6th of 
May following, it was read to the trustees ; and they resolved to 
have it "presented to His Majesty ni council." They also asked 
that the prohibition against the introduction of Negroes, passed 
'■'' " I735i be repealed." The Earl of Shaftesbury, at the head of 
a special committee, draughted a bill repealing the prohibition. On 
the 26th of October, 1749, a large and influential committee of 
twenty-seven drew up and signed a petition urging the imme- 
diate introduction of slavery, with certain limitations. The paper 
was duly attested, and returned to the trustees. The opposition 
to the introduction of slavery into the colony of Georgia had 
been conquered ; and, after a long and bitter struggle, slavery was 
firmly and legally established in this the last Province of the 
English in the Western world. The colonists were jubilant. 

The charter under which the trustees acted expired by limita- 
tion in 1752, and a new form of government was established 
under the Board of Trade. The royal commission appointed a 
governor and council. One of the first ordinances enacted by 
them was one whereby " all offences committed by slaves were to 
be tried by a single justice, without a jury, who was to award 
execution, and, in capital cases, to set a value on the slave, to be 
paid out of the public treasury." At the first session of the 
Assembly in 1755, a law was passed "for tlie regulation and gov- 
ernment of slaves." In 1765 an Act was passed establishing a 
pass system, and the rest of the legislation in respect to slaves 
was a copy of the laws of South Carolina. 

The history of slavery in Georgia during this period is unpar- 
alleled and incomparably interesting. It illustrates the power of 
the institution, and shows that there was no Province sufficiently 

* Whitefield's Works, vol. ii. pp. 90, 105, 208. 



THE COLONY OF GEORGIA. 323 

independent of its influence so as to expel it from its jurisdiction. 
Like the Angel of Death that passed through Egypt, there was 
no colony that it did not smite with its dark and destroying 
pinions. The dearest, the sublimest, interests of humanity were 
prostrated by its defiling touch. It shut out tlie sunlight of 
human kindness ; it paled the fires of hope ; it arrested the devel- 
opment of the branches of men's better natures, and peopled 
their lower being with base and consuming desires ; it placed the 
"Golden Rule" under the unholy heel of time-servers and self- 
seekers ; it made the Church as secular as the 'Change, and the 
latter as pious as the former : it was a gigantic system, at war 
with the civilization of the Roundheads and Puritans, and an 
intolerable burden to a people who desired to build a new nation 
in this New World in the West. 



324 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 
1775-17S0. 

'*Many black soldiers were in the service during all stages of the war." — Sparks. 

The Colonial States in 1715. — Ratification of the Non-Impoktation Act by the Southern 
Colonies. — George Washington i-resents Resolutions against Slavery, in a Meeting 
AT Fairfax Court-House, Va. — Letter written by Benjamin Franklin to Dean Wood- 
ward, pertaining to Slavery. — Letter to the Freemen of Virginia from a Committee, 

CONCERNING the SlaVES BROUGHT FROM JAMAICA. — SEVERE TREATMENT OF SlAVES IN THE 

Colonies modified. — Advertisement in "The Boston Gazette" of the Runaway Slave 
Crispus Attucics. — The Boston Massacre. — Its Results. — Crispus Attucks shows his 
Loyalty. — His Spirited Letter to the Tory Governor of the Province. — Slaves 
admitted into the Army. — The Condition of the Continental Army. — Spirited Debate 
IN the Continental Congress, over the Draught of a Letter to Gen. Washington. — 
Instructions to discharge all Slaves and Free Negroes in his Army. — Minutes of the 
Meeting held at Cambridge. — Lord Dunmore's Proclamation. — Prejudice in the 
Southern Colonies. — Negroes in Virginia flock to the British Army. — Caution to 
the Negroes printed in a Williamsburg Paper. — The Virginia Convention answers the 
Proclamation of Lord Dunmore.— Gen. Greene, in a Letter to Gen. Washington, calls 
Attention to the Raising of a Negro Regiment on Staten Island. — Letter from a 
Hessian Officer, — Connecticut Legislature on the Subject of Employment of Negroes 
as Soldiers. — Gen. Varnum's Letter to Gen. Washington, suggesting the Employment 
OF Negroes, sent to Gov. Cooke. — The Governor refers Varnum's Letter to the Gen- 
eral Assembly. — Minority protest against enlisting Slaves to serve in the Army. — 
Massachusetts tries to secure Legal Enlistments of Negro Troops. — Letter of Thomas 
Kench to the Council and House of Representatives, Boston, Mass. — Negroes serve 
IN White Organizations until the Close of the American Revolution. — Negro Soldiers 
SERVE IN Virginia. — Maryland employ Negroes. — New York passes an Act providing 
for the Raising of Two Colored Regiments. — War in the Middle and Southern Colo- 
nies.— Hamilton's Letter to John Jay. — Col. Laurens's Efforts to raise Negro TKOor'% 
IN South Carolina. — Proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton inducing Negroes to desert the 
Rebel Army. — Lord Cornwallis issues a Proclamation offering Protection to all 
Negroes seeking his Command. — Col. Laurens is called to France on Important Busi- 
ness. —His Plan for securing Black Levies for the South upon his Return. — His 
Letters to Gen. Washington in Regard to his Fruitless Plans. — Capt. David 
Humphreys recruits a Company of Colored Infantry in Connecticut. — Return of 
Negroes in the Army in 177S. 

THE policy of arming the Negroes early claimed the anxious 
consideration of the leaders of the colonial army during 
the American Revolution. England had been crowding her 
American plantations with slaves at a fearful rate ; and, when hos- 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 



325 



tilitics actually bcn'an, it was difficult to tell whether the American 
army or the ministerial army would be able to secure the Negroes 
as allies. In 171 5 the royal governors of the colonies gave the 
Hoard of Trade the number of the Negroes in their respective 
colonies. The slave population was as follows : — 



NEGROES. 

New Hampshire 150 

Massachusetts 2,000 

Rhode Island 500 

Connecticut 1,500 

New York 4,000 

New Jersey 1,500 

Pennsylvania and Delaware . 2,500 



NEGROES, 

Maryland 9,500 

Virginia 23,000 

North Carolina 3,700 

South CaroHna 10,500 

Total 5^,850 



Sixty years afterwards, when the Revolution had begun, the 
slave population of the thirteen colonies was as follows: — 



NEGROES. 

Massachusetts 3,500 

Rhode Island 4.373 

Connecticut 5,000 

New Hampshire 629 

New York 15,000 

New Jersey 7,600 

I'cnnsylvania 10,000 

Delaware 9,000 



NEGROES. 

Maryland 80,000 

Virginia 165,000 

North Carolina 75,000 

South Carolina 110.000 

Georgia 16,000 

Total 501,102 



Such a host of beings was not to be despised in a great mili- 
tary struggle. Regarded as a neutral element that could be used 
simply to feed an army, to perform fatigue duty, ami build fortifi- 
cations, the Negro population was the object of fawning favors of 
the white colonists. In the Non-Importatio\ Covkn.wt, passed 
by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, on the 24th of 
October, 1774, the second resolve indicated the feeling of the 
representatives of the people on the question of the slave- 
trade : — 

" 2. We will neither imiiort nor purchase, any slave imported after the first 
d.ay of December nc.Kt ; after which time, we will wholly discontinue the slave- 
trade, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, 
nor sell our commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in 
it." ■ 



' Journal of tlie Continental Congress. 



326 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

It, with the entire covenant, received the signatures of all 
the delegates from the tw^elve colonies.' The delegates from the 
Southern colonies were greatly distressed concerning the probable 
attitude of the slave element. They knew that if that ignorant 
mass of humanity were inflamed by some act of strategy of the 
enemy, they might sweep their homes and families from the face 
of the earth. The cruelties of the slave-code, the harsh treat- 
ment of Negro slaves, the lack of confidence in the whites every- 
where manifested among the blacks, — as so many horrid dreams, 
harassed the minds of slaveholders by day and by night. They 
did not even possess the courage to ask the slaves to remain silent 
and passive during the struggle between England and themselves. 
The sentiment that adorned the speeches of orators, and graced 
the writings of the colonists, during this period, was " the equality 
of the rights of all men." And yet the slaves who bore their 
chams under their eyes, who were denied the commonest rights of 
humanity, who were rated as chattels and real property, were 
living witnesses to the insincerity and inconsistency of this decla- 
ration. But it is a remarkable fact, that all the Southern colonies, 
in addition to the action of their delegates, ratified the Non- 
Importation Covenant. The Maryland Convention on the 8th of 
December, 1774; South Carolina Provincial Congress on the nth 
January, 1775; Virginia Convention on the 22d March, 1775; 
North Carolina Provincial Congress on the 23d of August, 1775; 
Delaware Assembly on the 25th of March, 1775 (refused by Gov. 
John Penn) ; and Georgia, — passed the following resolves there- 
abouts : — 

" I. Resolved, That this Congress will adopt, and carry into execution, all 
and singular the measures and recommendations of the late Continental Con- 
gress. 

'•4. Resolved, That we will neither import or [nor] purchase any slave 
imported from Africa or elsewhere after this date." 

Meetings were numerous and spirited throughout the colonies, 
in which, by resolutions, the people expressed their sentiments in 
reference to the mother country. On the i8th of July, 1774- at a 
meeting held in Fairfa.x Court-House, Virginia, a scries of tvvcnty- 



■ The Hon. Peter Force, in an article to The National Intelligencer, Jan. i6 and i8, 
1855, says: "Southern colonies, jointly with all the others, and separately each for itself, did 
agree to prohibit the importation of slaves, voluntarily and in good faith." Georgia was not 
represented in this Congress, and, therefore, could not sign. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 327 

four resolutions was presented by George Washington, chairman 
of the committee on resolutions, three of which were directed 
against slavery. 

"17. Rtfsolved. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that, during our 
present difficulties and distress, no slaves ought to be imported into any of the 
British colonics on this continent; and we take this opportunity of declaring 
our most earnest wishes to see an entire stop for ever put to such a wicked, 
cruel, and unnatural trade. ■ . . 

"21. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that this and the 
otlier associating colonies should break off all trade, intercourse, and dealings 
with that colony, province, or town, which shall decline, or refuse to agree to, 
the plan which shall be adopted by the General Congress. . . . 

" 24. Resolved, That George Washington and Charles Broadwater, lately 
elected our representatives to serve in the General Assembly, be appointed to 
attend the Convention at Williamsburg on the first day of August ne.\t, and 
present these resolves, as the sense of the people of this county upon the 
measures proper to be taken in the present alarming and dangerous situation of 
America." 

Mr. Sparks comments upon the resolutions as follows: — 

'•The draught, from which the resolves are printed, I find among Washing- 
ton's papers, in the handwriting of George Mason, by whom they were probably 
drawn up, yet, as they were adopted by the Committee of which Washington 
was chairman, and reported by him as moderator of the meeting, they may be 
presumed to express his opinions, formed on a perfect knowledge of the subject, 
and after cool deliberation. This may indeed be inferred from his letter to .Mr. 
Bryan Fairfa.x, in which he intimates a doubt only as to the article favoring the 
idea of a further petition to the king. He was opposed to such a step, believ- 
ing enough had been done in this way already; but he yielded the point in 
tenderness to the more wavering resolution of his associates. 

"These resolves are framed with much care and ability, and exhibit the 
question then at issue, and the state of public feeling, in a manner so clear and 
forcible as to give them a special claim to a place in the present work, in addi- 
tion to the circumstance of their being the matured views of Washington at the 
outset of the great Revolutionary struggle in which he was to act so consjiicu- 
ous a part. . . . 

"Such were the opinions of Washington, and his associates in \'irginia. at 
the beginning of the Revolutionarv contest. The seventeenth resolve merits 
attention, from the pointed manner in which it condemns the slave-trade." ' 

Dr. Benjamin I'ranklin, in a letter to Dean Woodward, dated 
April 10, 1773, says, — 

" I have since h,ad the satisfaction to learn tliat a disposition to abolish 
slavery prevails in North America; that many of the I'ennsylvanians have set 

* Sparks's Washington, vol. ii. pp. 48S-495. 



328 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

their slaves at liberty ; and that even the Virginia Assembly have petitioned 
the king for permission to make a law for preventing the importation of more 
into that Colony. This request, however, will probably not be granted as 
their former laws of that kind have always been repealed, and as the interest of 
a few merchants here has more weight with Government than that of thousands 
at a distance." ' 

Virginia gave early and positive proof that she was in earnest 
on the question of non-importation. One John Brown, a merchant 
of Norfolk, broke the rules of the colony by purchasing imported 
slaves, and was severely rebuked in the following article : — 

'"TO THE FREEMEN OF VIRGINIA: 

"'Committee Chamber, Norfolk, March 6, 1775 
"'Trusting to your sure resentment against the enemies of your country, 
we, the committee, elected by ballot for the Borough of Norfolk, hold up for 
your just indignation Mr. John Brown, merchant of this place. 

" ' On Thursday, the 2d of March, this committee were informed of the 
arrival of the brig Fanny, Capt. Watson, with a number of slaves for Mr. 
Brown ; and, upon inquiry, it appeared they were shipped from Jamaica as his 
property, and on his account ; that he had taken great pains to conceal their 
arrival from the knowledge of the committee ; and that the shipper of the 
slaves, Mr. Brown's correspondent, and the captain of the vessel, were all 
fully apprised of the Continental prohibition against that article. 

" ' From the whole of this transaction, therefore, we, the committee for 
Norfolk Borough, do give it as our unanimous opinion, that the said John 
Brown has wilfully and perversely violated the Continental Association to which 
he liad with his own hand subscribed obedience ; and that, agreeable to the 
eleventh article, we are bound forthwith to publish the truth of the case, to 
the end that all such foes to the rights of British America may be publicly 
known and universally contemned as the enemies of American liberty, and that 
every person may henceforth break off all dealings with him.' " 

And the first delegation from Virginia to Congress in August, 
1774, had instructions as follows, drawn by Thomas Jefferson : — 

" For the most trifling reasons, and sometimes for no conceivable reason 
at all, his jVIajesty has rejected laws of the most salutary tendency. Tlie aboli- 
tion of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those Colonies, where it 
was, unhappily, introduced in their infant state. But, previous to the enfran- 
chisement of the slaves we have, it is necessary to exclude all further importa- 
tions from Africa. Yet our repeated attempts to effect this by prohibitions, 
and by imposing duties which might amount to a prohibition, have been hitherto 
defeated by his Majesty's negative ; thus preferring the immediate advantages 

* Sparks's Franklin, vol. viii. p. 42. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 329 

of a few I?ritish corsairs to the lasting interests of the American States, and 
to tlie riglits of luinum nature, deeply wounded by this infamous practice." ■ 

It is scarcely necessary to mention the fact, that there were 
several very cogent passages in the first draught of the Declara- 
tion of Independence that were finally omitted. The one most 
pertinent to this history is here given : — 

"He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most 
sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never 
offended him; captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemi- 
sphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This pirati- 
cal warfare, the opprobrium of Infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian 
king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where men should 
be bought and sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legis- 
lative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this e.xecrable commerce. And, that 
this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now 
exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that 
liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he 
also obtruded them ; thus paying off former crimes committed against the 
liberties of one people with crimes which he urges them to commit against 
the lives of another." 2 

The solicitude concerning the slavery question was not so 
great in the Northern colonies. The slaves were not so numerous 
as in the Carolinas and other Southern colonies. The severe 
treatment of slaves had been greatly modified, the spirit of 
masters toward them more gentle and conciliatory, and the 
]niblic sentiment concerning them more humane. Public discus- 
sion of the Negro question, however, was cautiously avoided. 
The failure of attempted legislation friendly to the slaves had 
discouraged their friends, while the critical situation of public 
affairs made the^ supporters of slavery less aggressive. On the 
25th of October, 1774, an effort was made in the Provincial Con- 
gress of Massachusetts to re-open the discussion, but it failed. 
The record of the attempt is as follows : — 

" Mr. Wheeler brought into Congress a letter directed to Doct. Appleton, 
purporting the propriety, that while we are attempting to free ourselves from 
our present embarrassments, and preserve ourselves from slavery, that we also 
take into consideration the state and circumstances of the negro slaves in this 
province. The same was read, and it was moved that a committee be appointed 
to take the same into consideration. After some debate thereon, the question 
was put, wliether the matter now subside, and it passed in the affirmative." 3 

' Jefferson's Works, vol. i. p. 135. ' Ibid., pp. 23, 24. 

' Journals of the Provincial Congress of Mass., p. 29. 



330 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Thus ended the attempt to call the attention of the people's 
representatives to the inconsistency of their doctrine and practice 
on the question of the equality of human rights. Further agita- 
tion of the question, followed by the defeat of just measures in 
the interest of the slaves, was deemed by many as dangerous to the 
colony. The discussions were watched by the Negroes with a 
lively interest ; and failure led them to regard the colonists as 
their enemies, and greatly embittered them. Then it was difficult 
to determine just what would be wisest to do for the enslaved in 
this colony. The situation was critical : a bold, clear-headed, 
loyal-hearted man was needed. 

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, 1750, "The Boston Gazette, or Weekly 
Journal," contained the following advertisement: — 

" T~) AN-away from his master ll'iilia!)i Brown of Frauiinghajii, on tlie 30th 
-L^ of Sept. last, a Molatto Fellow, about 27 Years of .Age, named Crispas, 
6 Feet 2 Inches high, short curl'd Hair, his Knees nearer together than com- 
mon ; had on a light colour'd Bear-skin Coat, plain brown Fustain Jacket, or 
brown all-Wool one, new Buckskin Breeches, blue Yarn Stockings, and a 
checked woolen Shirt. 

" Whoever shall take up said Run-away, and convey him to his abovesaid 
Master, shall have ten Po2inds, old Tenor Reward, and all necessary Charges 
paid. And all Masters of Vessels and others, are hereby cautioned against 
concealing or carrying off said Servant on Penalty of the Law. Boston. 
October 2, 1 750.'' 

During the month of November, — the 13th and 20th, — a 
similar advertisement appeared in the same paper ; showing that 
the " Molatto Fellow " had not returned to his master. 

Twenty years later " Crispas's " name once more appeared in 
the journals of Boston. This time he was not advertised as a 
runaway slave, nor was there reward offered for his apprehension. 
His soul and body were beyond the cruel touch of master ; the 
press had paused to announce his apotheosis, and to write the 
name of the Negro patriot, soldier, and martyr to the ripening 
cause of the American Revolution, in fadeless letters of gold, — 
Crispu-s Attucks ! 

On March 5, 1770, occurred the Boston Massacre; and, while 
it was not the real commencement of the Revolutionary struggle, 
it was the bloody drama that opened the most eventful and 
thrilling chapter in American history. The colonists had endured, 
with obsequious humility, the oppressive acts of Britain, the 
swaggering insolence of the ministerial troops, and the sneers 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES. 33 I 

of her hired niinions. The aggressive and daring men liad found 
themselves hamjiered by the conservative views of a large class of 
colonists, who feared lest some one should take a step not exactly 
according to the law. But while the "wise and prudent" were 
deliberating upon a legal method of action, there were those, who, 
" made of sterner stuff," reasoned right to the conclusion, that 
they had rights as colonists that ought to be respected. That 
there was cause for just indignation on the part of the people 
towards the British soldiers, there is no doubt. But there is 
reason to question the time and manner of the assault made by 
the citizens. Doubtless they had "a zeal, but not according to 
knowledge." There is no record to controvert the fact of the 
leadership of Crispus Attucks. A manly-looking fellow, six feet 
two inches in height, he was a commanding figure among the 
irate colonists. His enthusiasm for the threatened interests of 
the Province, his loyalty to the teachings of Otis, and his willing- 
ness to sacrifice for the cause of equal rights, endowed him with a 
courage, which, if tempered with better judgtnent, would have made 
him a military hero in his day. But consumed by the sacred fires 
of patriotism, that lighted his path to glory, his career of usefulness 
ended at the beginning. John Adams, as the counsel for the 
soldiers, thought that the patriots Crispus Attucks led were a 
"rabble of saucy boys, negroes, mulattoes, &c.," who could not 
restrain their emotion. Attucks led the charge with the shout, 
" The way to get rid of these soldiers is to attack the main-guard ; 
strike at the root : this is the nest." A shower of missiles was 
answered by the discharge of the guns of Capt. Preston's 
company. The exposed and commanding person of the intrepid 
Attucks went down before the murderous fire. Samuel Gray and 
Jonas Caldwell were also killed, while Patrick Carr and Samuel 
Maverick were mortally wounded. 

The scene that followed beggared description. The people 
ran from their homes and places of business into the streets, 
white with rage. The bells rang out the alarm of danger, The 
bodies of Attucks and Caldwell were carried into Faneuil Hall, 
where their strange faces were viewed by the largest gathering of 
people ever before witnessed. Maverick was buried from his 
mother's house in Union Street, and Gray from his brother's 
residence in Royal Exchange Lane. But Attucks and Caldwell, 
strangers in the citv, without relatives, were buried from Faneuil 
Hall, so justly called " the Cradle of Liberty." The four hearses 



332 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

formed a junction in King Street ; and from thence the procession 
moved in columns six deep, with a long line of coaches containing 
the first citizens of Boston. The obsequies were witnessed by a 
very large and respectful concourse of people. The bodies were 
deposited in one grave, over which a stone was placed bearing 
this inscription : — 

" Long as in Freedom's cause the wise contend, 
Dear to your country shall your fame extend ; 
While to the world the lettered stone shall tell 
Where Caldwell, Attucks, Gray and Maverick fell." 

Who was Crispus Attucks ? A Negro whose soul, galling 
under the destroying influence of slavery, went forth a freeman, 
went forth not only to fight for Ids liberty, but to give his life as 
an offering upon the altar of American liberty. He was not a 
madcap, as some would have the world believe. He was not 
ignorant of the issues between the American colonies and the 
English government, between the freemen of the colony and the 
dictatorial governors. Where he was during the twenty years 
from 1750 to 1770, is- not known ; but doubtless in Boston, where 
he had heard the fiery eloquence of Otis, the convincing argu- 
ments of Sewall, and the tender pleadings of Belknap. He had 
learned to spell out the fundamental principles that should govern 
well-regulated communities and states ; and, having come to the 
rapturous consciousness of his freedom in fee simple, the brightest 
crown God places upon mortal man, he felt himself neighbor and 
friend. His patriotism was not a mere spasm produced by sudden 
and exciting circumstances. It was an education ; and knowledge 
comes from experience ; and the experience of this black hero 
was not of a single day. Some time before the memorable 5th of 
March, Crispus addressed the following spirited letter to the Tory 
governor of the Province : — 

"To Thomas Hutchinson: Sir, — You will hear from us with astonish- 
ment. You ought to hear from us with horror. You are chargeable before 
God and man, with our blood. The soldiers were but passive instruments, 
mere machines; neither moral nor voluntary agents in our destruction, more 
than the leaden pellets with which we were wounded. You was a free agent. 
You acted, coolly, deliberately, with all that premeditated malice, not against us 
in particular, but against the people in general, which, in the sight of the law, 
is an ingredient in the composition of murder. You will hear further from us 
hereafter. Crispus Attucks." ' 

' Adams's Works, vol. ii. p. 322. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES. 333 

This was the declaration of war. It was fulfillccl. The world 
has heard from him ; and, more, the ]'2n;;lisli-speaking world will 
never forget the noble daring and excusable rashness of Attiicks 
in the holy cause of liberty ! Eighteen centuries before he was 
saluted by death and kissed by immortality, another Negro bore 
the cross of Christ to Calvary for him. And when the colonists 
were staggering wearily under their cross of woe, a Negro came 
to the front, and bore that cross to the victory of glorious 
martyrdom ! 

And the people did not agree with Jolin Adams that Attucks 
led " a motley rabble," but a band of patriots. Their evidence of 
the belief they entertained was to be found in the annual com- 
memoration of the "5th of March," when orators, in measured 
sentences and impassioned eloquence, praised the hero-dead. In 
March, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren, who a few months later, as 
Gen. Warren, made Bunker Hill the shrine of New-England 
patriotism, was the orator. On the question of human liberty, 
he said, — 

" Th.it personal freedom is the natural right of every man, and that property, 
or an e.vclusive right to dispose of what he lias honestly acquired by his own 
labor, necessarily arises therefrom, are truths which common sense has placed 
beyond the reach of contradiction. And no man, or body of men, can, witliout 
being guilty of flagrant injustice, claim a right to dispose of the persons or 
acquisitions of any otlier man, or body of men, unless it can be proved that 
.such a right has arisen from some compact between the parties, in which it has 
been explicitly and freely granted." 

These noble sentiments were scaled bv his blood at Bunker 
Hill, on the 17th of June, 1775, and are the amulet that will pro- 
tect his fame from the corroding touch of centuries of time 

The free Negroes of the Northern colonies responded to the 
call "to arms," that rang from the placid waters of Massachusetts 
Bay to the verdant hills of Berkshire, and from Lake Champlain 
to the upper waters of the Hudson. Every Nortliern colony had 
its Negro troops, not as separate organizations, — save tlie black 
regiment of Rhode Island, — but scattered throughout all of the 
white organizations of the army. At the first none but free 
Negroes were received into the army ; but before peace came 
Negroes were not only admitted, they vi'cre purchased, and sent 
into the war, with an offer of freedom and fifty dollars bounty 
at the close of their service. On the 29th of May, 1775, the 
" Committee pf Safety" for the Province of Massachusetts passed 



334 BISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the following resolve against the enlistment of Negro slaves as 
soldiers : — 

" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, as the contest now 
between Great Britain and the colonies respects the liberties and privileges of 
the latter, which the colonies are determined to maintain, that the admission of 
any persons, as soldiers, into the army now raising, but only such as are free- 
men, will be inconsistent with the principles that are to be supported, and reflect 
dishonor on this colony, and that no slaves be admitted into tliis army upon any 
consideration whatever." ■ 



On Tuesday, the 6th of Jime, 1775, "A resolve of the com- 
mittee of safety, relative to the [admission] of slaves into the 
army was read, and ordered to lie on the table for finther con- 
sideration." ^ But this was but another evidence of the cold, 
conservative spirit of Massachusetts on the question of other 
people's rights. 

The Continental army was in bad shape. Its arms and cloth- 
ing, its discipline and efficiency, were at such a low state as to 
create the gravest apprehensions and deepest solicitude. Gen. 
George Washmgton took command of the army in and around 
Boston, on the 3d of July, 1775, and threw his energies into the 
work of organization. On the loth of July he issued instructions 
to the recruiting-ofificers of Massachusetts Bay, in which he for- 
bade the enlistment of any "negro," or "any Person who is not 
an American born, unless such Person has a Wife and Family and 
is a settled resident in this Country." 3 But, nevertheless, it is a 
curious fact, as Mr. Bancroft says, "the roll of the army at Cam- 
bridge had from its first formation borne the names of men of 
color." "Free negroes stood in the ranks by the side of white 
men. In the beginning of the war they had entered the pro- 
vincial army; the first general order which was issued by Ward, 
had required a return, among other things, of the 'complexion' 



^ Journals of the Provincial Congress of Mass., p. 553. - Ibid., p. 302. 

3 The following is a copy of Gen. Gates's order to recruitingMjfficers ; — 

" You are not to enlist any deserter from the Ministe^i.^I Army, or any slroller, negro, or vagabond, 
or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America, nor any under eighteen ye.irs of age. 

" As the cause is the best that can engage men of courage and principle to take up arms, so it is 
expected that none but such \\\\\ be accepted by the recruiting officer. The pay. provision, &c., being 
::o ample, it is not doubted but that the officers sent upon this service will, without delay, complete their 
respective corps, and march the men forthwith to camp. 

" Vou ar« not to enlist any person who is not an American bom, unless such person has a wife and 
family, and is a settled resident in this country. The persons you enlist must be provided with good and 
complete arms." 

— Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i. p. iia 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 335 

of the soldiers ; and black men like others were retained in the 
service after the troops were adopted by the continent." There 
is no room to doubt. Negroes were in the army from first to 
last, but were there in contravention of law and positive pro- 
hibition.' 

On the 29th of September, 1775, a spirited debate occurred 
in the Continental Congress, over the draught of a letter to Gen. 
Washington, reported by Lynch, Lee, and Adams. I\Ir. Rutledge 
of South Carolina moved that the commander-in-chief be in- 
structed to discharge all slaves and free Negroes in his army. 
The Southern delegates supported him earnestly, but his motion 
was defeated. Public attention was called to the question, and at 
length the officers of the army debated it. The following minute 
of a meeting heltl at Cambridge preserves and reveals the senti- 
ment of the general officers of the army on the subject : — 

"At a council of war. held at hcad-quartcr.s. October Stli, 1775, present. 
His Excellency, General Washington; Major-Generals Ward, Lee, and Put- 
nam; Brigadier-Generals Thomas, Spencer, Heath, Sullivan, Greene, and 
Gates— the question was proposed: 

" ' Whether it will be advisable to enlist anv negroes in the new army? or 
whether there be a distinction between such as are slaves and those who are 
free ? ' 

" It was agreed unanimously to reject all slaves ; and, Ijy a great majority, 
to reject negroes altogether." 

Ten days later, Oct. 18, 1775, a committee of conference met 
at Cambridge, consisting of Dr. Franklin, Benjamin Harrison, and 
Thomas Lynch, who conferred with Gen. Washington, the deputy- 
governors of Connecticut and Rhode I.sland, and the Committee 
of the Council of Massachusetts Bay. The object of the confer- 
ence was the renovation and improvement of the army. On the 
23d of October, the emjiloyment of Negroes as soldiers came 
before the conference for action, as follows: — 

"Ought not negroes to be excluded from the new enlistment, especially 
such as are slaves? all were thought improper by the council of officers. " 
'■'■ Agreed \.\i-!X they be rejected altogether." 

' The Provincial Congress of South Carohna, Nov. 20, 1 775, passed the following resolve : — 

'* On motion, Resolved, That ihe colonels of the several regiments of militia throughotit the Colony 

have leave to enroll such a number of able male slaves, to be employed as pioneers and Laborers, as public 

exigencies may require; and that a daily pay of seven shillings and sixpence be allowed for the ser%-ice of 

'each such slave while actually employed.'* 

— American Archives, 4th Series, vol. Iv. p. 6. 



336 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In his General Orders, issued from headquarters on the 12th 
of November, 1775, Washington said, — 

" Neither negroes, boys unable to bear arms, nor old men unfit to endure 
the fatigues of the campaign, are to be enlisted." ■ 

But the general repaired this mistake the following month. 
Lord Dunmore had issued a proclamation declaring " all indented 
servants, negroes, or others (appertaining to rebels) free." Fear- 
ing lest many Negroes should join the ministerial army, in Gen- 
eral Orders, 30th December, Washington wrote : — 

"As the General is informed that numbers of free negroes are desirous of 
enlisting, he gives leave to the recruiting ofificers to entertain them, and prom- 
ises to lay the matter before tlie Congress, who, he doubts not, will approve 
of it." 

Lord Dunmore's proclamation is here given : — 

'^ By his Excellency the Right Hotiorable John, Earl cf Dunmore, his Majes- 
ty^ s Lieutenant and Governor-General of the Colony and Dominion of Vir- 
ginia, and Vice-Admiral of tlie same, — 

"A PROCLAMATION. 

"As I have ever entertained hopes that an accommodation might have 
taken place between Great Britain and this Colony, without being compelled 
by my duty to this most disagreeable but now absolutely necessary step, ren- 
dered so by a bod-y of armed men, unlawfully assembled, firing on his Majesty's 
tenders; and the formation of an army, and that army now on their march to 
attack his Majesty's troops, and destroy the well-disposed subject of this 
Colony : To defeat such treasonable purposes, and that all such traitors and 
their abettors may be brought to justice, and that the peace and good order of 
this Colony may be again restored, which the ordinary course of the civil law 
is unable to effect, I have thought fit to issue this my Proclamation ; hereby 
declaring, that, until the aforesaid good purposes can be obtained, I do, in 
virtue of the power and authority to me given by his Majesty, determine to 
execute martial law, and cause the same to be executed, throughout this Colo- 
ny. And, to the end that peace and good order may the sooner be restored, 
I do require every person capable of bearing arms to resort to his Majesty's 
standard, or be looked upon as traitors to his Majesty's Crown and Govern- 
ment, and thereby become liable to the penalty the law inflicts upon such 
offences, — such as forfeiture of life, confiscation of lands, &c., &c. And I do 
hereby further declare all indented servants, negroes, or others, (appertaining 
to Rebels,) free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining his Majes- 
ty's troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to 
a proper sense of their duty to his Majesty's crown and dignity. I do further 

" Sparks's Washington, vol. iii. p. 155, note. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES. 337 

order and require all his Majesty's liege subjects to retain their (luit-rcnts, or 
any other taxes due, or that may l)ccomc due. in their own custody, till such 
time as peace may be again restored to this at present most unhappy country, 
or demanded of them, for their former salutary purposes, by officers properly 
authorized to receive the same. 

"Given under my hand, on bo.ard the Ship William, off Norfolk, the 
seventh d.iy of November, in the sixteenth year of his Majesty's reign. 

" DUNMORE. 
" God save the King!" ' 

On account of this, on the ^ist of December, Gen. Wa.shin£rton 
wrote the President of Congress as follows : — 

"It has been represented to me, that the free negroes, who have served 
in this army, are very much dissatisfied at being discarded. As it is to be 
apprehended, that they may seek employ in the ministerial army, I have pre- 
sumed to depart from the resolution respecting them, and have given license 
for their being enlisted. If this is disapproved of by Congress, I will put a 
stop to it." = 

This letter was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs, 
Wythe, Adams, and Wilson. On the iGth of January, 1776, they 
made the following report: — 

"That the free negroes who have served faithfully in tlic army at Cam- 
bridge may be re-enlist — therein, but no others.".? 

This action on the part of Congress had reference to the army 
around Boston, but it called forth loud and bitter criticism from 
the officers of the army at the South. In a letter to John Adams, 
dated Oct. 24, 1775, Gen. Thomas indicated that there was some 
feeling even before the action of Congress was secured. He 
says, — 

" I am sorry to hear that any prejudices should take place in any Southern 
colony, with respect to the troops raised in this. I am certain the insinuations 
you mention are injurious, if we consider with what precipitation we were 
obliged to collect an army. In the regiments at Ro.xbury, the privates are 
equal to any that I served with in the last war : very few old men, and in the 
ranks very few boys. Our fifers are many of them boys. We have some 
negroes ; but I look on them, in general, equally serviceable with other men 
for fatigue; and, in action, many of them have proved themselves brave. 

" I would avoid all reflection, or any thing that may tend to give umbr.age ; 
but there is in this army from the southward a number called riflemen, who arc 



' Force's American Archives, 4th Series, vol. iii. p. 1,385. 
Spavks's Washington, vo\. jii. p. 21S. ^ Journ.als of Congress, vol. ii. p. 26. 



338 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

as indifferent men as I ever served with. These privates are mutinous, and 
often deserting to the enemy; unwilling for duty of any kind; exxeedingly 
vicious; and, I think, the army here would be as well without as with them. 
But to do justice to their officers, they are, some of them, likely men." 

The Dunmore proclamation was working great mischief in the 
SoLitliern colonies. The Southern colonists were largely engaged 
in planting, and, as they were Tories, did not rush to arms with 
the celerity that characterized the Northern colonists. At an 
early moment in the struggle, the famous Rev. Dr. Hopkins of 
Rhode Island wrote the following pertinent extract : — 

" God is so ordering it in his providence, that it seems absolutely necessary 
something should speedily be done with respect to the slaves among us, in 
order to our safety, and to prevent their turning against us in our present 
struggle, in order to get their liberty. Our oppressors have planned to gain 
the blacks, and induce them to take up arms against us, by promising them 
liberty on this condition; and this plan they are prosecuting to the utmost of 
their power, by which means they have persuaded numbers to join them. And 
should wc attempt to restrain them by force and severity, keeping a strict 
guard over them, and punishing them severely who shall be detected in 
attempting to join our opposers, this will only be making bad worse, and serve 
to render our inconsistence, oppression, and cruelty more criminal, perspicuous, 
and shocking, and bring down the righteous vengeance of Heaven on our 
heads. The only way pointed out to prevent this threatening evil is to set the 
blacks at liberty ourselves by some public acts and laws, and then give them 
proper encouragement to labor, or take arms in the defence of the American 
cause, as they shall choose. This would at once be doing them some degree 
of justice, and defeating our enemies in the scheme that they are prosecuting." ' 

On Sunday, the 24th of September, 1775, John Adams re- 
corded the following conversation, that goes to show that Lord 
Dunmore's policy was well matured : — 

"In the evening, Mr. Bullock and Mr. Houston, two gendemen from 
Georgia, came into our room, and smoked and chatted the whole evening. 
Houston and Adams disputed the whole time in good humor. They are both 
dabs at disputation, I think. Houston, a lawyer by trade, is one of course, and 
Adams is not a whit less addicted to it than the lawyers. The question was, 
whether all America was not in a state of war, and whether we ought to con- 
fine ourselves to act upon the defensive only .■' He was for acting offensively, 
next spring or this fall, if the petition was rejected or neglected. If it was not 
answered, and favorably answered, he would be for acting against Britain and 
Britons, as, in open war, against French and Frenchmen ; (it privateers, and 
take their ships anywhere. These gentlemen give a melancholy account of 

^ Hopkins's Works, vol. u. p. 584. 



MILITARY EArrr.OYArKNT OF i\ EG/WES. 339 

the State of Georgia and South Carolina. They say that if one thousand 
regular troops should land in Georgia, and tlicir commander be provided with 
arms and clothes enough, and proclaim freedom to all the negroes who would 
join his camp, twenty thousand negroes would join it from the two Provinces 
in a fortnight. The negroes have a wonderful art of communicating intelli- 
gence among themselves; it will run several hundreds of miles in a week or 
fortnight. They say, their only security is this ; that all the king's friends, and 
tools of government, have large plantations, and property in negroes ; so that 
the slaves of the Tories would be lost, as well as those of the Whigs." ■ 



The Ncgfocs in Virginia .souglit tlic standards of the minis- 
terial army, and tlie greatest consternation ])revailed among the 
planters. On the 27th of November, 1775, Edmund Pendleton 
wrote to Richard Lee that the slaves were daily flocking to the 

British army. 

I 

"The Governour, hearing of this, marched out with three hundred and fifty 
soldiers, Tories and slaves, to Kemp's Landing; and after setting up his 
standard, and issuing his proclamation, declaring all persons Rebels wlio took up 
arms for the country, and inviting all slaves, servants, and apprentices to come 
to him and receive arms, he proceeded to intercept Mulchings and his party, 
upon whom he came by surprise, but received, it seems, so warm a fire, that the 
ragamuffins gave way. They were, however, rallied on discovering that two 
com]5anics of our militia gave way ; and left Hutchings and Dr. Reid with a vol- 
unteer company, who maintained their ground bravely till they were overcome 
by numbers, and took shelter in a swamp. The slaves were sent in pursuit of 
them; and one of Col. Hutchings's own, with another, found him. On their 
approach, he discharged his pistol at his slave, but missed him; and was taken 
by them, after receiving a wound in his face with a sword. The number 
taken or killed, on either side, is not ascertained. It is said the Governour 
went to Dr. Reid's shop, and, after taking the medicines and dressings neces- 
sary for his wounded men, broke all the others to pieces. Letters mention 
that slaves fiock to him in abundance; but I hope it is magnified."* 

But the dark .stream of Negroes that had set in toward the 
English troops, where they were jiromised the privilege of bear- 
ing arms and their frectlom, could not easily be stayed. The 
proclamation of Dunmore received tlic criticism of the press, and 
the Negroes were appealed to and urged to stand by their "true 
friends." A Williamsburg paper, printed on the 23d of No\em- 
ber, 1775, contained the following well-written plea : — 

* Works of Jolin .Adams, vol. ii. p. 42.S, 

- Force's Aniencin Archives, 4th Series, vol. iv. p. 202. 



34° HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"CAUTION TO THE NEGROES. 

"The second class of people for whose sake a few remarks upon this 
proclamation seem necessary is the Negroes. They have been flattered with 
their freedom, if they be able to bear arms, and will speedily join Lord Dun- 
more's troops. To none, then, is freedom promised, but to such as are able to 
do Lord Dunmore service. The aged, the intirm, the women and children, are 
still to remain the property of their masters, — of masters who will be pro- 
voked to severity, should part of their slaves desert them. Lord Dunmore's 
declaration, therefore, is a cruel declaration to the Negroes. He does not 
pretend to make it out of any tenderness to them, but solely upon his own 
account ; and, should it meet with success, it leaves by far the greater number 
at the mercy of an enraged and injured people. But should there be any 
amongst the Negroes weak enougli to believe that Lord Dunmore intends to do 
them a kindness, and wicked enough to provoke the fury of the Americans 
against their defenceless fathers and mothers, their wives, their women and 
children, let them only consider the difficulty of effecting their escape, and 
what they must expect to suffer if they fail into the hands of the Americans. 
Let them further consider what must be their fate should the English prove 
conquerors. If we can judge of the future from the past, it will not be much 
mended. Long have the .-Vmericans, moved by compassion and actuated by 
sound policy, endeavored to stoj) the progress of slavery. Our Assemblies 
have re])eatedly passed acts, laying heavy duties upon imported Negroes; by 
which they meant altogether to prevent the horrid traffick. But their humane 
intentions have been as often frustrated by the cruelty and covetousness of a 
set of English merchants, who prevailed upon the King to repeal our kind and 
merciful acts, little, indeed, to the credit of his humanity. Can it, then, be 
supposed that the Negroes will be better used by the English, wlio have always 
encouraged and upheld this slavery, than by their present masters, who pity 
their condition ; who wish, in general, to make it as easy and comfortable as . 
possible ; and who would, tvere it in their power, or were they permitted, fwt 
only prevent anv more A'egroes from losing tlicir freedovi, but restore it to stick 
as have already unhappily lost it? No: the ends of Lord Dunmore and his 
party being answered, they will either give up the offending Negroes to the 
rigor of the laws they have broken, or sell them in the West Indies, where 
every year they sell many thousands of their miserable brethren, to perish 
eitlier by the inclemency of weather or the cruelty of barbarous masters. Be 
not then, ye Negroes, tempted by this proclamation to ruin yourselves. 1 have 
given vou a faithful view of what you are to e.xpect ; and declare before God, 
in doing it, I have considered j-our welfare, as well as that of the country. 
Wliether you will profit by my advice, I cannot tell; but this I know, tliat, 
whether we suffer or not, if you desert M%,you most certainly will." ' 

But the Negroes had been demoralized, and it required an 
extraordinary effort to quiet them. On the 13th of December, 
the Virginia Convention put forth an answer to the proclamation 

* Force's American Archives, 4tli Series, vol. iii. p. 1,387. 



MILITARY EMPIOVMF.NT OF NEGROES. 341 

of Lord Diinmnrc. On the 14th of December a proclamation was 
issued "ottering pardon to sucti slaves as shall return to their 
duty within ten days after the publication thereof." The follow- 
ing was their declaration : — 

" By the Representatives of the People of the Colony and Dominion of Vir- 
ginia, assembled in General Convention, 

"A DECLARATION. 

" Whereas Lord Dunmore, by his Proclamation dated on board the 
ship ' Willi.im,' off Norfolk, the seventh day of November, 1775, hath 
offered freedom to such able-bodied slaves as are willing to join him, 
and take up arms against the good people of this Colony, giving there- 
by encouragement to a general insurrection, which may induce a 
necessity of inflicting the severest punishments upon those unhappy 
people, already deluded by his base and insidious arts ; and whereas, 
by an act of the General Assembly now in force in this Colony, it is 
enacted, that all negro or other slaves, conspiring to rebel or make in- 
surrection, shall suffer death, and be excluded all benefit of clergy ; — 
we think it proper to declare, that all slaves who have been or shall be 
seduced by his Lordship's Proclamation, or other arts, to desert their 
masters' service, and take up arms against the inhabitants of this Colony, 
shall be liable to such punishment as shall hereafter be directed by 
the General Convention. And to the end that all such who have 
taken this unlawful and wicked step may return in safety to their duty, 
and escape the punishment due to their crimes, we hereby promise 
pardon to them, they surrendering themselves to Colonel William Wood- 
ford or any other commander of our troops, and not appearing in arms 
after the publication hereof. .\nd we do further earnestly recommend 
it to all humane and benevolent persons in this Colony to explain and 
make known this our offer of mercy to those unfortunate people." ' 

Gen. Washington was not long in observing the effects of the 
Dunmore proclamation. He began to fully realize the condition 
of affairs at the South, and on Dec. 15th wrote Joseph Reed as 
follows : 

"If tlie \'irginians are wise, that arch-traitor to the rights of humanity, 
Lord Dunmore, sliould be instantly cruslied, if it takes the force of tlie wliole 
army to do it; otherwise, like a snow-ball in rolling, his army will get size, 
some through fear, some through promises, and some through inclination, 
joining his standard : but that which renders the measure indispensably neces- 
sary is the negroes ; for, if he gets formidable, numbers of them will be tempted 
to join who will be afraid to do it without." - 



' Force's .\merican Archives, 4th Series, vol. iv. pp. 84, 85. 
= Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, vol. i. p. 135. 



342 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The slaves themselves were not incapable of perceiving the 
cunning of Lord Dunmore. England had forced slavery upon the 
colonists against their protest, had given instructions to the royal 
governors concerning the increase of the trafific, and therefore 
could not be more their friends than the colonists. The number 
that went over to the enemy grew smaller all the while, and 
finally the British were totally discouraged in this regard. Lord 
Dunmore was unwilling to acknowledge the real cause of his fail- 
ure to secure black recruits, and so he charged it to the fever. 

"LORD DUNMORE TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 

[No. I.] "Ship 'Dunmore,' in Elizabeth River, Virginia, 

30th March, 1776. 

"Your Lordship will observe by my letter, No. 34, that I have been en- 
deavouring to raise two regiments here — one o£ white people, the other of 
black. The former goes on very slowly, but the latter very well, and would 
have been in great forwardness, had not a fever crept in amongst them, which 
carried off a great many very fine fellows." 

[No. 3.] "Ship 'Dunmore,' in Gwin's Island Harbour, Virginia, 

June 26, 1776. 

" I am extremely sorry to inform your Lordship, that that fever, of which 
I informed you in my letter No. i, has proved a very malignant one, and has 
carried off an incredible number of our people, especially the blacks. Had it 
not been for this horrid disorder, I am satisfied I should have had two thousand 
blacks ; with whom I should have had no doubt of penetrating into the heart 
of this Colony." ' 

While the colonists felt, as Dr. Hopkins had written, that some- 
thing ought to be done toward securing the services of the Negroes, 
yet their representatives were not disposed to legislate the Negro 
into the army. He was there, and still a conservative policy was 
pursued respecting him. Some bold officers took it upon them- 
selves to receive Negroes as soldiers. Gen. Greene, in a letter to 
Gen. Washington, called attention to the raising of a Negro regi- 
ment on Staten Island. 

"Camp on Long Island, 

July 21, 1776, two o'clock. 

" Sir ; Colonel Hand reports seven large ships are coming up from the 
Hook to the Narrows. 

" A ne"T0 belonging to one Strickler, at Gravesend, was taken prisoner (as 



' Force's .\merican Archives, 5th Series, vol. ii. pp. 160, 162, 



MILITARY RMPLOYMF.Nl OF NEGROES. 343 

he says) last Sunday at Coney Island. Yesterday lie made his escape, and was 
taken prisoner by the rifle-guard. He reports eight hundred negroes collected 
on Staten Island, this day to be formed into a regiment. 

" I am your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant, 

"N. GREENE. 
" To his ExcdUitcy Gen. Wasmington, Headquarlcrs, New York."^ 

To the evidence already [irodiiced as to the indiscriminate 
employment of Nei;roes as soldiers in the American army, the 
observations of a foreign officer are added. Under date of the 23d 
of October, 1777, a Hessian ofificer wrote :- — 

" From here to Springfield, there arc few habitations which have not a 
negro family dwelling in a small house near by. The negroes are here as 
fruitful as other cattle. The young ones are well foddered, especially while 
they are still calves. Slavery is, moreover, very gainful. The negro is to be 
considered just as the bond-servant of a peasant. The ncgress does all the 
coarse work of the house, and the little black young ones wait on the little 
white young ones. The negro can take tlie fields instead of his master; and 
therefore no regiment is to be seen in tohich there are not negroes in abundance: 
and amomr them there are able-bodied, strong, and brave fellows. Here, too, 
there are many families of free negroes, who live in good houses, have proi> 
erty, and live just like the rest of the inhabitants." 3 

In the month of May, 1777, the Legi.slature of Connecticut 
sought to secure some action on the subject of the employment 
of Negroes as soldiers." 

"In .May, 1777. the General Assembly of Connecticut appointed a Com- 
mittee ' to take into consideration the state and condition of the negro and 
mulatto slaves in this State, and what may be done for their emancipation.' 
This Committee, in a report presented at the same session (signed by the 
chairman, the Hon. Matthew Griswold of Lyme), recommended — 

'•'That the effective negro and mulatto slaves be allowed to enlist with the 
Continental battalions now raising in this State, under the following regulations 
and restrictions : viz., that all such negro and mulatto slaves as can procure, 
either by bounty, hire, or in any other way, such a sum to be paid to their 
masters as such negro or mulatto shall be judged to be reasonably worth by 
the selectmen of the town where such negro or mulatto belongs, shall be 
allowed to enlist into either of said battalions, and shall thereupon be, de facto, 
free and emancipated ; and that the master of such negro or mulatto shall be 
exempted from the support and maintenance of such negro or mulatto, in case 

' Force's American .Archives, 5th Series, vol. i. p. 486. 

= During a few months of study in New-York City, I came across the above in the library of 
the N. V. Hist. Soc. 

3 Schloezer's Briefwechsel, vol. iv. p. 365. 



344 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

such negro or mulatto shall hereafter become unable to support and maintain 
himself. 

"'And that, in case any such negro or mulatto slave shall be disposed to 
enlist into either of said battalions during the [war], he shall be allowed so to 
do : and such negro or mulatto shall be appraised by the selectmen of the town 
to which he belongs ; and his master shall be allowed to receive the bounty to 
which such slave may be entitled, and also one-half of the annual wages of 
such slave during the time he shall continue in said service ; provided, however, 
that said master shall not be allowed to receive such part of said wages after 
he shall have received so much as amounts, together with the bounty, to the 
sum at which he was appraised.' " 

In the lower hou.se the report was put over to the next session, 
but when it reached the upper house it was rejected. 

"You will see by the Report of Committee, May, 1777, that General 
Varnum's jjlan for the enlistment of slaves had been anticipated in Connecti- 
cut; with this difference, that Rhode Island adopted it, while Connecticut did 
not. 

" The two States readied nearly the same 7-csults by different methods. 
The unanimous declaration of the officers at Cambridge, in the winter of 1 775, 
«^rt/«.i7 the enlistment of slaves, — confirmed by the Committee of Congress, 
— had some weight, I think, with the Connecticut Assembly, so far as the 
formal enactment of a law rtw/Z/orZ-Zw^' such enlistments was in question. At 
the same time, Washington's license to continue the enlistment of negroes was 
regarded as a rule of action, both by the selectmen in making up, and by the 
State Government in accepting, the quota of the towns. The process of 
draughting, in Connecticut, was briefly this: The able-bodied men, in each 
town, were divided into 'classes ;' and each class was required to furnish one 
or more men, as the town's quota required, to answer a draught. Now, the 
Assemblv, at the same session at which the proposition for enlisting slaves was 
rejected (May, 1777), passed an act providing that any tiuo men belonging to 
this .State, ' who should procure an able-bodied soldier or recruit to enlist into 
either of the Continental battalions to be raised from this State,' should them- 
selves be e.'cempted from draught during the continuance of such enlistment. 
Of recruits or draughted men thus furnished, neither the selectmen nor com- 
manding officers questioned the color or the civil status : white and black, bond 
and free, if 'able-bodied,' went on the roll together, accepted as the representa- 
tives of their ' class,' or as substitutes for their employers. At the next session 
(October, 1777), an act was passed which gave more direct encouragement to 
the enlistment of slaves. By this e.\isting law, the master who emancipated a 
slave was not released from the liability to provide for his support. This law 
was now so amended, as to authorize the selectmen of any town, on the 
application of the master, — after 'inquiry into the age, abilities, circum- 
stances, and character' of the servant or slave, and being satisfied ' that it was 
likely to be consistent with his real advantage, and that it was probable that he 
would be able to support himself,' — to grant liberty for his emancipation, and 
to discharge the master 'from any charge or cost which may be occasioned by 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF AEGA'OFS. 345 

ninintaining or supportins; the servant or slave made free as aforesaid.' Tliis 
enactment enabled the selectmen to offer an additional inducement to enlist- 
ment, for making up the quota of the town. The slave (or servant for term of 
years) might receive his freedom: the master might secure exemption from 
draught, and a discharge from future liabilities, to which he must otherwise 
have been subjected. In point of fact, some hundreds of blacks — slaves and 
freemen — were enlisted, from time to time, in the regiments of the State troops 
and of the Connecticut line, //ow many, it is impossible to tell; for, from 
fir.st to last, the company or regimental rolls indicate no distinctions of color. 
The name is the only guide: and, in turning over the rolls of the Connecticut 
line, the frequent recurrence of names which were exclusively appropriated 
to negroes and shaves, shows how considerable was their proportion of the 
material of the Connecticut army; while such surnames as 'Liberty,' ' Free- 
man,' 'Freedom,' &c., by scores, indicate with what anticipations, and under 
what inducements, they entered the service. 

" As to the efficiency of the service they rendered, I can say nothing from 
the records, except what is to be gleaned from scattered files, such as one of 
tlie petitions I send you. So far as my acquaintance extends, almost every 
family has its traditions of the good and faithful service of a black servant or 
slave, who was killed in battle, or served through the war, and came home to 
tell stories of hard fighting, and draw his pension. In my own native town, — 
not a large one, — I remember five such pensioners, three of wlioni. I lielicvc, 
had been slaves, and, in fact, were slaves to the day of their death ; for (and 
this explains the uniform action of the General Assembly on petitions for 
emancipation) neither the towns nor the State were inclined to exonerate the 
master, at a time when slavery was becoming unprofitable, from the obligation 
to provide for the old age of his slave." ' 

Gen. Varnum, a brave and intelligent officer from Rhode 
Island, early urged the employment of Negro .soldiers. He 
communicated his views to Gen. Washington, and he referred 
the correspondence to the governor of Rhode Island. 

GEN. WASHINGTON TO GOV. COOKE. 

"Headquarters, 2d Jnnuary, 1778. 
"Sir: — Enclosed you will receive a copy of a letter from General Varnum 
to me, upon the means which might be adopted for completing the Rhode Island 
troops to their full proportion in the Continental army. I have nothing to say 
in addition to what I wrote the 29th of the last month on this important subject, 
but to desire that you will give the officers employed in this business all the 
assistance in your power. 

" I am with great respect, sir, 

"Your most obedient servant, 

"G. W.VSllINGTOX. 
"To Governor Cooke."' 

• An Historical Research (Livermore), pp. 114-116. - R. I. Col. Recs., vol. viii. p. 640. 



346 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The letter of Gen. Varnum to Gen. Washington, in reference 
to the employment of Negroes as soldiers, is as follows : — 

GEN. V.\RNUM TO GEN. WASHINGTON. 

"Camp, January 2d, 1778. 
"Sir: — The two battalions from the State of Rhode Island being small, 
and there being a necessity of the state's furnishing an additional number to 
mal<e up their proportion in the Continental army; the field officers have repre- 
sented to me the propriety of making one temporary battalion from the two, so 
that one entire corps of officers may repair to Rhode Island, in order to receive 
and prepare the recruits for the field. It is imagined that a battalion of negroes 
can be easily raised there. Should that measure be adopted, or recruits ob- 
tained upon any other principle, the service will be advanced. Tlie field officers 
who go upon this command, are Colonel Greene, Lieutenant Colonel OIney, and 
Major Ward ; seven captains, twelve lieutenants, six ensigns, one paymaster, 
one surgeon and mates, one adjutant and one chaplain. 

" I am Your E.xcellency's most obedient servant, 

"J. .\I. Varnum. 
" To His Excellency General Washington." ' 



Gov. Cooke wrote Gen. Washington as follows : — 

" State of Rhode Island, &c. 

"Providence, Janu.iry 19th, 177S. 

■'Sir: — Since we had the honor of addressing Your Excellency by Mr. 
Thompson, we received your favor of the 2d of January current, enclosing a 
proposition of Gen. Varnum's for raising a battalion of negroes. 

"We in our letter of the 15th current, of which we send a duplicate, have 
fully represented our present circumstances, and the many difficulties we labor 
under, in respect to our filling up the Continental battalions. In addition 
thereto, will observe, that we have now in the state's service within the govern- 
ment, two battalions of infantry, and a regiment of artillery who are enlisted 
to serve until the 16th day of March next: and the General Assembly have 
ordered two battalions of infantry, and a regiment of artillery, to be raised, to 
serve until the 1 6th of March, 1779. So that we have raised and kept in the 
field, more than the proportion of men assigned us by Congress. 

"The General Assembly of this state are to convene themselves on the 
second Mondav of February next, when your letters will be laid before them, 
and their determination respecting the same, will be immediately transmitted to 
Your Excellency. 

" I have the honor to be, &c., 

" Nicholas Cooke. 
"To Gen. Washington."' 

• R. I. Col. Recs., vol. viii. p. 641. ' Ibid., vol. viii. p. 524. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES. 347 

The governor hud the above letters before the General Assem- 
bly, at their I<"cbniary session ; and the followinf^ act was passed : — 

" Whereas, for the preservation of the rights and liberties of the United 
Stales, it is necessary that the vvliole powers of government should be exerted 
in recruiting the Continental battalions; and whereas, His Excellency Gen. 
Washington hath enclosed to this state a proposal made to him by Brigadier 
General Varnum, to enlist into the two battalions, raising by this state, such 
slaves as should be willing to enter into the service ; and whereas, history 
al'fords us frequent precedents of the wisest, the freest, and bravest nations 
having liberated their slaves, and enlisted them as soldiers to fight in defence 
of their country; and also whereas, the enemy, with a great force, have taken 
possession of the capital, and of a greater part of this state ; and this state is 
obliged to raise a very considerable number of troops for its own immediate 
defence, whereby it is in a manner rendered impossible for this state to furnish 
recruits for the said two battalions, without adopting the said measure so recom- 
mended. 

" It is voted and resolved, that every able-bodied negro, mulatto, or Indian 
man slave, in this state, may enlist into either of the said two battalions, to 
serve during the continuance of the present war with Great Britain. 

"That every slave, so enlisting, shall be entitled to, and receive, all the 
bounties, wages, and encouragements, allowed by the Continental Congress, to 
any soldier enlisting into their service. 

" It is further voted and resolved, that every slave, so enlisting, shall, upon 
his passing muster before Col. Christopher Greene, be immediately discharged 
from the service of his master or mistress, and be absolutely free, as though 
he had never been encumbered with any kind of servitude or slavery. 

" And in case such slave shall, by sickness or otherwise, be rendered unable 
to maintain himself, he shall not be chargeable to his master or mistress; but 
shall be supported at the expense of the state. 

" ."^nd whereas, slaves have been, by the laws, deemed the property of their 
owners, and therefore compensation ought to be made to the owners for the 
loss of their service, — 

" It is further voted and resolved, that there be allowed, and paid by this 
state, to the owner, for every such slave so enlisting, a sum according to his 
worth; at a price not exceeding ;{|i2o for the most valuable slave; and in pro- 
portion for a slave of less value. 

" Provided, the owner of said slave shall deliver up to the ofTicer, who shall 
enlist him, the clothes of the said slave; or otherwise he shall not be entitled 
to said sum. 

"And for settling and ascertaining the value of such slaves, — 

" It is further voted and resolved, that a committee of five be appointed, to 
wit : 

" One from each county ; any three of whom, to be a quorum, to examine 
the slaves who shall be so enlisted, after they shall have passed muster, and 
to set a price upon each slave according to his value, as aforesaid. 

" It is furtlier voted and resolved, that upon any ablebodied negro, mulatto, 
or Indian slave, enlisting as aforesaid, the officer who shall so enlist him, after 



348 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

he shall have passed muster, as aforesaid, shall deliver a certificate thereof, to 
the master or mistress of said negro, mulatto, or Indian slave; which shall 
discharge him from the service of his said master or mistress, as aforesaid. 

"It is further voted and resolved, that the committee who shall estimate 
the value of any slave, as aforesaid, shall give a certificate of the sum at which 
he may be valued, to the owner of said slave ; and the general treasurer of this 
state is hereby empowered and directed to give unto the said owner of tlie said 
slave, his promissory note, as treasurer, as aforesaid, for the sum of monev at 
which he shall be valued, as aforesaid, payable on demand, with interest at the 
rate of six per cent, per annum ; and that said notes, which shall be so given, 
shall be paid with the money which is due to this state, and is expected from 
Congress ; the money which has been borrowed out of the general treasury, 
by this Assembly, being first re-placed." ■ 

This measure met with some opposition, but it was too weak 
to effect any thing. The best thing the minority could do was to 
enter a written protest. 

" PROTEST AGAINST ENLI.STING SL.WES TO SERVE IN THE 

ARMY. 

"We, the subscribers, beg leave to dissent from the vote of the lower 
house, ordering a regiment of negroes to be raised for the Continental service, 
for the following reasons, viz. : 

" 1st. Because, in our opinion, there is not a sufficient number of negroes 
in the state, who would have an inclination to enlist, and would pass muster, 
to constitute a regiment; and raising several companies of blacks, would not 
answer the purposes intended; and therefore the attempt to constitute said 
regiment would prove abortive, and be a fruitless expense to the state. 

"2d. The raising such a regiment, upon the footing proposed, would sug- 
gest an idea and produce an opinion in the world, that the state had purchased 
a band of slaves to be employed in the defence of the rights and liberties of 
our country, which is wholly inconsistent with those principles of liberty and 
constitutional government, for which we are so ardently contending; and would 
be looked upon by the neighboring states in a contemptible point of view, and 
not equal to their troops ; and they would therefore be unwilling that we should 
have credit for them, as for an equal number of white troops ; and would also 
give occasion to our enemies to suspect that we are not able to procure our 
own people to oppose them in the field; and to retort upon us the same kind 
of ridicule we so liberally bestowed upon them, on account of Dunmore's regi- 
ment of blacks ; or possibly might suggest to them the idea of employing black 
regiments against us. 

"3d. The expense of purchasing and enlisting said regiment, in the man- 
ner proposed, will vastly exceed tlie expenses of raising an equal number of 
white men; and at the same time will not have the like good effect. 

"4th. Great difficulties and uneasiness will arise in purchasing the negroes 

' R. I. Col. Recs , vol. viii. pp. 358-360. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 349 

from flitir masters ; and many of tlie masters will not be satisfied with any 

prices allowed. 

"John Nouthup, (ii;oKGE Pikrce, 

"Jaimics liAiiCoK, Jr., Sylvuster Gardner, 
"Othniel Gorton, Sa.muel Bahcock." ■ 

Upon the passage of the Act, Gov. Cooke hastened to notify 
Gen. Washington of the success of the project. 

" Providf-NCE, Febni.ir>' 23cl, 1778. 

"Sir: — 1 have been favored with Your Kxxcllency's letter of the [3d 
instant,] 2 enclosing a proposal made to you by General \arnuni, for recruiting 
the two Continental battalions raised by this state. 

" 1 laid the letter before the General Assembly at llicir session, on the 
secontl Monday in this month; who, considering tlic pressing necessity of till- 
ing up the Continental army, and the peculiarly difficult circumstances of this 
state, which rendered it in a manner impossible to recruit our battalions in any 
other way, adopted the measure. 

" Liberty is given to every effective slave to enter the service dvning the 
war; and upon his passing muster, lie is absolutely made free, and entitled to 
all the wages, bounties and encouragements given by Congress to anv soldier 
enlisting into their service. The masters are allowed at the rate of ^1:0, for 
the most valuable slave ; and in proportion to those of less v.alue. 

"The number of slaves in this state is not great ; but it is generally tliought 
that tliree hundred, and upwards, will be enlisted. 

" 1 am, with great respect, sir, 

" Your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant, 

"Nicholas Cooke. 
"To Gen. Washington." 3 



Where masters had slaves in the army, they were paid an 
annual interest on the appraised value of the slaves, out of the 
public treasury, until the end of the military service of such 
slavcs.-t If owners presented certificates from the committee 
appointed to appraise enlisted Negroes, they were paid in part 
or in full in "Continental loan-office certificates." 5 

The reader will remember, that it has been already shown 
that Negroes, both bond and free, were excluded from the militia 
of Massachusetts ; and, furthermore, that both the Committee of 
Safety and the Provincial Congress had opposed the enlistment 
of Negroes. The first move in the colony to secure legal enlist- 

' R. I. Col. Recs., vol. viii. p. 361. 

' This is evidently a mistake, as Washington's letter was d.nted Jan. 2, as the reader will see. 

' K. I. Col. Kecs., vol. viii. p. 526. « Ibid., p. 376. 5 Ibid., p. 465. 



350 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

ments and separate organizations of Colored troops was a com- 
munication to the General Assembly of Massachusetts, 3d of 
April, 1778. 

" To the Honorable Council, and House of Representatives, Boston, or at 

R ox bury. 

" Honored Gentlemen, — At the opening of this campaign, our forces 
should be all ready, well equipped with arms and ammunition, with clothing 
sufficient to stand them through the campaign, their wages to be paid monthly, 
so as not to give the soldiery so much reason of complaint as it is the general 
cry from the soldiery amongst whom I am connected. 

" We have accounts of large re-enforcements a-coming over this spring 
against us; and we are not so strong this spring, I think, as we were last. 
Great numbers have deserted; numbers have died, besides what is sick, and 
incapable of duty, or bearing arms in the field. 

" 1 think it is highly necessary that some new augmentation should be 
added to the army this summer, — all the re-enforcements that can possibly be 
obtained. For now is the time to exert ourselves or never; for, if tlie enemy 
can get no further hold this campaign than they now possess, we [have] no 
need to fear much from them hereafter. 

"A re-enforcement can quick be raised of two or three hundred men. 
Will your honors grant the liberty, and give me the command of the party.' 
And what I refer to is negroes. We have divers of them in our service, mixed 
with white men. But I think it would be more proper to raise a body by them- 
selves, than to have them intermixed with the white men; and their ambition 
would entirely be to outdo the white men in every measure that the fortune of 
war calls a soldier to endure. And I could rely with dependence upon them in 
the field of battle, or to any post that I was sent to defend with them; and 
they would think themselves happy could they gain their freedom by bearing a 
part of subduing the enemy that is invading our land, and clear a peaceful 
inheritance for their masters, and posterity yet to come, that Hiey are now slaves to. 

" The method that I would point out to your Honors in raising a detach- 
ment of negroes ; — that a company should consist of .t hundred, including 
commissioned officers; and that the commissioned officers should be white, and 
consist of one captain, one captain-lieutenant, two second lieutenants; the 
orderly sergeant white; and that there sliould be three sergeants black, four 
corporals black, two drums and two fifes black, and eighty-four rank and file. 
These should engage to serve till the end of the war, and then be free men. 
And I doubt not, that no gendeman that is a friend to his rountry will disap- 
prove of this plan, or be against his negroes enlisting into the service to 
maintain the cause of freedom, and suppress the worse than savage enemies of 
our land. 

■• I beg your Honors to grant me the liberty of raising one company, if no 
more. It will be far better than to fill up our battalions with runaways and 
deserters from Gen. Burgoyne's army, who, after receiving clothing and the 
bounty, in general make it their business to desert from us. In the lieu thereof, 
if they are [of] a mind to serve in ."imerica, let them supply the families of those 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 351 

"I rest, relying on your Honor's wisdom in tliis matter, as it will be a 
quick way of having a rc-enforcement to join the grand army, or to act in any 
otiier phice that occasion shall require; and I will give my faith and assurance 
that I will act upon honor and fidelity, should I lake the conim.ind of such a 
party as I have been describing. 

" So 1 rest till your Honors shall call me ; and am your very Iiumble and 
obedient servant, 

"Thomas Kench, 

" In Col. Craft's Regiment of Artillery, now on Castle Island. 
"C.\STLE Island, April 3, 177S." 

A few days later he addressed another letter to the same body. 

" To the Honorable Council in Boston. 

" Tlie letter I wrote before I heard of the disturbance with Col. .Scares, 
.Mr. Spear, and a number of other gentlemen, concerning the freedom of 
negroes, in Congress .Street. It is a pity that riots should be committed on 
the occasion, as it is justifiable that negroes should have their freedom, and 
none amongst us be held as slaves, as freedom and liberty is the grand contro- 
versy that we are contending for; and I trust, under the smiles of Divine 
Providence, we shall obtain it, if all our minds can be united; and putting the 
negroes into the service will prevent much uneasiness, and give more satisfac- 
tion to those that are offended at the thoughts of their servants being free. 

" I will not enlarge, for fear I should give offence ; but subscribe myself 

" Your faithful servant, 

"TlIO.MAS Kexck. 

•'C.4STLE Island, April 7, 177S.'" 

On the nth of April the first letter was referred to a joint 
committee, with instructions "to consider the same, and report." 
On the 17th of April, "a resolution of the General Assembly of 
Rhode Island for enlisting Negroes in the public service " was 
referred to the same committee. In the Militia Act of 1775, the 
e.xccptions were, " Negroes, Indians, and mulattocs." By the act 
of May, 1776, providing for the re-enforcement of the American 
army, it was declared that, " Indians, negroes, and mulattoes, shall 
not be held to take up arms or procure any person to do it in their 
room." By another act, passed Nov. 14, 1776, looking toward the 
improvement of the army, "Negroes, Indians, and mulattoes" 
were exxluded. During the year 1776 an order was issued for 
taking the census of all males above si.xteen, but excepted 
"Negroes, Indians, and mulattoes." But after some reverses to 
the American army, Massachusetts passed a resolve on Jan. 6, 

' MSS. Archives of Mass., vol. cxcix. pp. 80, 84. 



352 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

1777, "for raising every seventh man to complete our quota," 
" without any exceptions, save the people called Quakers." This 
was the nearest Massachusetts ever got toward recognizing 
Negroes as soldiers. And on the 5th of March, 1778, Benjamin 
Goddard, for the selectmen, Committee of Safety, and militia 
ofificcrs of the town of Grafton, protested against the enlistment 
of the Negroes in his town. 

It is not remarkable, in view of such a history, that Massachu- 
setts should have hesitated to follow the advice of Thomas Kench. 
On the 2Sth of April, 1778, a law was draughted following closely 
the Rhode-Island Act. But no separate organization was ordered ; 
and, hence, the Negroes served in white organizations till the 
close of the American Revolution. 

There is nothing in the records of Virginia to show that there 
was ever any legal employment of Negroes as soldiers ; but, from 
the following, it is evident that free Negroes did serve, and that 
there was no prohibition against them, providing they showed 
their certificates of freedom : — 

"And whereas several negro slaves have deserted from their masters, and 
under pretence of being free men have enlisted as soldiers : For [nrevention 
whereof. Be it enacted, that it shall not be lawful for any recruiting officer 
within this commonwealth to enlist any negro or mulatto into the service of 
this or either of the United States, until such negro or mulatto shall produce a 
certificate from some justice of the peace for the county wherein he resides 
that he is a free man." ' 

Maryland employed Negroes as soldiers, and sent them into 
regiments with white soldiers. John Cadwalder of Annapolis, 
wrote Gen. Washington on the sth of June, 17S1, in reference to 
Negro soldiers, as follows : — 

"We have resolved to raise, immediately, seven hundred and fifty negroes, 
to be incorporated with the other troops; and a bill is now almost completed." = 

The legislature of New York, on the 20th of March, 1781, 
passed the following Act, providing for the raising of two regi- 
ments of blacks: — 

"Sect. 6. — And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that any 
person who shall deliver one or more of his or her able-bodied male slaves to 
any warrant officer, as afore said, to serve in either of the said regiments or 

^ Hening, vol. ix. 280. 

2 Sp.irks's Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 331. 



MILITARY EMPIOYMEXI OF NEGROES. 353 

independent corps, and produce a certificate thereof, signed bv any person 
authorized to muster and receive the men to be raised by virtue of this act, 
and produce such certificate to the Surveyor-General, shall, for every male slave 
so entered and mustered as aforesaid, be entitled to the location and ijrant of 
one rijjht, in manner as in and by this act is directed ; and shall be, and hereby 
is, discharged from any future maintenance of such slave, any law to the con- 
trary notwithstanding: And such slave so entered as aforesaid, who shall serve 
for the term of three years or until regularly discharged, shall, immediately 
after sucli service or discharge, be, and is hereby declared to be, a free man of 
this State." ■ 

The theatre of the war was now transferred from the Eastern 
to the Middle and Southern colonies. Massachusetts alone had 
furnished, and placed in the field, 67,907 men ; while all the colo- 
nies south of Pennsylvania, put together, had furnished but 
50,493, — or 8,414 /t'jjT than the single colony of Massachusetts.^ 
It was a difficult task to get the whites to enlist at the South. 
Up to 1779, nearly all the Negro soldiers had been confined to 
the New-England colonics. The enemy soon found out that the 
Southern colonies were poorly protected, and thither he moved. 
The Hon. Henry Laurens of South Carolina, an intelligent and 
observing patriot, wrote Gen. Washington on the l6th of March, 
1779, concerning the situation at the South : — 

"Our affairs [he wrote] in the Southern department are more favorable 
than we had considered them a few days ago; nevertheless, the country is 
greatly distressed, and will be more so unless further reinforcements are sent 
to its relief. Had we arms for tliree thousand such black men as I could select 
in Carolina, I should have no doubt of success in driving the British out of 
(ieorgia, and subduing East Florida, before the end of July." 3 

Gen. Washington sent the following conservative reply: — 

"The policy of our arming slaves is in my opinion a moot point, unless the 
enemy set the e.vample. For, should we begin to form battalions of tlieni, I 
have not tlie smallest doubt, if the war is to be prosecuted, of tlieir following 
us in it, and justifying the measure upon our own ground. The contest then 
must be, who can arm fastest. And where are our arms .' Besides. 1 am not 
clear that a discrimination will not render slavery more irksome to those who 
remain in it. .Most of the good and evil things in this life are judged of by 
comparison ; and I fear a comparison in this case will be productive of much 
discontent in those, who are held in servitude. But, as this is a subject that 
has never employed much of my thoughts, these are no more than the first 
crude ideas that have struck me upon the occasion." 4 



' Laws of the State of New York, cliap. .x.xxii. (March 20, i;Si, ^th .Session). 

" The American Loyalist, p. -50, second edition. 

' Sparks's Washington, vol. vi. p. 20^, note. * Ibid., vol. vi. p. 204. 



354 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The gifted and accomplished Alexander Hamilton, a member 
of Washington's military family, was deeply interested in the plan 
suggested by the Hon. Henry Laurens, whose son was on Wash- 
ington's staff. Col. John Laurens was the bearer of the following 
remarkable letter from Hamilton to John Jay, President of Con- 
gress. 

" Heauuuarters, Marcli 14, 1779. 

"To John J.\y. 

'•Dear Sir, — Col. Laurens, who will have the honor of delivering vou 
this letter, is on his way to South Carolina, on a project which I think, in the 
present situation of affairs there, is a very good one, and deserves every kind 
of support and encouragement. This is, to raise two, three, or four battalions 
of negroes, with the assistance of the government of that State, by contributions 
from the owners, in proportion to the number they possess. If you should 
think proper to enter upon the subject with him, he will give you a detail of his 
plan. He wishes to have it recommended by Congress to the State; and, as 
an inducement, that they should engage to take those battalions into Conti- 
nental pay. 

"It appears to me, that an expedient of this kind, in the present state of 
Southern affairs, is the most rational that can be adopted, and promises very 
important advantages. Indeed, I hardly see how a sufficient force can be col- 
lected in that quarter without it ; and the enemy's operations there are growing 
infinitely more serious and formidable. I have not the least doubt that tlie 
negroes will make very excellent soldiers with proper management; and I 
will venture to pronounce, that they cannot be put into better hands than those 
of Mr. Laurens. He has all the zeal, intelligence, enterprise, and every other 
qualification, necessary to succeed in such an undertaking. It is a maxim with 
some great military judges, that, with sensible officers, soldiers can hardly be 
too stupid; and, on this principle, it is thought that the Russians would make 
the best troops in the world, if they were under other officers than tlieir own. 
The King of Prussia is among the number who maintain this doctrine; and 
has a very emphatic saying on the occasion, which I do not exactly recollect. 
I mention this because 1 hear it frequently objected to the scheme of embodv- 
ing negroes, that they are too stupid to make soldiers. This is so far from 
appearing to me a valid objection, that I think their want of cultivation (for 
their natural faculties are probably as good as ours), joined to that habit of 
subordination which they acquire from a life of servitude, will make them 
sooner become soldiers than our white inhabitants. Let officers be men of 
sense and sentiment; and the nearer the soldiers approach to niacliines, per- 
haps the better. 

'■ I foresee that this project will have to combat much opposition from 
prejudice and self-interest. The contempt w-e have been taught to entertain 
for tlie blacks makes us fancy many things that are founded neither in reason 
nor experience ; and an unwillingness to part with property of so valuable a 
kind will furnish a thousand arguments to show the impracticability or perni- 
cious tendency of a scheme which requires such a sacrifice. But it should be 
considered, that, if we do not make use of them in this way, the enemy proba- 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 355 

hly will : and that the best way to counteract the temptations they will hold out 

will be to offer them ourselves. An essential part of the plan is to give them 

their freedom with their muskets. This will secure their fidelity, animate their 

courage, and, I believe, will have a good influence upon those who remain, by 

opening a door to their emancipation. This circumstance, I confess, has no 

small weight in inducing me to wish the success of the project ; for the dictates 

of humanity, and true policy, equally interest me in favor of this unfortunate 

class of men. 

" With the truest respect and esteem, 

" I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, 

"Alex. Haiiilton."' 

The condition of the Southern States became a matter of Con- 
gressional solicitude. The letter of Col. Hamdton was referred 
to a special committee on the 29th of March, 1779. It was repre- 
sented that South Carolina especially was in great danger. The 
white population was small ; and, while there were some in the 
militia service, it was thought necessary to keep as large a number 
of whites at home as possible. The fear of insurrection, the 
desertion ^ of Negroes to the enemy, and the exposed condition of 
her border, intensified the an.xiety of the people. The only remedy 
seemed to lie in the employment of the more fiery spirits among 
the Negroes as the defenders of the rights and interests of the 
colonists. Congress rather hesitated to act, — it was thought that 
that body lacked the authority to order the enlistment of Negroes 
in the States, — and therefore recommended to "the states of 
South Carolina and Georgia, if they shall think the same expedi- 
ent, to take measures immediately for raising three thousand able- 
bodied negroes." After some consideration the following plan was 
recommended by the special committee, and adopted : — 

"In CoN(_iKi-.ss, Maich 29, \-~<). 
"The Committee, consisting of Mr. Burke, Mr. Laurens, Mr. .Anuslrong, 
Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Dyer, appointed to take into consideration the circum- 
stances of the Southern States, and the ways and means for tlieir safety and 
defence, report, — • 

"That the State of South Carolina, as represented by the delegates of the 
said State and by Mr. Iluger, who has come hither, at llie request of the C.ov- 
ernor of tlie said State, on purpose to explain the particular circumstances 
thereof, is unable to make any effectual efforts with militia, by reason of the 
great proportion of citizens necessary to remain at home to prevent insurrec- 
tions among the negroes, and to prevent the desertion of them to tlie enem\. 

' Life of John Jay, by William Jay, vol. u. pp. 31, 32. 

= Ramsay, the historian of Soutli Carolina says, " It has been computed by good judges, 
that, between 1775 and 17S3, the State of South Carolina lost twenty-five thousand negroes." 



356 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" That the state of the country, and the great numbers of those people 
among them, expose tlie inhabitants to great danger from the endeavors of the 
enemy to excite them either to revolt or desert. 

'• That It IS suggested by the delegates of the said State and by Mr. Huger, 
that a force might be raised in the said State from among the negroes, which 
would not only be formidable to the enemy from their numbers, and the disci- 
pline of wliich they would very readily admit, but would also lessen the danger 
from revolts and desertions, by detaching the most vigorous and enterprising 
from among the negroes. 

"That, as this measure may involve inconveniences peculiarly affecting the 
States of South Carolina and Georgia, the Committee are of the opinion that 
the same sliould be submitted to the governing powers of the said States; and 
if the said powers shall judge it expedient to raise such a force, that tlie United 
States ought to defray the expense thereof: whereupon, 

" I-lesolved, That it be recommended to the States of South Carolina and 
Georgia, if they shall think the same expedient, to take measures immediately 
for raising three thousand able-bodied negroes. 

" That the said negroes be formed into separate corps, as battalions, accord- 
ing to the arrangements adopted for the main army, to be commanded by white 
commissioned and non-commissioned officers. 

"That the commissioned officers be appointed by the said States. 

' Tliat tlie non-commissioned officers may, if the said States respectively 
shall tliink proper, be taken from among the non-commissioned officers and 
soldiers of the Continental battalions of the said States respectively. 

"That the Governors of the said States, together with the commanding 
officer of the Southern army, be empowered to incorporate the several Con- 
tinental battalions of their States with each other respectively, agreeably to the 
arrangement of the army, as established by the resolutions of May 27, 177S; 
and to appoint such of the supernumerary officers to command the said negroes 
as shall choose to go into that service. 

"Resolved, That Congress will make provision for paving the proprietors 
of such negroes as shall be enlisted for the service of the United States during 
the war a full compensation for the property, at a rate not exceeding one thou- 
sand dollars for each active, able-bodied negro man of standard size, not exceed- 
ing tliirty-five years of age, who shall be so enlisted and pass muster. 

"That no pay or bounty be allowed to the said negroes; but that they be 
clothed and subsisted at the expense of the United States. 

" That every negro who shall well and faithfully serve as a soldier to the 
end of the present war, and shall then return his arms, be emancipated, and 
receive the sura of fifty dollars." ■ 

Congress supplemented the foregoing measure by commission- 
ing young Col. Laurens to carry for\\'ard the important work 
suggested. The gallant young officer was indeed worthy of the 
following resolutions : — 

' Secret Journals of Congress, vol. i pp. 107-110. 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 357 

"Whereas John Laurens, Esq.. who has heretofore acted as aide-de-camp 
to the Commander-in-chief, is desirous of repairing to .South Carolina, with a 
design to assist in defence of the Southern States; — 

" Resolved, That a commission of lieutenant-colonel be granted to the said 
John Laurens, Esq." ' 

He repaired to South Carolina, and threw all his energies into 
his noble mission. That the people did not co-operate with him, 
is evidenced in the following extract front a letter he subsequently 
wrote to Col. Hamilton : — 

'• Ternant will relate to you how many violent struggles I have had between 
duty and inclination, — ^how much my heart was with you, while I appeared to 
be most actively employed here. But it appears to me, that 1 should be inex- 
cusable in the light of a citizen, if I did not continue my utmost efforts for 
carrying the plan of the black levies into execution, while there remain the 
smallest hopes of success." = 

The enemy was not slow in discovering the division of senti- 
ment among the colonists as to the policy of employing Negroes 
as soldiers. And the suspicions of Gen. Washington, indicated 
to Henry Laurens, in a letter alreatly quoted, were not groundless. 
On the 30th of June, 1779, Sir Henry Clinton issued a proclama- 
tion to the Negroes. It first appeared in "The Royal Gazette" 
of New York, on the 3d of July, 1779. 

" By his Excellency Sir Henry Clintox, K.B. General and Commander-in- 
chief of all his Majesty's Forces within the Colonies laying on the Atlantic 
Ocean, from Nova Scotia to West-Florida, inclusive, &c., &c., &. 

"PROCL.AM.ATION. 

"Whereas the enemy have adopted a practice of enrolling NEGROr'.S 
among their Troops. 1 do hereby give notice That all nf.ouoks taken in arms, 
or upon any military Duty, shall be purchased for \_llie public service <?/] a stated 
Price; the money to be paid to the Captors. 

" But I do most strictly forbid any Person to sell or claim Right over any 
NKcaioE, the property of a Rebel, who may take Refuge with any part of this 
.\rmy : And I do promise to every xegroe who shall desert the Rebel Stand- 
.ird, full security to follow within these Lines, any Occupation which he shall 
think proper. 

"Given under my Hand, at Head-Quarters, Phillipsuurgh, the 30th day 
of June, 1779. 

" H. Cli.nton. 
" By his Excellency's command, 

"John Smith, Secretary." 

' Journals of Congress, vol. v. p. 123. ' Works of Hamilton, vol. i. pp. 114, 115. 



358 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The proclamation had effect. Many Negroes, weary of the 
hesitancy of the colonists respecting acceptance of their services, 
joined the ministerial army. On the 14th of February, 1780, 
Col. Laurens wrote Gen. Washington, from Charleston, S.C, as 
follows : — 

" Private accounts say that General Prevost is left to command at Savannah : 
that his troops consist of the Hessians and LoyaHsts that were there before, 
re-enforced by a corps of blacks and a detachment of savages. It is generally 
reported that Sir Henry Clinton commands the present e.xpedition." • 

Lord Cornwallis also issued a proclamation, offering protection 
to all Negroes who should seek his command. But the treatment 
he gave them, as narrated by Mr. Jefferson in a letter to Dr. 
Gordon, a few years after the war, was extremely cruel, to say the 
least. 

" Lord Cornwallis destroyed all my growing crops of corn and tobacco ; he 
burned all my barns, containing the same articles of the last year, having first 
taken what corn he wanted ; he used, as was to be expected, all my stock of 
cattle, sheep, and hogs, for the sustenance of his army, and carried off all the 
horses capable of service; of those too young for service he cut the throats; 
and he burned all the fences on the plantation, so as to leave it an absolute 
waste. He carried off also about tJiirly slaves. Had this been to give them 
freedom, he would have done right j but it was to consign them to inex'itable 
death from the small-pox aiid putrid fever, then raging in his camp. This I 
knew afterwards to be the fate of twenty-seven of them. I never had news of 
the remaining three, but presume they shared the same fate. When I say that 
Lord Cornwallis did all this, I do not mean that he carried about the torch in 
his own hands, but that it was all done under his eye ; the situation of the 
house, in which he was, commanding a view of every part of the plantation, so 
that he must have seen every fire. I relate these things on my own knowledge, 
in a great degree, as I was on the ground soon after he left it. He treated the 
rest of the neighborhood somewhat in the same style, but not with that spirit 
of total extermination with which he seemed to rage over my possessions. 
Wherever he went, the dwelling-houses were plundered of every thing which 
could be carried off. Lord Cornwallis's character in England would forbid the 
behef that he shared in the plunder; but that his table was served with the 
plate thus pillaged from private houses, tan be proved by many hundred eye- 
witnesses. From an estimate I made at that time, on the best information 1 
could collect, I suppose the Stale of Virginia lost, under Lord CornwaUis's 
hand, that year, about thirty thousand slaves; and that, of^ these, twenty-seven 
thousand died of the small-pox and campf ever ; and the rest were partly sent 
to the West Indies, and exchanged for 1 urn, sugar, coffee, and fruit ; and partly 
sent to New York, from whence they went, at the peace, cither to Nova Scotia 



' Sparks's Correspondence of the American Revolution, vol. ii. p. 402 



MILITARY EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES. 359 

ay to England. From this last place, I beliez'e, they have been lately sent to 
Africa. History will never relate tlie horrors committed by the British Army 
in the Southern States of America." ' 

Col. Laurens was called from the South, and despatched to 
France on an important mission in 1780. But the effort to raise 
Negro troops in the South was not abandoned. 

On the 13th of March, 1780, Gen. Lincoln, in a letter to Gov. 
Rutlcdgc of South Carolina, dated at Charleston, urged the 
importance of raising a Negro regiment at once. He wrote, — 

" Give me leave to add once more, that I think the measure of raising; a 
black corps a necessary one ; that I have great reason to believe, if permission 
is given for it, tliat many men would soon be obtained. I have repeatedly 
urged this matter, not only because Congress have recommended it, and 
because it thereby becoines my duty to attempt to have it executed, but because 
my own mind suggests the utility and importance of the measure, as the safety 
of the town makes it necessary." 

James Madison saw in the emancipation and arming of the 
Negroes the only solution of the vexatious Southern problem. 
On the 20th of November, 1780, ho wrote Joseph Jones as 
follows : — '■ 

"Yours of the i8th came yesterday. I am gl.id to find llie Legislature 
persist in their resolution to recruit their line of the army for tlic war; though, 
without deciding on the expediency of the mode' under tlieir consideration, 
would it not be as well to liberate and make soldiers at once 'of the blacks 
themselves, as to make them instruments for enlisting white soldiers? It 
would certainly be more consonant with the principles of liberty, which ought 
never to be lost sight of in a contest for liberty : and, with white ofikcrs and a 
majority of white soldiers, no imaginable danger could be feared from them- 
selves, as there certainly could be none from the effect of the example on those 
who should remain in bondage; experience having shown that a freedman 
immediately loses all attachment and sympathy with his former fellow-slaves."' 2 

The struggle went on between Tory and Whig, between traitor 
and patriot, between selfishness and the spirit of noble consecra- 
tion to the righteous cause of the Americans. Gen. Greene wrote 
from North Carolina on the 28th of February, 1781, to Gen. 
Washington as follows : — 

" The enemy have ordered two regiments of negroes to be immediately 
embodied, and are dr.ifting a great proportion of the young men of that State 
[South Carolina], to serve during the war." 3 

■ Jefferson's Works, vol. ii. p. 426. - Madison Papers, p. 68. 

' Sparks's Correspondence of the .American Revolution, vol. iii. p. 246. 



36o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Upon his return to America, Col. Laurens again espoused his 
favorite and cherished plan of securing black levies for the South. 
But surrounded and hindered by the enemies of the country he so 
dearly lo\-ed, and for the honor and preservation of which he 
gladly gave his young life, his plans were unsuccessful. In two 
letters to Gen. Washington, a few months before he fell fighting 
for his country, he gave an account of the trials that beset his 
path, which he felt led to honorable duty. The first bore date of 
May 19, 1782. 

"The plan which brought me to this country was urged with all the zeal 
which the subject inspired, both in our Privy Council and Assembly, but the 
single voice of reason was drowned by the howlings of a triple-headed mon- 
ster, in which prejudice, avarice, and pusillanimity were united. It was some 
degree of consolation to me, however, to perceive that truth and philosophy 
had gained some ground ; the suffrages in favor of the measure being twice as 
numerous as on a former occasion. Some hopes have been lately given me 
from Georgia ; but I fear, when the question is put, we shall be outvoted there 
with as much disparity as we have been in this country. 

" I earnestly desire to be where any active plans are likely to be executed, 
and to be near your E.\cellency on all occasions in which my services can be 
acceptable. The pursuit of an object which, I confess, is a favorite one with 
me, because I always regarded the interests of this country and those of the 
Union as intimately connected with it, has detached me more than once from 
your family; but those sentiments of veneration and attachment with which 
your Excellency has inspired me, keep me always near you, with the sincerest 
and most zealous wishes for a continuance of your happiness and glory." ' 

The second was dated June 12, 1782, and breathes a despond- 
ent air : — 

'■ The approaching session of the Georgia Legislature, and the encourage- 
ment given me by Governor Howley, who has a decisive influence in the coun- 
sels of that country, induce me to remain in this quarter for the purpose of 
taking new measures on the subject of our black levies. The arrival of 
Colonel Baylor, whose seniority entitles him to the command of the light 
troops, affords me ample leisure for pursuing the business in person ; and I 
shall do it with all the tenacity of a man making a last effort on so interesting 
an occasion." = 

Washington's reply showed that he, too, had lost faith in the 
patriotism of the citizens of the South to a great degree. He 
wrote his faithful friend : — 

" 1 must confess that 1 am not at all astonished at the failure of your plan. 
That spirit of freedom, which, at the commencement cf this contest, would 



' Sparks's Correspondence of the Ameiican Revolution, vol. iii. p. 506. = Ibid., p. 515. 



MILITARY E.)rrLOyArENT OF NEGROES. 



361 



have "-ladly sacrificed every thing to the attainment of its object, has long 
since subsided, and every selfish passion has taken its place. It is not the 
public but private interest which influences the generality of mankind; nor can 
the Americans any longer boast an exception. Under these circumstances, it 
would rather have been surprising if you had succeeded ; nor will you, I fear, 
have better success in Georgia." ' 

Although the effort of the Legislature of Connecticut to 
authorize the enlistment of Negroes in 1777 had failed, many 
Negroes, as has been shown, served in regiments from that State ; 
and a Negro company was organized. When white officers refused 
to serve in it, the gallant David Humphreys volunteered his 
services, and became the captain. 

"In November, 17S2, he was, by resolution of Congress, commissioned as 
a Lieutenant-Colonel, with order that his commission should bear date from 
the 23d of June, 17S0, when he received his appointment as aide-de-camp to the 
Commander-in-chief. He had, when in active service, given the sanction of his 
name and influence in the establishment of a company of colored infantry, attached 
to Meigs', afterwards Butler's, regiment, in the Connecticut line. He continued 
to be the nominal captain of that company until the establishment of peace.'' ^ 

The following was the roster of his company : — 

" Captain, 
D.wiD Humphreys. 



Jack Arabus, 
John Cleveland, 
Phineas Strong, 
Ned Fields, 
Isaac Higgins, 
Lewis Martin, 
Cssar Chapman, 
Peter Mix-, 
Philo Freeman, 
Hector Williams, 
Juba Freeman, 
Cato Robinson, 
Prince George, 
Prince Crosbee, 
Shubael Johnson, 
Tim Ce^sar, 
Jack Little, 
Bill Sowers, 
Dick Violet, 



Privates, 
Brister Baker, 
Ca:sar Bagdon, 
Gamaliel Terry, 
Lent Munson, 
Heman Rogers, 
Job Ca;sar, 
John Rogers, 
Ned Freedom, 
^ Ezekiel Tupliam, 
Tom Freeman, 
Congo Zado, 
Peter Gibbs, 
Prince Johnson, 
Ale.x. Judd, 
Pomp Liberty, 
Cuff Liberty, 
Pomp Cyrus, 
Harry Williams, 
Sharp Rogers, 



John Ball, 
John McLean, 
Jesse V'ose, 
Daniel Bradley, 
Sharp Camp, 
Jo Otis, 
James Dinah, 
Solomon .Sowtice, 
Peter Freeman, 
Cato Wilhrow, 
Cuff Freeman, 
Juba Dyer. 
Andrew Jack, 
Peter iVIorando, 
Peter Lion, 
Sampson Cufif, 
Dick Freedom, 
Pomp McCuff."i 



* Sparks's Washington, vol. viii. pp. 322, 323. 

' Biographical Sketch in " The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans." 

* Colored Patriots of the Revolution, p. 134, 



362 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

But notwithstanding the persistent and bitter opposition to 
the employment of slaves, from the earliest hours of the Revolu- 
tionary War till its close, Negroes, bond and free, were in all 
branches of the service. It is to be regretted that the exact 
number cannot be known. Adjutant-Gen. Scammell made the 
following official return of Negro soldiers in the main army, 
under Washington's immediate command, two months after the 
battle of Monmouth ; but the Rhode-Island regiment, the Connect- 
icut, New York, and New-Hampshire troops are not mentioned. 
Incomplete as it is, it is nevertheless official, and therefore cor- 
rect as far as it goes. 

RETURN OF NEGROES IN THE ARMY, 24TH Aug., 1778. 



BRICVDES. 


Present. 


Sick Absent. 


On Command. 


Total. 


North Carolina . . 


42 


10 


6 


S8 


Woodford . . . 


36 


3 


I 


40 


Muhlenburg . . . 


64 


26 


8 


98 


Smalhvood . . . 


20 


3 


I 


24 


2d Maryland . . . 


43 


15 


2 


60 


Wayne 


2 


— 


— 


2 


2d Pennsylvania . 


[33] 


I>1 


1>1 


l35l 


Clinton . . . . 


33 


2 


4 


39 


Parsons . . . . 


117 


12 


19 


1 48 


Huntington . . . 


56 


2 


4 


62 


Nixon 


26 


— 


I 


27 


Patterson . . . . 


64 


13 


12 


89 


Late Learned . . 


34 


4 


8 


46 


Poor 


16 


7 


4 


27 


Total . . . . 


5S6 


9S 


71 


755 



Alex. Scammell, AdJ.-Gen.' 



It is gratifying to record the fact, that the Negro was enrolled 
as a soldier in the war of the American Revolution. What he 
did will be recorded in the following chapter. 



■ This return was discovered by the indefatigable Dr. George H. Moore. It is the only docu- 
ment of the kind in existence. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 363 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 

1775-1783- 

The Negro as a Soldieb. — Battle of Bl-sker Hill. — Gallantry of Negro Soldiers. — Peter 
Salem, the intrepid Black Soldier. — Bunkek-hill Monument. — The Negro Salem Poor 
distinguishes himself dv Deeds of Desper.\te Valor. — Capture of Gen. Lee. — Capture 
of Gen. Prescott. — Battle of Rhode Island. — Col. Greene commands a Negro Regi- 
ment.— Murder OF Col. Greene in 1781.— The Valor of the Negro Soldiers. 

AS soldiers the Negroes went far beyond the most liberal 
expectations of their stanchest friends. Associated with 
white men, many of whom were superior gentlemen, and 
nearly all of whom were brave and enthusiastic, the Negro soldiers 
of the American army became worthy of the cause they fought to 
sustain. Col. Alexander Hamilton had said, '•their natural fac- 
ulties are as good as ours ;" and the assertion was supported by 
their splendid behavior on all the battle-fields of the Revolution. 
ICndowed by nature with a poetic element, faithful to trusts, abid- 
ing in friendships, bound by the golden threads of attachment to 
places and persons, enthusiastic in personal endeavor, sentimental 
and chivalric, they made hardy and intrepid soldiers. The daring, 
boisterous enthusiasm with which they sprang to arms disarmed 
r.acial prejudice of its sting, and made friends of foes. 

Their cheerfulness in camp, their celerity in the performance 
of fatigue-duty, their patient endurance of heat and cold, hunger 
and thirst, and their bold efficiency in battle, made them welcome 
companions everywhere they went. The officers w^ho frowned at 
their presence in the army at first, early learned, from experience, 
that they were the equals of any troops in the army for severe 
service in camp, and excellent fighting in the field. 

The battle of Bunker Hill was one of the earliest and most 
important of the Revolution. Negro soldiers were in the action 
of the 17th of June, 1775, and nobly did their duty. Speaking of 
this engagement, Bancroft says, — 



364 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Nor should liistory forget to record that, as in the army at Cambridge, so 
also in this gallant band, the free negroes of the colony had their representa- 
tives." ■ 

Two Negro soldiers especially distinguished themselves, and 
rendered the cause of the colonists great service. Major Pitcairn 
was a gallant officer of the British marines. He led the charge 
against the redoubt, crying exultingly, "The day is ours!" His 
sudden appearance and his commanding air at first startled the 
men immediately before him. They neither answered nor fired, 
probably not being exactly certain what was next to be done. At 
this critical moment, a Negro soldier stepped forward, and, aiming 
his musket directly at the major's bosom, blew him through. - 
Who was this intrepid black soldier, who at a critical moment 
stepped to the front, and with certain aim brought down the 
incarnate enemy of the colonists.' What was his name, and 
whence came he to battle } His name was Peter Salem, a private 
in Col. Nixon's regiment of the Continental Army. 

" He was born in Framingham [Massachusetts], and was held as a slave, 
probably until he joined the army; whereby, if not before, he became free. 
. . . Peter served faithfully as a soldier, during the war." 3 

Perhaps Salem was then a slave : probably he thought of the 
chains and stripes from whence he had come, of the liberty to be 
purchased in the ordeals of war, and felt it his duty to show him- 
self worthy of his position as an American soldier. He proved 
that his shots were as effective as those of a white soldier, and 
that he was not wanting in any of the elements that go to make 
up the valiant soldier. Significant indeed that a Negro was the 
first to open the hostilities between Great Britain and the colo- 
nies, — the first to pour out his blood as a precious libation on the 
altar of a people's rights ; and that here, at Bunker Hill, when 
the crimson and fiery tide of battle seemed to be running hard 
against the stnall band of colonists, a Negro soldier's steady mus- 
ket brought down the haughty form of the arch-rebel, and turned 
victory to the weak ! England had loaded the African with chains, 
and doomed him to perpetual bondage in the North-American 
colonies ; and when she came to forge political chains, in the 
flames of fratricidal war, for an English-speaking people, the 
Negro, whom she had grievously wronged, was first to meet her 
soldiers, and welcome them to a hospitable grave. 

» Bancroft, vol. vii., 6th ed., p. 421. - An Historical Research, p. 93. ^ History of Leicestei, p. 267. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 365 

Bunker-hill Monument has a charm for luyal Americans; and 
the Negro, too, may gaze upon its enduring magnificence. It com- 
memorates the deeds, not of any particular soldier, but all who 
stood true to the principles of equal rights and free government 
(in that memorable " 17th of June." 

"No name adonis the sliaft; but ages hence, though our alphabets may 
become as obscure as those which cover the monuments of Nineveh antl Baby- 
lon, its uninscribed surface (on wliieh monarchs miglu be proud to engrave 
their titles) will perpetuate the memory of the 17th of June. It is tlie monu- 
ment of the day, of the event, of the battle of Bunker Hill i ol" all the brave 
men who shared its perils, — alike of Prescott and Putnam and Warren, the 
chiefs of tlie day, and the colored man, .Salem, who is reported to have shot 
the gallant Pitcairn, as he mounted the parapet. Cold as the clods on which 
it rests, still as the silent heavens to which it soars, it is yet vocal, eloquent, in 
their undivided praise." ' 

The other Negro soldier who won for himself rare fame and 
distinguished consideration in the action at Bunker Hill was 
Salem Poor. Delighted with his noble bearing, his superior offi- 
cers could not refrain from calling the attention of the civil au- 
thorities to the facts that came under their personal observation. 
The petition that set forth his worth as a brave soldier is stiil 
preserved in the manuscript archives of Massachusetts: — 

" To the Honombk General Court of the Massachusetts Bay. 

"The subscribers beg leave to report to your Honorable House ''which 
we do in justice to the character of so brave a man), that, under our own 
observation, we declare that a negro man called Salem Poor, of Col. Frye's 
regiment, Capt. Ames' company, in the late battle at Charlestown. behaved like 
an e.\perienced officer, as well as an excellent soldier. To set forth particulars 
of his conduct would be tedious. We would only beg leave to say, in the person 
of this said negro centres a brave and gallant soldier. The reward due to so 
great and distinguished a character, we submit to the Congress. 
"Jos A. Brewer, Col. 

ThoiM.vs Nixo.v, Lt.-Col. 

Wm. Prescott, Colo. 

Eph". Corev, Lieut. 

Joseph B.vker. Lieut. 

JosHU.-v Row, Lieut. 

Jo.V.VS RlCH.\RDSON, Capt. 
"Cambridge, Dec. 5, 1775. 



Eliph..\let Bodwell, Sgt. 
Josi.\H Foster, Lieut. 
Erenr. ^'.AR^'t;^r, 2d Lieut. 
Wm. HunsoN I!.\llard, Cpt. 
William Smith, Cap. 
John Morton, Sergt. [?] 
Lieut. Richard Welsh. 



"In Council, Dec. 21, 1775. — Read, and sent down. 

" Perez Morton, Defy Se(^y." • 



' Orations .ind Speeches of Everett, vol. iii. p. 529. 
^ MS. Archives of Massachusetts, vol. cl.\.\x. p. 241. 



366 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

How many other Negro soldiers behaved with cool and deter- 
mined valor at Bunker Hill, it is not possible to know. Bat many 
were there : they did their duty as faithful men, and their achieve- 
ments are the heritage of the free of all colors under our one flag. 
Col. Trumbull, an artist as well as a soldier, who was stationed at 
Roxbury, witnessed the engagement from that elevation. Inspired 
by the scene, when it was yet fresh in his mind, he painted the 
historic picture of the battle in 1786. He represents several 
Negroes in good view, while conspicuous in the foreground is 
the redoubtable Peter Salem. Some subsequent artists — mere 
copyists — have sought to consign this black hero to oblivion, but 
'tis vain. Although the monument at Bunker Hill "does not 
bear his name, the pencil of the artist has portrayed the scene, 
the pen of the impartial historian has recorded his achievement, 
and the voice of the eloquent orator has resounded his valor." 

Major Samuel Lawrence "at one time commanded a company 
whose rank and file were all Negroes, of whose courage, military 
discipline, and fidelity he always spoke with respect. On one 
occasion, being out reconnoitring with this company, he got so 
far in advance of his command, that he was surrounded, and on 
the point of being made prisoner by the enemy. The men, soon 
discovering his peril, rushed to his rescue, and fought with the 
most determined bravery till that rescue was effectually secured. 
He never forgot this circumstance, and ever after took especial 
pains to show kindness and hospitality to any individual of the 
colored race who came near his dwelling." ■ 

Gen. Lee, of the American army, was captured by Col. Har- 
court of the British army. It was regarded as a very distressing 
event ; and preparations were made to cajiture a British officer of 
the same rank, so an exchange could be effected. Col. Barton of 
the Rhode-Island militia, a brave and cautious officer, was charged 
with the capture of Major-Gen. Prescott, commanding the royal 
army at Newport. On the night of the 9th of July, 1777, Col. 
Barton, with forty men, in two boats with muffled oars, evaded the 
enemy's boats, and, being taken for the sentries at Prescott's head- 
quarters, effected that officer's capture — a Negro taking him. 
The exploit was bold and successful. 

" They landed about five miles from Newport, and three-quarters of a mile 
from the house, Avliich they approached cautiously, avoiding the main guard, 

' Memoir of Samuel Lawrence, by Rev. S. K. Lothrop, D.D., pp. S, 9. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 367 

wliich was at some distance. The Colonel 7ve)tl foremost, -with a stout, aitinc 
negro close behind him, and another at a small distance ; the rest followed so as 
to be near, but not seen. 

"A single sentinel at the door saw and hailed the Colonel; he answered by 
exclaiming against, and inquiring for, rebel prisoners, but kept slowly advancing. 
The sentinel again challenged him, and required the countersign. He said he 
had not the countersign, but amused the sentry by talking about rebel prison- 
ers, and still advancing till he came within reach of the b.ayonct, which, he 
presenting, the Colonel suddenly struck aside and seized him. He was imme- 
diately secured, and ordered to be silent, on pain of instant death. Meanwhile, 
the rest of the men surrounding the house, the negro, -with his head, at the second 
stroke forced a passage into it, and then into the landlord's apartment. The 
landlord at first refused to give the necessary intelligence j but, on the prospect 
of present death he pointed to the GeneraTs chamber, which being instantly 
opened by the negro's head, the Colonel calling the General by name, told him 
he was a prisoner." ■ 

Anotlicr account was published by a surgeon of the army, and 
is given here : — 

''Albany, Aug. 3, 1777. — The pleasing information is received here that 
Lieut.-Col. Barton, of the Rhode-Island militia, planned a bold exploit for the 
purpose of surprising and taking Major-Gen. Prescott, the commanding officer 
of the royal army at Newport. Taking with him, in the night, about forty 
men, in two boats, with oars muffled, he had the address to elude the vigilance 
of the ships-of-war and guard-boats: and, having arrived undiscovered at the 
quarters of Gen. Prescott, they were taken for the sentinels ; and the general 
was not alarmed till his captors were at the door of his lodging-chamber, which 
was fast closed. A negro man, named Prince, instantly thrust his beetle head 
through the panel door, and seised his victim while in bed. . . . This event is 
e.\tremely honorable to the enterprising spirit of Col. Barton, and is considered 
as ample retaliation for the capture of Gen. Lee by Col. Harcourt. The event 
occasions great joy and exultation, as it puts in our possession an officer of equal 
rank with Gen. Lee, by which means an exchange may be obtained. Congress 
resolved that an elegant sword should be presented to Col. Barton for his brave 
exijloit.'' - 

Col. Barton evidently entertained great respect for the valor 
and trustworthiness of the Negro soldier whom he made the chief 
actor in a most hazardous undertaking. It was the post of honor ; 
and the Negro soldier Prince discharged the duty assigned him in 
a manner that was entirely satisfactory to his superior officer, 
and crowned as one of the most daring and brilliant coups d'c'tat 
of the American Revolution. 



' Frank Moore's Diary of the American Revolution, vol. i. p. 46S. 
" Thatcher's Military Journal, p. 87. 



368 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The battle of Rhode Island, fought on the 39th of August, 
1778, was one of the severest of the Revolution. Newport was 
laid under siege by the British. Their ships-of-war moved up the 
bay on the morning of the action, and opened a galling fire upon 
the exposed right flank of the American army ; while the Hessian 
columns, stretching across a chain of the " highland," attempted 
to turn Gen. Greene's flank, and storm the advanced redoubt. 
The heavy cannonading that had continued since nine in the 
morning was now accompanied by heavy skirmishing ; and the 
action began to be general all along the lines. The American 
army was disposed in three lines of battle ; the first extended in 
front of their earthworks on Butt's Hill, the second in rear of 
the hill, and the third as reserve a half-mile in the rear of the 
advance line. At ten o'clock the battle was at white heat. The 
British vessels kept up a fire that greatly annoyed the Americans, 
but imparted courage to the Hessians and British infantry. At 
length the foot columns massed, and swept down the slopes of 
Anthony's Hill with the impetuosity of a whirlwind. But the 
American columns received them with the intrepidity and cool- 
ness of veterans. The loss of the enemy was fearful. 

"Sixty were found dead in one spot. At another, thirty Hessians were 
buried in one grave. Major-Gen. Greene commanded on the right. Of the 
four brigades under his immediate command, Varnum's, Glover's, Cornell's 
and Greene's, all suffered severely, but Gen. Varnum's perhaps the most. A 
third time the enemy, with desperate courage and increased strength, attempted 
to assail the redoubt, and would have carried it but for the timely aid of two 
continental battalions despatched by Sullivan to support his almost exhausted 
troops. It was in repelling these furious onsets, that the newly raised black 
regiment, under Col. Greene, distinguished itself by deeds of desperate valor. 
Posted behind a thicket in the valley, they three times drove back the Hessians 
who charged repeatedly down the hill to dislodge them; and so determined 
were the enemy in these successive charges, that the day after the battle the 
Hessian colonel, upon whom this duty had devolved, applied to exchange his 
command and go to New York, because he dared not lead his regiment again 
to battle, lest his men should shoot him for having caused them so much loss." ' 

A few years later the Marquis de Chastellux, writing of this 
regiment, said, — 

"The 5th [of January, 1781] I did not set out till eleven, although I had 
thirty miles' journey to Lebanon. At the passage to the ferry, I met with a 
detachment of the Rhode-Island regiment, the same corps we had with us 

' Arnold's History of Rliode Island, vol. ii. pp. 427, 42S, 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 369 

all the last summer, but they have since been recruilcd and clothed. The 
I'loatest part of them are negroes or mulattocs ; but they are strong, robust 
men, and those I have seen had a very good appearance." ' 

On the I4lh of May, 1781, the gallant Col. Greene was sur- 
prised and nuirdered at I'ohit's Bridge, New York ; but it was nut 
effected until his brave black soldiers had been cut to pieces in 
defending their leader. It was one of the most touching and 
beautiful incidents of the war, and illustrates the self-sacrificing 
devotion of Negro soldiers to the cause of American liberty. 

At a meeting of the Congregational and Presbyterian Anti- 
Slavery Society, at Francestown, N.H., the Rev. Dr. Harris, him- 
self a Revolutionary soldier, spoke thus complimentarily of the 
Rhode-Island Negro regiment : — 

"Yes, a regiment of negroes, fighting for our liberty and independence,— 
not a white man among them bflt the officers, — stationed in this same danger- 
ous and responsible position. Had they been unfaithful, or given away before 
the enemy, all would have been lost. Three times in succession were they 
attacked, with most desperate valor and fury, by well disciplined and veteran 
troops, and t/iree times did they successfully repel the assault, and thus preserve 
our army from capture. They fought through the war. They were brave, 
hardy troops. They helped to gain our" liberty and independence." 

From the opening to the closing scene of the Revolutionary 
War ; from the death of Pitcairn to the surrender of Cornwallis ; 
on many fields of strife and triumph, of splendid valor and 
republican glory ; from the hazy dawn of unequal and uncer- 
tain conflict, to the bright morn of profound peace ; through and 
out of the fires of a great war that gave birth to a new, a grand 
republic, — the Negro soldier fought his way to undimmed glory, 
and made for himself a magnificent record in the annals of Amer- 
ican history. Those annals have long since been committed to 
the jealous care of the loyal citizens of tlie Republic black men 
fought so heroically to snatch from the iron clutches of Britain. 

' Chastellux' Travels, vol. i. p. 454 ; London, 1789. 



370 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO DURING THE REVOLUTION. 

1775-1783- 

The Negro was Chattel or Real Property. — His Legal Status during his New Relation as 
A Soldier. — Resolution introduced in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to 

PREVENT the SeLLING OF TwO NeGROES CAPTURED UPON THE HiGH SeAS. — ThE CONTINENT- 
AL Congress appoints a Committee to consider what should be done with Negroes 

^ TAKEN BY VESSELS OF WaR IN THE SERVICE OF THE T5nITED CoLONIES. — CONFEDERATION OF 

THE New States. — Spirited Debate in Congress respecting the Disposal of Recaptures. 
— The Spanish Ship " Victoria" captures an English Vessel having on Board thiktv-four 
Negroes taken from South Carolina.— The Negroes kecaitured by Vessels belonging 
TO the State of Massachusetts. — They are delivered to Thomas Knox, and conveyed 
to Castle Island. —Col. Paul Revere has Charge of the Slaves on Castle Island.— 
Massachusetts passes a Law providing for the Security, Support, and Exchange of 
Prisoners brought into the State. — Gen. Hancock receives a Letter from the Gov- 
ernor OF South Carolina respecting the Detention of Negroes. — In the Provincial 
Articles between the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty, Negroes 
were rated as Property, — And also in the Definite Treaty of Peace between the 
United States of America and His Britannic Majesty. — And also in the Treaty of 
Peace of 1814, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States, Negroes were 
design.ated as Property. — Gen, Washington's Letter to Brig.-Gen. Rufus Putnam in 
regard to a Negro in his Regiment claimed by Mr. Hobby. — Enlistment in the Army 

DID NOT always WORK A Pk.\CTICAL EMANCIPATION. 

WHEN the Revolutionary War began, the legal status of 
the Negro slave was clearly defined in the courts of all the 
colonies. He was either chattel or real property. The 
question naturally arose as to his legal status during his new rela- 
tion as a soldier. Could he be taken as property, or as a prisoner 
of war? Was he booty, or was he entitled to the usage of civil- 
ized warfare, — a freeman, and therefore to be treated as such .-* 

The Continental Congress, Nov. 25, 1775, passed a resolution 
reconimending the several colonial legislatures to establish courts 
that should give jurisdiction to courts, already in existence, to 
dispose of "cases of capture." In fact, and probably in law, 
Congress exercised power in cases of appeal. Moreover, Congress 
had prescribed a rule for the distribution of prizes. But, curiously 
enough, Massachusetts, in 1776, passed an Act declaring, that, in 
case captures were made by the forces of the colony, the local 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO. 371 

authorities sliould have complete jurisdiction in their distribution ; 
but, when prizes or captives were taken upon colonial territory by 
the forces of the United Colonies, the distributions sliould be made 
in accordance with the laws of Congress. This was but a single 
illustration of the divided sovereignty of a crude government. 
That there was need of a uniform law upon this c]uestion, there 
could be no doubt, especially in a war of the magnitude of the one 
that was then being waged. 

On the 13th of September, 1776, a resolution was introduced 
into the Massachusetts House of Representatives, "to prevent 
the sale of two negro men lately brought into this state, as pris- 
oners taken on the high seas, and advertised to be sold at Salem, 
the 17th inst, by public auction."' The resolve in full is here 
given : — 

"In the Housk of RErRESi£NT.\TiVEs, Sei't. 13, 1776: 

"\Vhere.\s lliis House is credibly informed that two negro men lately 
l)roui;ht into tliis State a.s prisoners taken on the High Seas are advertised to 
Ije sold at Salem, tlie 17th instant, by public auction, 

" Resolved, That the selling and enslaving the human species is a direct 
violation of the natural rights alike vested in all men by their Creator, and 
utterly inconsistent with the avowed principles on which this and the other 
United States have carried their struggle for liberty even to the last appeal, 
and therefore, that all persons connected with the said negroes be and they 
hereby are forbidden to sell them or in any manner to treat tliem otlierways 
than is already ordered for the treatment of prisoners of war taken in the same 
vessell or others in the like employ and if any sale of the said negroes shall be 
made, it is liereby declaied null and void. 

'' Sent up for concurrence. 

"S.-iMi-. Freeman, Speaker, V.'X. 

"In Council, Sept. 14, 1776. Read and concurred as taken into a new 
draught. Sent down for concurrence. 

, "John i\\v.v,\, Dpy. Secy. 

'•In the House of Representatives, Sept. 14, 1776. Road and non-con- 
curred, and the House adhere to their own vote. Sent up for concurrence. 

"J. Warren, ^/tv7/CYv. 

" In Council, Sept. 16, 1776. Read and concurred as now taken into a new 
draft. Sent down for concurrence. 

"John Avzwi, Dpy. Secy. 



' Felt says, in History of Salem, vol. ii. p. 278: "Sept. 17 [1776]. At this date two slaves, 
taken on tward of a prize, were to have been sold here ; but the General Court forbid tlie sale, and 
ordered such prisoners to be treated like all others." 



372 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"In the House of Representatives, Sept. i6, 1779. Read and con- 
curred. 

"J. Warren, Speaker. 
" Consented to. 

'•Jer. Powell, Jabez Fisher, 

W. Sever, B. White, 

B. Greenleaf, Moses Gill, 

Caleb Gushing, Dan'l Hopkins, 
B. Chadbourn, Benj. Austin, 

John Whetcomb, Wm. Phillips, 
Eldad Taylor, D. Sewall, 
S. Holten, Dan'l Hopkins." 

On the Journal of the House, p. 106, appears the following 
record ; — 

'•David Sewall, Esq., brought down the resolve which passed the House 
yesterday, forbidding the sale of two negroes, with the following vote of Coun- 
cil thereon, viz.: In Council, Sept. 14, 1776. Read and concurred, as taken 
into a new draught. Sent down for concurrence. Read and non-concurred, 
and the House adhere to their own vote. Sent up for concurrence." 

The resolve, as it originally appeared, was dragged through a 
tedious debate, non-concurred in by the House, recommitted, 
remodelled, and sent back, when it finally passed. 

"LXXXIII. Resolve forbidding the sale of two Negroes brought in as 
Prisoners; Passed September 14, [l6th,] 1776. 

"Whereas this Court is credibly informed that two Negro Men lately taken 
on the High Seas, on board the sloop Hanitibal. and brought into this State 
as Prisoners, are advertized to be sold at Salem, the 17th instant, by public 
Auction : 

'• Kesolveil, That all Persons concerned wi'th the said Negroes be, and they 
are hereby forbidden to sell them, or in any manner to treat them otherwise 
than is already ordered for the Treatment of Prisoners taken in like manner; 
and if any Sale of the said Negroes shall be m.ide it is hereby declared null 
and void; and that whenever it shall appear that any Negroes are taken on the 
High Seas and brought as Prisoners into this State, they shall not Ije allowed 
to be Sold, nor treated any otherwise than as Prisoners are ordered to be 
treated who are taken in like Manner." ■ 

It looked like a new resolve. The pronounced and advanced 
sentiment in favor of the equal rights of all created beings had 
been taken out ; and it appeared now as a war measure, warranted 
upon military policy. This is the only chaplet that the most 

* Resolves, p. 14. Quoted by Dr. Moore from the original documents. 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO. 373 

devout friends of Massachusetts can weave out of her acts on 
the Negro problem during the colonial period, to place upon her 
brow. It attracted wide-spread and deserved attention. 

During the following month, on tlie 14th of October, 1776, 
the Continental Congress appointed a special eonimittee, Messrs. 
Lee, Wilson, and Hall, "to consider what is to be done with 
Negroes taken by vessels of war, in the service of the United 
States." Here was a profound legal problem presented for solu- 
tion. According to ancient custom and law, slaves came as the 
bloody logic of war. War between nations was of necessity 
international ; but while this truth had stood through many cen- 
turies, the conversion of the Northern nations of Europe into 
organized society greatly modified the old doctrine of slavery. 
Coming under the enlightening influences of modern international 
law, war captives could not be reduced to slavery." This doctrine 
was thoroughly understood, doubtless, in the North-American 
colonies as in Europe. But the almost universal doctrine of 
property in the Negro, and his status in the courts of the colo- 
nies, gave the roval army great advantage in the aiiprojination of 
Negro captives, under the plea that they were "property," and 
hence legitimate "spoils of war ;" while, on the part of the colo- 
nists, to declare that captured Negroes were entitled to the 
treatment of "prisoners of war," was to reverse a principle of 
law as old as their government. It was, in fact, an abandonment 
of the claim of property in the Negro. It was a recognition of 
his rights as a soldier, a bestowal of the highest favors known in 
the treatment of captives of war.^ But there was another diffi- 
culty in the way. Slavery had been recognized in the venerable 
memorials of tlie most remote nations. This condition was 
coeval with the history of all nations, but nowhere regarded as a 
relation of a local character. It grew up in social compacts, in 
organized communities of men, and in great and powerful states. 
It was recognized in private international law ; and the relation of 
master and slave was guarded in their local hahitat, and resjiected 
wherever found. 3 And this relation, this property in man, did 



' Mr. Motley, " Rise of Dutch Republic," vol. i. p. 151, says that in the sixteenth century, 
in wars between Europe.-in states, the captor had a property in his prisoner, which was assignable. 

- Law of Freedom and Bondage, vol. i. p. 158. 

J Ml. Hmxl says, " In ascribing slavery to the law of nations it is a very common error to use 
that term not in the sense of universal jurisprudence — the Roman jus gentium - but in the 
modern sense of public international law, and to give the custom of enslaving prisoners of war, m 



374 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

not cease because the slave sought another nation, for it was 
recognized in all the commercial transactions of nations. Now, 
upon this principle, the colonists were likely to claim their right to 
property in slaves captured. 

The confederation of the new States was effected on the ist 
of March, 1781. Art. IX. gave the "United States in Congress 
assembled " the exclusive authority of making lavvs to govern 
the disposal ot all captures made by land or water ; to decide 
which were legal ; how prizes taken by the land or naval force 
of the government, should be appropriated, and the right to 
establish courts of competent jurisdiction in such case, etc. The 
first legislation under this article was an Act establishing a court 
of appeals on the 4th of June, 1781. It was discussed on the 
25th of June, and again, on the 17th of July, took up a great deal 
of time ; but was recommitted. The committee were instructed 
to prepare an ordinance regulating the proceedings of the admi- 
ralty cases, in the several States, in instances of capture ; to 
codify all resolutions and laws upon the subject; and to request 
the States to enact such provisions as would be m harmony with 
the reserved rights of the Congress in such cases as were speci- 
fied in the Ninth Article. Accordingly, on the 21st of September, 
1781, the committee reported to Congress the results of their 
labor, in a bill on the subject of captures. Upon the question of 
agreeing to the following section, the yeas and nays were demanded 
by Mr. Mathews of South Carolina: — 

"On the recapture by a citizen of any negro, mulatto, Indian, or other 
person from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed by another citizen, 
specific restitution shall be adjudged to tlie claimant, whether the original 
capture shall have been made on land or water, a reasonable salvage being paid 
by the claimant to the recaptor, not e.\ceeding one-fourth part of the value of 
such labor or service, to be estimated according to the laws of the State of 
■which tlic chiiir.ant shall be a citizen : but if the service of such negro, 
mulatto, Indian or other person, captured below high-water mark, shall not be 
legally claimed by a citizen of these United States, he shall be set at liberty." 

The delegates from North Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, 
and Connecticut, refrained from voting ; South Carolina voted in 
the negative : but it was carried by twenty-eight yeas, against two 
nays. After a spirited debate, continuing through several days, 



illustration : as if the legal condition of other slaves who had never been taken in war were not 
aquMy jure gciilhiin according to the Roman jurisprudence." See Mr. Webster's speech, 7th 
March, 1830; Works, vol. v. p. 329. 



LEGAL STATUS OF TILE NEGRO. 375 

and having received several amendments, it finally passed on 
Dec. 4, 1781, as follows: — 

"On the recapture by a citizen of any negro, mulatto, Indian, or other 
person, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed by a State or a citizen 
0/ <z ^/rt/f, specific restitution shall be adjudged to the claimant, whether the 
original capture shall have been made on land or water, and without regard to 
the time of possession by the enemy, a reasonable salvage being paid by the 
claimant to the recaptor, not exceeding i-4th of the value of such labor or 
service, to be estimated according to the laws of tlie State tinder which the 
claim shall be made. 

"But if the service of such negro, mulatto, Indian, or other person, cap- 
tured below high water mark, shall not be legally claimed within a year and a 
day from the sentence of the Court, he sliall be set at liberty." 

It should be carefully observed that the above law refers only 
to recaptures. It would be interesting to know the views the 
committee entertained in reference to slaves captured by the 
ministerial army. Nothing was said about this interesting feature 
of the case. Why Congress did not claim proper treatment of 
the slaves captured by the enemy while in the service of the 
United Colonies, is not known. Doubtless its leaders saw where 
the logic of such a position would lead them. The word " another " 
was left out of the original measure, and was made to read, in 
the one that passed, "a State or citizen ; " as if it were feared that, 
by implication, a Negro would be recognized as a citizen. 

By the proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton, already mentioned 
in the preceding chapter, Negroes were threatened with sale for 
•' the public service ; " and Mr. Jefferson in his letter to Mr. 
Gordon (see preceding chapter), says the enemy sold the Negroes 
captured in Virginia into the West Indies. After the capture of 
Stony Point by Gen. Wayne, concerning two Negroes who fell 
into his hands, he wrote to Lieut. -Col. Meigs, from New Windsor 
on the 25th of July, 1779, as follows : — 

" 'l"he wish of the officers to free the three Negroes after a few Years 
Service meets my most hearty approbation but as the Chance of War or other 
Incidents may prevent the officer [owner] from Compling with the Intention 
of the Officers it will be proper for the purchaser or purcliasers to sign a 
Condition in the Orderly Book. 

"... I wou'd cheerfully join them in their Immediate Manumission — 
if a few days makes no material difference I could wish the sale put off until 
a Consultation may be had, & the opinion of the Officers taken on this 
Business." ' 



' Dawson's Stony Point, pp. in, iiS. 



376 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In June, 1779, a Spanish ship called "Victoria " sailed from 
Charleston, S.C., for Cadiz. During the first part of her voyage 
she was run down by a British privateer ; but, instead of being 
captured, she seized her assailant, and found on board thirty-four 
Negroes, whom the English vessel had taken from plantations 
in South Carolina. The Spaniards got the Negroes on board 
their ship, disabled the English vessel, and then dismissed her. 
Within a few days she was taken by two British letters-of-marque, 
and headed for New York. During her passage thither she was 
re-captured by the " Hazard " and " Tyrannicide," armed vessels 
in the service of Massachusetts, and taken into the port of Bos- 
ton. By direction of the Board of War she was ordered into the 
charge of Capt. Johnson, and was unloaded on the 21st of June. 
The Board of War reported to the Legislature that there were 
thirty-four Negroes " taken on the high seas and brought into the 
state." On the 23d of June [1779] the Legislature ordered "that 
Gen. Lovell, Capt. Adams, and Mr. Cranch, be a committee to 
consider what is proper to be done with a number of negroes 
brought into port in the prize ship called the ' Lady Gage." = On 
the 24th of June, "the committee appointed to take into con- 
sideration the state and circumstances of a number of negroes 
lately brought into the port of Boston, reported a resolve direct- 
ing the Board of War to inform our delegates in Congress of the 
state of facts relative to them, to put them into the barracks on 
Castle Island, and cause them to be supplied and employed." 3 
The resolve passed without opposition. 

" CLXXX. Risclve on tin- Repicseiihilion of the Board of iVcir respecting 

a number of negroes captured and brought into this State. Passed June 

24, 1779- 

"On the representation made to this Court by the Board of War, respect- 
ing a number of negroes brought into the Port of Boston, on board the Prize 
Ship Victoria : 

'• Reso/ved, that the Board of War be and they are hereby directed forth- 
with to write to our Delegates in Congress, informing them of the State of 
Facts relating to said Negroes, requesting them to give information thereof to 
the Delegates from the State of South Carolina, that so projjer measures may 
be taken for the return of said Negroes, agreeable to their desire. 

" And it is further Resolved, tliat the Board of War be and they hereby are 
directed to put the said Negroes, in the mean time, into the barracks on Castle 
Island in the Harbor of Boston, and cause them to be supplied with such 

^ Dr. Moore thinks this the wrong name. The resolve proves it. 
- House Journal, [i. 60. ^ Ibid., pp. 63, 64. 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO. 377 

Provision and Clothing as shall be necessary for their comfortable support, 
putting them under the care and direction of some Prudent person or Persons, 
whose business it shall be to see that the able-bodied men may be usefully 
employed during their stay in carrying on the Fortifications on said Island, or 
elsewhere within the said Harbor; and that the Women be employed according 
to their ability in Cooking, Washing, etc. And that the said Board of War 
keep an exact Account of their Expenditures in supporting said Negroes."' 

The Negroes were delivered to Thomas Kno.x on the 28th of 
June, and were conveyed "to Castle Island pr. Order of Court." 
The Board of War voted the " 34 Negroes delivered " rations. 
Lieut.-Col. Paul Revere was instructed to " issue to the Negroes 
at Castle Island — i lb. of Beef, i lb. of Rice pr. day." The 
following letter is not without interest : — 

"War Office, 28 June, 1779. 
" Lt.-Col. Revere, 

"Agreeable to a Resolve of Court we send to Castle Island and place 
under your care the following Negroes, viz. : 

[19] Men, 

[10] Women, 

[5] Children, 
lately brought into this Port in the Spanish retaken .Ship Victoria. The Men 
are to be employed on the Fortifications there or elsewhere in the Harbor, in 
the most useful manner, and the Women and Children, according to their 
ability, in Cooking, Washing, etc. They are to be allowed for their subsistence 
One lb. of Beef, and one lb. of Rice per day each, which Commissary Salis- 
bury will furnish upon your order, and this to continue until our furtlier orders. 

"■By Order of the Boards 

In accordance with the order of the Legislature, made on the 
24th of June, the president of the Board of War, Samuel P. 
Savage, wrote a letter to the Massachusetts delegates in Con- 
gress, dated "War Office June 29th 1779," calling attention to 
the re-captured Negroes. The letter closed with the following: — 

" Every necessary for the speedy discharge of these people, we have no 
doubt you will take, that as much expense as possible may be saved to those 
who call themselves their owners." 

The writer was at pains to enumerate, in his letter, such slaves 
as he was enabled to locate. 

"5 Men 4 Women 4 Boys I Girl belonging to Mr. Wni. \'ryne. 
"9 Men I Woman belonging to Mr. Anthony Pawley. 

' Resolves, p. 51. 



378 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" I Man belonging to Mr. Thomas Todd. 

" 2 Men 3 Women belonging to Mr. Henry Lewis. 

"2 Men 2 Women belonging to Mr. William Pawley. 

" One of the negroes is an elderly sensible man, calls himself James, and 
says he is free, which we have no reason to doubt the truth of. He also says 
that he with the rest of the Negroes were taken from a place called George- 
town."' ' 

Pending the action of the laivful owners of these captives, the 
council instructed the commandant of Castle Island, Col. Paul 
Revere, to place out to service, in different towns, some of the 
Negroes, with the understanding that they should be delivered up 
to the authorities on their order. Some were delivered to gentle- 
men who desired them as servants. But in the fall of 1779 quite 
a number were still on the island, as may be seen by the following 
touching letter : — 

"Boston, Oct^. 12, 1779. A Return of y= Negroes at Castle Island, Viz.: 
" Negro Men. 

"I. Anthony. 6. Bobb. h. June. 

2. Partrick. 7. Anthoney. 12. Rhodick. 

3. Padde. 8. Adam. 13. Jack. 

4. Isaac 9. Jack. 14. Fuller. 

5. Quash. 10. Gye. 15. Lewis. 

" The above men are stout fellows. 

" Negro Boys. 
" No. I. Smart. 
2. Richard. 

" Boys very small. 

"Negro Woomen. . Negro Girls. 

"No. I. Kittey. No. i. Lvsett. 

2. Lucy. 2. Sally. 

3. Milley. 3- Mercy. 

4. Lander. 

" Pretty large. Rather stout. 

" Gentlemen, 

" The Scituation of these Negroes is pitiable with respect to Cloathing. 

" / am. Gent- 

»' Your very hum. Serv'. 

" John Hancock:' » 
"Oct. 12, i;79." 

' Mass. Archives, vol. cli., pp. 292-294. 

2 The indefatigable Dr. George H. Moore copied the letter from the original manuscript. 
The portions in Itahcs are in the handwriting of Hancock. 1 have been placed under many 
obligations to my friend Dr. Moore. 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO. 379 

In the mean time some of the reputed owners of the Negroes 
at Castle Island had come from Charleston, S.C, to secure their 
property. When they arrived in Boston they secured the services 
of John Codnian, Isaac Smith, and William Smith, who on the 
15th of Novemhcr, 1779, petitioned the Council for the " restitu- 
tion " of slaves taken by a British privateer, and retaken by two 
armed vessels of Massachusetts. A committee was appointed to 
consider the petitions, and report what action should be taken in 
the matter. Two days later another petition was presented to the 
Council by one John Winthrop, "praying that certain negroes, 
who were brought into this state by the Hazard and Tyrannicide, 
may be delivered to him." It was referreil to the committee 
appointed on the 15th of November. On the iSth of November, 
"Jabcz Fisher, Esq., brought down a report of the Committee 
of both Houses on the petition of Isaac Smith, being by way of 
resolve, directing the Board of War to deliver so many of the 
negroes therein mentioned, as are now alive. Passed in Council, 
and sent down for concurrence." The order of the House is, 
" Read and concurred, as taken into a new draught. Sent up 
for concurrence." 

It is printed among the resolves of November, 1779. 

"XXXI. Resolve relinquishing this state's claim to a number of Negroes, 

passed November 18, 1779. 

"Whereas a number of negroes were re-captured and brought into this 
State by the armed vessels Hazard and Tyrannicide, and have since been 
supported at the expense of this State, and as the original owners of said 
Negroes now apply for them ; 

"Therefore Resolved, That this Court hereby relinquisli and give up any 
claim they may have upon the said owners for re-capturing said negroes : 
Provided they pay to the Board of War of this State the e.xpence that has 
arisen for the support and clothing of the Negroes aforesaid.'' ' 

On the 1 2th of April, 1780, Massachusetts passed an Act pro- 
viding more effectually " for the security, support, and exchange 
of prisoners of war brought into the State." It declares that 

" All Prisoners of War, whether captured by the Army or Navy of the 
United States, or armed Ships or Vessels of any of the United States, or by 
the Subjects, Troops, Ships, or Vessels of War of this State, and brought into 
the same, or cast on shore by shipwreck on the coast thereof .... all such 
prisoners, so brought in or cast on shore (including Indians, Negroes, and 

' Resolves, p. 131. 



38o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Molatoes) be treated in all respects as prisoners of war to the United States, 
any law or resolve of this Court to the contrary notwithstanding." ' 

The above Act was passed in compliance with a resolution of 
Congress, Jan. 13, 1780; and it repealed an Act of 1777, that 
made no provisions for the capture of Negroes. 

On the 23d of January, 1784, Gov. Hancock sent a message 
to the Legislature, transmitting correspondence received during 
the adjournment of the Legislature from Oct. 28, 1783, to Jan. 
21, 1784. Calling the attention of the Legislature to this cor- 
respondence, he referred to a letter from "His Excellency the 
Governor of South Carolina, respecting the detention of some 
Negroes here, belonging to the subjects of that state. I have 
communicated it to the Judges of the Supreme Judicial Court — 
their observations upon it are with the Papers. I have made no 
reply to the letter, judging it best to have your decision upon 
it." 2 The same papers on the same day were read in the Senate, 
and a joint committee of both houses was appointed. The com- 
mittee reported to both branches of the Legislature on the 23d 
of March, 1784, and the report was adopted. A request was 
made of the governor to furnish copies of the opinions of the 
judges, etc. 

" CLXXl. Order requesting the Governor to write to Governor Giierard 
of South Ccirolina, inclosing the letter of the Judges of the Supreme Judi- 
cial Court, March, 23d, 1784. 

" Ordered, that his Excellency the Governor be requested to write to His 
E.\cellency Benjmnhi Giierard, Governor of South Carolina, inclosing for the 
information of Governor Guerard, the letter of the Judges of the Supreme 
Judicial Court of this Commonwealth, with the copy in the said letter referred 
to, upon the subject of Governor Guerard''s letter, dated the si.\th October, 
17S3." 

The papers referred to seem to have been lost, but extracts 
are here produced : — 

"Governor Guerard to Governor Hancock, 6th October, 1783. 

Extract. " That such adoption is favoring rather of the Tyranny of 
Great Britain which occasioned her the loss of these States — that no act of 
British Tyranny could e.\ceed the encouraging the negroes from tlie State 
owning them to desert their owners to be emancipated — that it seems arbitrary 
and domination — assuming for the Judicial Department of any one State, to 
prevent a restoration voted by the Legislature and ordained by Congress. 

' Laws, 17S0, chap. v. pp. aSj, 284. ^ Jomnal, vol. iv. pp. 2,0%, 309. 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO. 38 1 

Tliat the liberation of our negroes disclosed a specimen of I'liritaiiism I should 
not have expected from gentlemen of my Profession." 

Memoraxdum. "He had demanded fugitives, carried off by the British, 
captured by the North, and not given up by the interference of the Judiciary.' 
' Governor Hancock referred the subject to the Judges." 

'■Judges Gushing and Sargent to Governor Hancock, Boston, 

Dec. 20, 1783. 

Extract. "How this determination is an attack upon the spirit, freedom, 
dignity, independence, and sovereignty of South Carolina, we are unable to 
conceive. That this has any connection with, or relation to Puritanism, we 
believe is above y Excellency's comprehension as it is above ours. We should 
be sincerely sorry to do any thing inconsistent with the Union of the States, 
which is and must continue to be the basis of our Liberties and Independence; 
on the contrary we wish it may be strengthened, confirmed, and endure for 
ever." • 

By the Treaty of Peace in 1783, Negroes were put in the 
same category with horses and other articles of property.- 

" Negroes [says xMr. Hamilton], by the laws of the States, in which slave- 
ry is allowed, are personal property. They, therefore, on the principle of 
those laws, like horses, cattle and other movables, were liable to become 
booty — and belonged to the enemy, [captor] as soon as they came into his 
hands. Belonging to him, he was free either to apply them to his own use, or 
set them at liberty. If he did the latter, the grant was irrevocable, restitution 
was impossible. Notliing in tlie laws of nations or in those of Great Britain, 
will authorize the resumption of liberty, once granted to a human being." 3 

On the 6th of May, i j^t,, Gen. Washington wrote Sir Guy 
Carleton : — 

"In the course of our conversation on this point. I was surprised to hear 
you mention, that an embarkation had already taken place, in which a large 
number of negroes had been carried away. Whether this conduct is conso- 
nant to, or how far it may be deemed an infraction of the treatv, is not for me 
to decide. I cannot, however, conceal from you, that my private opinion is, 
that the measure is totally different from the letter and spirit of the treaty. 
But waiving the discussion of the point, and leaving its decision to our respec- 
tive sovereigns, I find it my duty to signify my readiness, in conjunction with 
your Excellency, to enter into any agreement, or take any measures, which 
may be deemed expedient, to prevent the future carrying away of any negroes, 
or other property of the American inhabitants." 4 



' From Mr. Bancroft's MSS., America, i;S3, vol. ii. Quoted by Dr. Moore. 

^ Sparks's Washington, vol. viii. p. 428, note. ^ Works of Hamilton, vol. vii. p. 191. 

* Sparks's Wasliington, vol. viii. pp. 431, 43X, 



382 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In his reply, dated New York, May 12, 1783, Sir Guy Carle- 
ton says, — 

" I enclose a copy of an order, which I have given out to prevent the carry- 
ing aWciy any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants." ' 

It is clear, that notwithstanding the Act of the Massachusetts 
Legislature, and in the face of the law of Congress on the ques- 
tion of recaptures. Gen. Washington, the Congress of the United 
Colonies, and subsequently of the United States, regarded Negroes 
as pTopcrty from the beginning to the end of the war. The fol- 
lowing treaties furnish abundant proof that Negroes were regarded 
as property during the war, by the American government : — 

"Provisional Articles Between the United States of America 
AND His Britannic Majesty. 

"Agreed upon by and between Richard Oswald, Esquire the Commissioner 
of His Piritannic Majesty, for treating of Peace with the Commissioners of the 
United States of America, in behalf of his said Majesty, on one part, and John 
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and Henry Laurens, four of the Commis- 
sioners of the said States, etc., etc., etc. 

"Article VII. « * * All prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty, 
and His Britannic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and without caus- 
ing any destruction, or carrying away any ^negroes or other property' of the 
American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons and fleets from the 
said United States, and from every port, place and harbour within the same. * * * 

"Done at Paris, Nov. 30, 1782. 

" Richard Oswald, [l.s.] 

"John Adams, [l.s.] 

" B. Franklin, [l.s.] 

"John Jay, [l.s.] 

■"Henry Laurens, [l.s.]"^ 

" Definite treaty of peace, between the united states of Ameri- 
ca AND HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY. 

"Article VII. * * * And His Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient 
speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying a.vi3.y zny ^ 7iegroes or 
other property' of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, etc., etc., 

etc * *■ 'Jif' 

" Done at Paris, Sept. 3, 17S3. 

" D. Hartley, [l.s.] 
"John Adams, [l.s.] 
" B. Franklin, [l.s.] 
"John Jay, [l.s.] "3 



' Sp.irks's W.ishinston, vol. viii., Appendix, p. 544. 

= U. S. Statutes at large, vol. viii. pp. 54, 57. ^ Ibid., pp. 80, 83. 



LEGAL STATUS OF THE NEGRO. 383 

" Treaty of i-eack and amity, between his Britannic majesty and 

THE united states OF AMERICA, 

'• I Ratified and confirmed by and with the advice and consent of tlie Senate, 
Feb. II, 1815.] 

"Article I. * • * Shall be restored without delay, and without causing 
any destruction, or carrying away any of the artillery or other public property 
originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein 
upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or any ' s/a7'fs or other 
private property.^ « » • * 

'•Done, in triplicate, at Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814. 

"Gambikr, [l.s.] 

"Henry Goulhurn, [i,.s.] 

"William Adams, [l.s.] 

"John Ouincy Adams, [l.s.] 

"J. A. Bayard, [l.s.] 

"H. Clay, [l.s.] 

"JONA. Russell, [l.s.] 

"Albert Gallatin. [l.s.]"« 

It was not a difficult matter to retake Negroes ca]itured by the 
eneniv, and then treat them as prisoners of war. But no officer 
in the ^Ymerican army, no member of Congress, had the moral 
courage to proclaim that property ceased in a man the moment he 
donned the uniform of a Revolutionary soldier, and that all Negro 
soldiers captured by the enemy should be treated as prisoners of 
war. So, all through the war with Britain, the Negro soldier was 
liable to be claimed as property ; and every bayonet in the army 
was at the command of the master to secure his property, even 
though it had been temporarily converted into an heroic soldier 
who had defended the country against its foes. The unprece- 
dented spectacle was to be witnessed, of a master hunting his 
slaves under the flag of the nation. And at the close of hostilities 
many Negro soldiers were called upon to go back into the service 
of their masters ; while few secured their freedom as a reward for 
their valor. The following letter of Gen. Washington, addressed 
to Brig.-Gen. Rufus Putnam, afterwards printed at Marietta, O., 
from his [)apers, indicates the regard the I-"ather of his Country 
had for the rights of the master, though those rights were pushed 
into the camp of the army where many brave Negroes were found ; 
and it also illustrates the legal strength of such a claim : — 

' U. S. Statutes at large, vol. viii. p. 21S. 



3S4 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE JN AMERICA. 

" Head Quarters, Feb. 2, 1783. 
"Sir, — Mr. Hobby having claimed as his property a negro man now 
serving in the Massachusetts Regiment, you will please to order a court of 
inquiry, consisting of five as respectable officers as can be found in your bri- 
gade, to examine the validity of the claim, the manner in which the person in 
question came into service, and the propriety of his being discharged or 
retained in service. Having inquired into the matter, with all the attending 
circumstances, they will report to you their opmion thereon ; which you will 
report to me as soon as conveniently may be. 

" I am. Sir, with great respect, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

"G. Washington. 
" P.S. — All concerned should be notified to attend. 
"Brig.-Gen. Putnam." 

Enlistment in the army did not work a practical emancipation 
of the slave, as some have thought. Negroes were rated as chat- 
tel property by both armies and both governments during the 
entire war. This is the cold fact of history, and it is not pleasing 
to contemplate. The Negro occupied the anomalous position of 
an American slave and an American soldier. He was a soldier in 
the hour of danger, but a chattel in time of peace. 



^HE NEGRO INTELLECT. 38; 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE NEGRO INTELLECT. — BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER." — 
FULLER THE MATHEMATICL-XN. — DERHAM THE PHVSICLVN. 

Statutory Prohibition ac.mnst the Education of Negroes. — Benjamin Banneker, the Negro 
Astronomer and Philosopher. — His Antecedents. — Young Banneker as a Farmer and 
Inventor. — The Mii-ls of Ellicott & Co. — Banneker cultivates h's Mechanical Genius 
AND Mathematical Tastes. — Banneker's first Calculation of an Eclitse submitted for 
Inspection in 1789. — His Letter to Mr. Ellicott. — The Testimony of a Personal Acquaint- 
ance of Banneker as to his Upright Character. — His Home becomes a Place of Inter- 
est TO Visitors. — Record of his Business Transactions. — Mrs. Mason's Visit to him. — 
She addresses him in Verse. — Banneker replies by Letter to her. — Prepares his First 
Almanac FOR Publication in 1792. — Title of his Almanac. — Banneker's Letter to Thomas 
Jefferson. — Thomas Jefferson's Reply. — Banneker invited to accompany the Commis- 
sioners to RUN the Lines of the District of Columbia. — Banneker's Habits of studying 
the He.wenly Bodies. — Minute Description given to his Sisters in Reference to the 
Disposition of his Personal Property after Death. — His Death. — Regarded as the 
most distinguished Negro of his T'me. — Fuller the Mathematician, or "The Virginia 
Calculator." — Fuller of African Birth, bl^t stolen and sold as a Slave into Virginia. 

— Visited by Men of Learning. — He was pronounced to be a Prodigy in the Manipula- 
tion of Figures. — His Death. — Derham the Physician. — Science of Medicine regarded 
AS the most Intricate Pursuit of Man. — Early Life of James Derham. — His Knowl- 
edge of Medicines, how acquired. — He becomes a Prominent Physician in New Orleans. 

— Dr. Rush gives an Account of an Interview with hi.m. — What the Negro Race pro- 
duced BY their Genius in America. 

FROM the moment slavery gained a foothold in North America 
until the direful hour that witnessed its dissolution amid the 
shock of embattled arms, learning was the forbidden fruit 
that no Negro dared taste. Positive and explicit statutes every- 
where, as fiery swords, drove him away hungry from the tree 
of intellectual life ; and all persons were forbidden to pluck the 
fruit for him, upon pain of severe penalties. Every yearning for 
intellectual food was answered by whips and thumb-screws. 

But, notwithstanding the state of almost instinctive ignorance 
in which slavery held the Negro, there were those who occasionally 

' William Wells Brown, William C. Nell, and all the Colored men whose efforts I have -seen, 
have made a number of very serious mistakes respecting Banneker's parentage, age, accomplish- 
ments, etc. He was of mixed blood. His mother's name was not Molly Morton, but one of his 
sisters bore that name. 

I have used the Memoirs of Banneker, prepared by I. H. B. Latrobe and J. Saurin Norris, 
and other valuable material from the Maryland Historical Society. 



386 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

astounded the world with the brightness of their intellectual 
genius. There were some Negroes whose minds ran the gauntlet 
of public proscription on one side and repressive laws on the 
other, and safely gained eminence in astronomy, mathcniatics, and 
medicine. 

BANNEKER THE ASTRONOMER. 

Benjamin Banneker, the Negro astronomer and philosopher, 
was born in Maryland, on the 9th of November, 173 1. His 
maternal grandmother was a white woman, a native of England, 
named Molly Welsh. She came to Maryland in a shipload of 
white emigrants, who, according to the custom of those days, 
were sold to pay their passage. She served her master faithfully 
for seven years, when, being free, she purchased a small farm, at 
a nominal price. Soon after she bought two Negro slaves from a 
ship that had come into the Chesajieake Bay, and began life anew. 
Both of these Negroes proved to be men of more than ordinary 
fidelity, industry, and intelligence. One of them, it was said, was 
the son of an African king. She gave him his freedom, and then 
married him. His name was Banneker." Four children were 
the fruit of this union ; but the chief interest centres in only one, 
— a girl, named Mary. Following the example of her mother, she 
also married a native of Africa : but both tradition and history 
preserve an unbroken silence respecting his life, with the single 
exception that, embracing the Christian religion, he was baptized 
"Robert Banneker;" and the record of his death is thus pre- 
served, in the family Bible: "'Robert Banneker departed this life, 
yuly y" loth 1759." Thus it is evident that he took his wife's 
surname. Benjamin Banneker was the only child of Robert and 
Mary Banneker. 

Young Benjamin was a great favorite with his grandmother, 
who taught him to read. She had a sincere love of the Sacred 
Scriptures, which she did not neglect to inculcate into the youth- 
ful heart of her grandson. In the neighborhood, — at that time 
an almost desolate spot, — a school was conducted where the 
master admitted several Colored children, with the whites, to the 
benefits of his instructions. It was a "pay school," and thither 
young Banneker was sent at a very tender age. His application 
to his studies was equalled by none. When the other pupils were 

* In the most remote records the name was written Banneky. 



rilE NEGRO INTELLECT. 



jo/ 



playing, he found great pleasure in bis books. IIow long be 
remained in sehool, is not known. 

His father purchased a farm of one Richard (iist, and here be 
spent the remnant of his days. 

When young Banneker had obtained his majority, he gave 
attention to the various interests of farm-life. lie was indus- 
trious, intelligent in his labors, scrupulously neat in the manage- 
ment of bis grounds, cultivated a valuable garden, was gentle in 
his treatment of stock, — horses, cows, etc., — and was indeed 
comfortably situated. During those seasons of leisure which 
come to agriculturists, he stored his mind with useful knowledge. 
Starting with the Bible, he read history, biography, travels, 
romance, and such works on general literature as he was able to 
borrow. His mind seemed to turn with especial .satisfaction to 
mathematics, and he acquainted himself with the most difficult 
problems. 

He had a taste also for mechanics. He conceived the idea of 
making a timepiece, a clock, and about the year 1770 constructed 
one. With his imperfect tools, and with no other model than a 
borrowed watch, it had cost him long and patient labor to perfect 
it, to make the variation necessary to cause it to strike the hours, 
and produce a concert of correct action between the hour, the 
minute, and the second machinery. He confessed that its regu- 
larity in pointing out the progress of time had amply rewarded 
all his pains in its construction.' 

In 1773 Ellicott & Co. built flour-mills in a valley near the 
banks of the Patapsco River. Banneker watched the mills go 
up ; and, when the machinery was set in motion, looked on with 
interest, as he had a splendid opportunity of observing new prin- 
ciples of mechanism. He made many visits to the mills, and 
became acquainted with their proprietors ; and, till the day of 
his death, he found in the Ellicotts kind and helpful friends. 

After a short time the Ellicotts erected a store, where, a little 
later, a post-office, was opened. To this point the farmers and 
gentlemen, for miles around, used to congregate. Banneker often 
called at the post-office, where, after overcoming his natural mod- 
esty and diffidence, he was frequently called out in conversations 
covering a variety of topics. His conversational powers, his 
inexhaustible fund of information, and his broad learning (for 



■ J. Saurin Norris's sketch. 



388 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

those times and considering his circumstances), made him the 
connoisseur of that section. At times he related, in modest terms, 
the difficulties he was constrained to encounter in order to acquire 
the knowledge of books he had, and the unsatisfied longings he 
still had for further knowledge. His fame as a mathematician 
was already established, and with the increasing facilities of 
communication his accomplishments and achievements were occu- 
pying the thought of many intelligent people. 

" By this time he liad become very expert in the solution of difficult 
mathematical problems, which were then, more than in this century, the amuse- 
ment of persons of leisure ; and they were frequently sent to him from scholars 
residing in different parts of our country who wished to test his capacity. He 
is reported to have been successful in every case, and, sometimes, he returned 
with his answers, questions of liis own composition conveyed in rhyme." 

The following question was propounded to Mr. George Elli- 
cott, and was solved by Benjamin HallowcU of Alexandria. 

•' A Cooper and Vintner sat down for a talk. 
Both being so groggy, that neither could walk, 
Says Cooper to Vintner, ' I'm the first of my trade, 
There's no kind of vessel, but what I have made. 
And of any shape, Sir, — just what you will, — 
And of any size, Sir, — from a ton to a gill ! ' 
' Then,' says the Vintner, 'you're the man for me, — 
Make me a vessel, if we can agree. 
The top and the bottom diameter define, 
To bear that proportion as fifteen to nine ; 
Thirty-five inches are just what I crave. 
No more and no less, in the depth, will I have; 
Just thirty-nine gallons this vessel must hold, — 
Then I will reward you with silver or gold, — 
Give me your promise, my honest old friend ?' 
' I'll make it to-morrow, that you may depend ! ' 
So the next day the Cooper his work to discharge, 
Soon made the new vessel, but made it too large; — 
He took out some staves, which made it too small. 
And then cursed the vessel, the Vintner and all. 
He beat on his breast, 'By the Powers!' — he swore, 
He never would work at his trade any more ! 
Now my worthy friend, find out, if you can, 
The vessel's dimensions and comfort the man ! 

"Benjamin Banneker." 

The greater diameter of Banneker's tub must be 24.746 
inches; the less diameter, 14.8476 inches. 



THE NEGRO IXTELLECT. 389 

He was described by a gentleman wlio liad often met him at 
Ellicott's Mills as "of black complexion, medium stature, of 
uncommonly soft and gentlemanly manners and of pleasing 
colloquial powers." 

Fortunately Mr. George Ellicott was a gentleman of exquisite 
literary taste and critical judgment. He discovered in Banneker 
the elements of a cultivated gentleman and profound scholar. 
He threw open his library to this remarkable Negro, loaded him 
with books and astronomical instruments, and gave him the 
emphatic assurance of sympathy and encouragement. He occa- 
sionally made Banneker a visit, when he would urge upon him 
the importance of making astronomical calculations for almanacs. 
Finally, in the spring of 17S9, Banneker submitted to Mr. Elli- 
cott his first projection of an eclipse. It was found to contain 
a slight error ; and, having kindly pointed it out, Mr. Ellicott 
received the following reply from Banneker : — 

LETTER OF BENJAMIN B.\NNEKER TO GEORGE ELLICOTT. 

"Sir, — I received your letter at the hand of Bell but found nothing 
strange to me In the Letter Concerning the number of Eclipses, tho according 
to authors the Edge of the penuml^er only touches the Suns Limb in that 
Eclips, that I left out of the Number — which happens April 14th day, at 37 
minutes past 7 o'clock in the morning, and is the first we shall have : but since 
you wrote to me, I drew in the Equations of the Node which will cause a small 
Solar Defet, but as I did not intend to publish, I was not so very peticular as 
I should have been, but was more intent upon the true method of projecting a 
Solar Eclips — It is an easy matter for us when a Diagram is laid down before 
us, to draw one in resemblance of it, but it is a hard matter for young Tyroes 
in Astronomy, when only the Elements for the projection is laid down before 
him to draw his diagram with any degree of Certainty. 

" Says the Learned Le.\dbetter, the projection, I shall here describe, is 
that mentioned by Mr. Flamsted. When the sun is in Cancer, Leo. Virgo, 
Libra, Scorpio or, Sagitary, the .'Xxes of the Globe must lie to the riglit hand 
of the Axes of the Ecliptic, but when the sun is in Capricorn, Aquarius. Pisces, 
Aries, Taurus, or Gemini, then to the left. 

"Says the wise author Ferguson, when the sun is in Capercorn, .Aquarius, 
Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemeni, the Northern half of the Eartlis Axes lies 
to the right hand of the Axes of the Ecliptic and to the left hand, whilst the 
Sun is on the other six signs. 

" Now Mr. Ellicott, two such learned gentlemen as the above mentioned, 
one in direct opposition to the other, stagnates young beginners, but I hope the 
stagnation will not be of long duration, for this I observe that Leadbetter 
counts the time on the path of Vertex I. 2. 3 &c. from the right to the left 
hand or from the consequent to the antecedent, — But Ferguson on the path 
of Vertex counts the time I. 2. 3 &c. from the left to the right hand, according 



390 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE JN AMERICA. 

to the order of numbers, so that that is regular, shall compensate for irregu- 
larity. Now sir if I can overcome this difficulty I doubt not being able to 
calculate a Common Almanac. — Sir no more 

" But remain your faithful friend, 

" B. Banneker. 
"Mr. George Ellicott, Oct. lyk, 1789." 

His mother, an active, intelligent, slight-built Mulatto, with 
long black hair, had exercised a tender but positive influence over 
him. His character, so far as is known, was without blemish, 
with the single exception of an occasional use of ardent spirits. 
He found himself conforming too frequently to the universal 
habit of the times, social drinking. Liquors and wines were upon 
the tables and sideboards of the best families, and wherever 
Banneker went it confronted him. He felt his weakness in this 
regard, and resolved to abstain from the use of strong drink. 
Some time after returning from a visit to Washington, in com- 
pany with the commissioners who laid out the District of Colum- 
bia, he related to his friends that during the entire absence from 
home he had abstained from the use of liquors ; adding, "I feared 
to trust myself even with wine, lest it should steal away the little 
sense I have." On a leaf of one of his almanacs, appears the 
following in his own handwriting : — 

"Evil communications corrupt good manners, I hope to live to hear, that 
good communication corrects ' bad manners.' " 

He had a just appreciation of his own strength. He hated 
vice of every kind ; and, while he did not connect himself to any 
church, he was deeply attached to the Socicfy of Friends. He 
was frequently seen in their meeting-house. He usually occupied 
the rear bench, where he would sit with uncovered head, leaning 
upon his staff, wrapt in profound meditation. The following letter 
addressed to Mr. J. Saurin Norris shows that his character was 
upright : — 

" In the year 1800, I commenced my engagements in the store of EUicott's 
Mills, where my first acquaintance with Benjamin Banneker began. He often 
came to the store to purchase articles for his own use ; and, after hearing him 
converse, I was always anxious to wait upon him. After making his purchases, 
he usually went to the part of the store where George Ellicott was in the habit 
of sitting, to converse with him about the affairs of our Government and other 
matters. He was very precise in conversation and exhibited deep reflection. 
His deportment whenever I saw him, appeared to be perfectly upright and 



THE NEGRO JNTELLECT. 391 

correct, and he seemed to be acquainted witli every thing of importance that 
was passing in the country. 

" I recollect to have seen his Almanacs in my father's house, and believe 
they were the only ones used in the neighborhood at the time. He was a large 
man inclined to be fleshy, and was far advanced in years, when I first saw him, 
1 remember being once at his house, but do not recollect any thing about tlie 
comforts of his establishment, nor of the old clock, about which you enquired. 
He was fond of, and well qualified, to work out abstruse questions in arithme- 
tic. I remember, he brought to the store, one which he had comjiosed himself, 
and presented to George Ellicott for solution. I had a copy which I have since 
lost; but the character and deportment of the man being so wholly different 
from any thing I had ever seen from one of his color, his question made so 
deep an impression on my mind I have ever since retained a perfect recollec- 
tion of it, except two lines, which do not alter the sense. I remember that 
George Ellicott, was engaged in making out the answer, and cannot now- say 
that he succeeded, but have no doubt he did. I have thus, briefly given you 
my recollections of Benjamin Banneker. I was young wlicn he died, and 
doubtless many incidents respecting him, have, from the time which has since 
elapsed, passed from my recollection : 

" Cll.VRLES W. DOKSICV, of Elkridge." 

After the death of hi.s mother, Banneker dwelt alone until the 
day of his death, having never married. His manners were gen- 
tle and engaging, his benevolence proverbial. His home became 
a place of great interest to visitors, whom he always received cor- 
dially, and treated hospitably all who called. 

'• We found the venerable star-gazer," says the author of the Memoir of 
Susanna Mason, " under a wide spreading pear tree, leaden with delicious fruit ; 
he came forward to meet us, and bade us welcome to his lowly dwelling. It 
was built of logs, one story in height, and was surrounded by an orchard. In 
one corner of the room, was suspended a clock of his own construction, ivhich 
was a true hearald of departing hours. He was careful in the little affairs of 
life as well as in the great matters. He kept record of all his business tran- 
sactions, literary and domestic. The following e.xtracts from liis .Xccount Book 
exhibit liis love for detail. 

'"Sold on the 2nd of .'\pril, 1795, to Buttler, Edwards & Kiddy, the right 
of an Almanac, for the year 1796, for the sum of So dollars, equal to ^30. 

'"On the 30th of April, 1795, lent John Ford five dollars, ^i 17s. 6d. 

'" I2th of December, 1797, bought a pound of candles at is. .Sd. 

"'Sold to John Collins 2 qts. of dried peaches 6d. " I (jt. mead 4d. 

"'On the 26th of March, came Joshua Sanks with 3 or 4 bushels of turnips 
to feed the cows. 

"' 13th of April, 1803, planted beans and sowed cabb.age seed.' 

" He took down from a shelf a little book, wherein he registered the names 
of those, by whose visits he felt particularly honored, and recorded my mother's 
name upon the list ; he then, diffidently, but very respectfully, requested her 
acceptance of one of his Almanacs in manuscript." 



392 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Within a few days after this visit Mrs. Mason addressed him 
in a poetical letter, which found its way into the papers of the 
section, and was generally read. The subjoined portions are sufifi- 
cient to exhibit the character of the effusion. The admonitory lines 
at the end doubtless refer to his early addiction to strong drink. 

'■'■An Address to Benjami.\ B.\nneker, mi African Astronomer, who pre- 
sented the Author with a Manuscript Almanac in I796." 

"Transmitted on the wings of Fame, 
Tliine ec/at sounding witli thy name, 
Well pleased, I heard, ere 'twas my lot 
To see thee in thy humble cot. 
That genius smiled upon thy birth. 
And application called it forth ; 
That times and tides thou could'st presage, 
And traverse the Celestial stage. 
Where shining globes their circles run. 
In swift rotation round the sun ; 
Could'st tell how planets in their way, 
From order ne'er were known to stray. 
Sun, moon and stars, when they will rise, 
When sink below the upper skies ; 
When an eclipse shall veil their light. 
And, hide their splendor from our sight. 



Some men whom private walks pursue, 
Whom fame ne'er ushered into view, 
May run their race, and few observe 
To right or left, if they should swerve, 
Their blemishes would not appear. 
Beyond their lives a single year. — 
But thou, a man exalted high, 
Conspicuous in the world's "keen e^'e. 
On record now, thy name's enrolled. 
And future ages will be told, — 
There lived a man named B.4N'neker, 
An African Astronomer! — 
Thou need'st to have a special care. 
Thy conduct with thy talent square. 
That no contaminating vice. 
Obscure thy lustre in our eyes." 

During the following year Banneker sent the following letter 
to his good friend Mrs. Mason : — 

"August 26th, 1797. 

"Dear Female Friend: — 

'• I have thought of you every day since I saw you last, and of my promise 
in respect of composing some verses for your amusement, but I am very much 



THE NEGRO IX TELLE CT. 39;:, 

indisposed, and have been ever since that time. I have a constant pain in my 
licad, a palpitation in my flesh, and I may say I am attended with a complica- 
tion of disorders, at this present writing, so that I cannot with any pleasure or 
delight, gratify your curiosity in that particular, at tliis present time, yet I sav 
my will is good to oblige you, if I had it in my power, because you gave me 
good advice, and edifying language, in that piece of poetry which you was 
pleased to present unto me, and I can but love and thank you for tlie same: 
and if ever it should be in my power to be serviceable to you, in any measure, 
your reasonable requests, shall be armed with the obedience of, 
" Your sincere friend and well-wisher, 

"Benjahii.v Banneker. 
"Mrs. Sus.\nna Masok. 

" N.B. The above is mean writing, done with trembling hands. B. B." 

With the use of Mayer's Tables, Ferguson's A.stronomy, and 
Leadbeater's Lunar Tables, Banneker had made wonderful prog- 
ress in his astronomical investigations. He prepared his first 
almanac for publication in 1792. Mr. James McHenry became 
deeply interested in him, and, convinced of his talent in this 
direction, wrote a letter to the firm of Goddard & Angell, pub- 
lishers of almanacs, in Baltimore. They became the sole publish- 
ers of Banneker's almanacs till the time of his death. In an 
editorial note in the first almanac, they say, — 

"They feel gratified in the opportunity of presenting to the public, through 
their press, what must be considered as an extraordinary effort of genius; a 
complete and accurate Ephcmcris for the year 1792, calculated by a sable 
descendant of Africa," etc. 

And they further say, — 

" That they flatter themselves that a philanthropic public, in this enlight- 
ened era, will be induced to give their patronage and support to this work, not 
only on account of its intrinsic merits, (it having met the approbation of 
several of the most distinguished astronomers of America, particularly the 
celebrated Mr. Rittenhouse.) but from similar motives to those which induced 
tlie editors to give this calculation the preference, — the ardent desire of draw- 
ing modest merit from obscurity, and controverting the long-established illiberal 
prejudice against the blacks."' 

The title of his almanac is given below as a matter of historic 
interest. 

'■ Benjamin Banneker's Pennsylvania, Delaware. Virginia, and Maryland 
Almanac and Ephemeris. for the year of our Lord 1792, being Bissextile or 
leap year, and the si.xteenth year of American Independence, which commenced 
July 4, 1776: containing the motions of the Sun and Moon, the true places and" 



394 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

aspects of the Planets, tlie rising and setting of tlie Sun, and the rising, setting, 
and southing, place and age of the Moon, &c. The Lunations, Conjunctions, 
Echpses, Judgment of the Weather, Festivals, and remarkable days." 

He had evidently read Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia ; and 
touched by the humane sentiment there exhibited, as well as 
saddened by the doubt e.xpressed respecting the intellect of the 
Negro, Banneker sent him a copy of his first almanac, accom- 
panied by a letter which pleaded the cause of his race, and in 
itself, was a refutation of the charge that the Negro had no intel- 
lectual outcome. 

"Maryland, Baltimore County, August 19, 1791. 
"Sir, 

" I am fully sensiljle of the greatness of the freedom I take with you on 
the present occasion ; a liberty which seemed scarcely allowable, when I 
reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in wliich you stand, and the 
almost general prejudice which is so prevalent in the world against those of my 
complexion. 

" It is a truth too well attested, to need a proof here, that we are a race of 
beings, who have long laboured under the abuse and censure of the world; 
that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt; and considered 
rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments. 

" I hope I may safely admit, in consequence of the report which has 
reached me, that you are a man far less inflexible in sentiments of this nature, 
than many others; that you are measurably friendly, and well disposed towards 
us ; and that you are willing to lend your aid and assistance for our relief from 
those many distresses, and numerous calamities, to which we are reduced. 

'■ If this is founded in truth, I apprehend you will embrace every opportu- 
nity to eradicate that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions, which so 
generally prevail with respect to us : and that your sentiments are concurrent 
with mine, which are, that one universal Father hath given being to us all; that 
He hath not only made us all of one flesh, but that He hath also, without par- 
tiality, afforded us all the same sensations, and endowed us all with the same 
faculties; and that however variable we may be in society or religion, however 
diversified in situation or in colour, we are all of the same family, and stand in 
the same relation to Him. 

" If these are sentiments of which you are fully persuaded, you cannot but 
acknowledge, that it is the indispensable duty of those, who maintain for them- 
selves the rights of human nature, and who profess the obligations of Chris- 
tianity, to extend their powers and influence to the relief of every part of the 
human race, from whatever burden or oppression they may unjustly labour 
under; and this, I apprehend, a full conviction of the truth and obligation of 
these principles should lead all to. 

" I have long been convinced, that if your love for yourselves, and for 
those inestimable laws which preserved to you the rights of human nature, was 
founded on sincerity you could not but be solicitous, that every ir.dividual, of 
whatever rank or distinction, might with you equally enjoy the blessings 
thereof ; neither could you rest satisfied short of the most active effusion of 



THE NEGRO JXTELLECT. 395 

your exertions, in order to tlieir promotion from any state of degradation, to 
whicli tlie unjustifiable cruelty and barl)arism of men may have reduced them. 

" 1 freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and 
in that colour which is natural to them, of the deepest dye ; and it is under a 
sense of the most profound gratitude to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, 
that I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of tyrannical thral- 
dom, and inhuman captivity, to which too many of mv brethren are doomed, 
but that I have abundantly tasted of the fruition of those blessings, which 
jjroceed from tliat free and unequalled liberty with which you are favoured ; 
and which I hope you will willingly allow you have mercifully received, from 
the immediate hand of that Being from whom proceedeth every good and 
perfect gift. 

"Suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms of the 
Ilritisli crown were exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce vou 
to a state of servitude : look back, I entreat you, on the variety of dangers to 
which you were exposed; reflect on that period in which everv human aid 
appeared unavailable, and in which even hope and fortitude wore the aspect of 
inability to the conflict, and you cannot but be led to a serious and grateful 
sense of your miraculous and providential preservation; you cannot but 
acknowledge, that the present freedom and tranquillity which vou enjoy, you 
have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of heaven. 

'• Tliis. .Sir, was a time when you clearly saw into the injustice of a state of 
Slavery, and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its condi- 
tion. It was then that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you 
publicly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be 
recorded and remembered in all succeeding ages: -We hold tlicse truths to be 
self-evident, that all men are created equal: that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are, life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness.' 

" Here, was a time in which your tender feelings for yourselves had 
engaged you thus to declare ; you were then impressed with jiroper ideas of 
the great violation of liberty, and the free possession of those blessings, to 
which you were entitled b}' nature ; but, sir. how pitiable is it to reflect, that 
although you were so fully convinced of the benevolence of the Father of 
Mankind, and of his equal and impartial distribution of these rights and privi- 
leges which he hath conferred upon them, that you should at the same time 
counteract his mercies, in detaining by fraud and violence, so numerous a part 
of my brethren under groaning caiHivity and cruel oppression, that you should 
at the same time be found guilty of that most criminal act, which you profess- 
edly detested in others, with respect to yourselves. 

"Your knowledge of the situation of my brethren is too extensive to need 
a recital here ; neither shall I presume to prescribe methods by which they 
may be relieved, otherwise than by recommending to you and all others, to 
wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have imbibed with 
respect to them, and as Job proposed to his friends, 'put your soul in their 
soul's ste.ad : ' thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevo- 
lence towards them; and thus shall you need neither the direction of myself or 
others, in what manner to proceed herein. 

" And now, sir, although my sympathy and affection for my brethren hath 



396 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

caused my enlargement thus far, I ardently hope, that your candour and gen- 
erosity will plead with you in my behalt, when 1 state that it was not originally 
my design ; but having taken up my pen in order to present a copy of an 
almanac which I have calculated for the succeeding year, 1 was unexpectedly 
led thereto. 

"This calculation is the production of my arduous study, in my advanced 
stage of life ; for having long had unbounded desires to become acquainted 
with the secrets of nature, I have had to gratify my curiosity herein through 
my own assiduous application to astronomical study, in which I need not 
recount to you tlie many difficulties and disadvantages which I have had to 
encounter. 

"And althougli 1 had almost declined to make my calculation for the 
ensuing year, in consequence of the time which I had allotted for it being 
taken up at the federal territory, by the request of Mr. Andrew Ellicott, yet I 
industriously applied myself thereto, and hope I have accomplished it with 
correctness and accuracy. I have taken the liberty to direct a copy to you, 
which I humbly request you will favourably receive; and although you may 
have the opportunity of perusing it after its publication, yet I desire to send it 
to you in manuscript previous thereto, that thereby you might not only have an 
earlier inspection, but that you might also view it in my own handwriting. 

"And now, sir, I shall conclude, and subscribe myself, with the most pro- 
found respect, 

" Your most obedient humble servant, 

"Benjamin Banneker " 

Mr. Jefferson, who was Secretary of State under President 
Washington, sent the great Negro the following courteous 
reply : — 

" PHILADELPfHA, Aug. 30, I79I. 

"Sir, — I thank you sincerely for your letter of the 19th instant, and for 
the almanac it contained. Nobody wishes more than I do to see such proofs 
as you exliibit. that Nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to 
those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them 
is owing only to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and 
America. I can add, with trutli, that no one wishes more ardently to see a 
good system commenced for raising the condition, both of their body and mmd, 
to what it ought to be, as fast as the imbecility of their present existence, and 
other circumstances which cannot be neglected, will admit. I have taken the 
liberty of sending your almanac to Monsieur de Condorcet, Secretary of the 
Academy of .Sciences, at Paris, and members of the Philanthropic Society, 
because I considered it a document to which your whole color had a right, for 
their justification against the doubts which have been entertained of them. 
" I am, with great esteem, sir, 

" Your most obedient servant, 

" Tho. Jefferson. 

" Mr. Benjamin Banneker. near Ellicott's j 
Lower Mills, B.-iltiniore county." ' ( 

^ Jefferson's Works, vol. iii. p. 291. 



THE NEGRO IXTELLECT. 397 

The only time Banneker was ever absent from his home any 
distance was when "the Commissioners to run the lines of the 
District of Columbia" — then known as the "Federal Territory " 
— invited him to accompany them upon their mission. Mr. 

Norris says : — 

" Banneker's deportment throughout tlie whole of this eng.igcmcnt, secured 
their respect, and there is good authority for beheving, that his endowments 
led the commissioners to overlook the color of his skin, to converse with him 
freely, and enjoy the clearness and originality of his remarks on various 
subjects. It is a fact, that they honored him with an invitation to a daily seat 
at their table; but this, with his usual modesty, he declined. They then 
ordered a side table laid for him, in the same apartment with themselves. On 
his return, he called to give an account of his engagements, at the house of 
one of his friends. He arrived on horseback, dressed in his usual costume: — 
a full suit of drab cloth, surmounted by a broad brimmed beaver hat. He 
seemed to have been re-animated by the presence of the eminent men with 
whom lie had mingled in the District, and gave a full account of their 
proceedings." 

His habits of study were rather peculiar. At nightfall, 
wrapped in a great cloak, he would lie prostrate upon the ground, 
where he spent the night in contemplation of the heavenly 
bodies. At sunrise he would retire to his dwelling, where he 
spent a portion of the day in repose. But as he seemed to 
require less sleep than most people, he employed the hours of the 
afternoons in the cultivation of his garden, trimming of fruit- 
trees, or in observing the habits and flight of his bees. When 
his service and attention were not required out-doors, he busied 
himself with his books, papers, and mathematical instruments, at 
a large oval table in his house. The situation of Banneker's 
dwelling was one which would be admired by every lover of 
nature, and furnished a fine field for the observation of celestial 
phenomena. It was about half a mile froin the Patapsco River, 
and commanded a prospect of the near and distant hills upon its 
banks, which have been so justly celebrated for their picturesque 
beauty. A never-failing spring issued from betieath a large 
golden-willow tree in the midst of his orchard.' The whole sit- 
uation was charming, inspiring, and no doubt helped him in the 
solution of difficult problems. 

There is no reliable data to enlighten us as to the day of his 
death ; but it is the opinion of those who lived near him, and their 

' See Norris, paper on Banneker. 



398 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

descendants, that he died in the fall of 1S04. It was a bright, 
beautiful day, and feeling unwell he walked out on the hills to 
enjoy the sunlight and air. During his walk he came across a 
neighbor, to whom he complained of being sick. They both 
returned to his house, where, after lying down upon his couch, 
he became sj^eechless, and died peacefully. During a prc\'ious 
sickness he had charged his sisters, Minta Black and Molly 
Morten, that, so soon as he was dead, all the books, instruments, 
etc., which Mr. Ellicott had loaned him, should be taken back to 
the benevolent lender ; and, as a token of his gratitude, all his 
manusci'ipts containing" all his almanacs, his observations and 
writings on various subjects, his letter to Thomas Jefferson, and 
that gentleman's reply, etc., were given to Mr. Ellicott.' On the 
day of his death, faithful to the instructions of their brother, 
Baiineker's sisters had all the articles moved to Mr. Ellicott's 
house ; and their arrival was the first sad news of the astrono- 
mer's death. To the promptness of these girls in carrying out 
his orders is the gratitude of the friends of science due for the 
preservation of the results of Banneker's labors. During the 
performance of the last sad rites at the grave, two days after 
his death, his house was discovered to be on fire. It burnt so 
rapidly that it was impossible to save any thing : so his clock 
and other personal property perished in the flames. He had 
given to one of his sisters a feather-bed, upon which he had slept 
for many years ; and she, fortunately and thoughtfully, removed 
it when he died, and prized it as the only memorial of her dis- 
tinguished brother. Some years after, she had occasion to open 
the bed, when she discovered a purae of money — another illus- 
tration of his careful habits and frugality. 

Benjamin Banneker was known favorably on two continents, 
and at the time of his death was the most intelligent and dis- 
tinsiuished Nesrro in the United States. 



FULLER THE MATHEM.VTICTAN. 

One of the standing arguments against the Negro was, that he 
lacked the faculty of solving mathematical problems. This charge 

' All of B.Tnncker's liter.iry remains were published by J. H. B. Latrobe in the Maryland 
Historical Society, and m the Maryland Colonization Journal in 1S45. The Memoir of Banneker 
was somewhat marred by a too precipitous and zealous attempt to preach the doctrine of colo- 
nization. 



THE NEGRO LXTEfJ.ECT. 399 

was made without a disposition to allow him an opportunity to 
suhmit himself to a proper test. It was equivalent to putting out 
a man's eyes, and then asserting boldly that he cannot sec ; of 
manacling his ankles, and charging him with the inability to run. 
15ut notwithstanding all the prohibitions against instructing the 
Negro, and his far remove from intellectual stimulants, the sub- 
ject to whom attention is now called had within liis own untutored 
intellect the elements of a great mathematician. 

Thomas Fuller, familiarly known as the Virginia Calculator, 
was a native of Africa. At the age of fourteen he was stolen, and 
sold into slavery in Virginia, where he found himself the pr(']oertv 
of a planter residing about four miles from Alexandria. He did 
not understand the art of reading or writing, but by a marvellous 
faculty was able to perform the most difficult calculations. Dr. 
Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, Penn., in a letter addressed to a 
gentleman residing in Manchester, Eng., says that hearing of the 
phenomenal mathematical powers of " Negro Tom," he, in com- 
pany with other gentlemen passing through Virginia, sent for 
him. One of the gentlemen asked him how many seconds a man 
of seventy years, some odd months, weeks, and days, had lived. 
He gave the exact number in a minute a,nd a half. The gentle- 
man took a pen, and after some figuring told Tom he must 
be mistaken, as the number was too great. "'Top, massa ! " 
exclaimed Tom, "you hab left out de leap-years!" And sure 
enough, on including the leap-years in the calculation, the number 
given by Tom was correct. 

'•He wns visited by William Hartshorn and Saninel Coatcs,'' savs Mr. 
Needles, "of this city (Philadelphia), and gave correct answers to all their 
questions : such as, How many seconds there are in a year and a half.' In two 
minutes he answered 47,304,000. How many seconds in seventy years, seven- 
teen days, twelve hours? In one minute and a half, 2.110,500,800." 

That he was a prodigy, no one will question.- Mc was the 
wonder of the age. The following appeared in several news- 
papers at the time of his death : — 

" DiEO — Negro Tom, the famous African calculator, aged So years. He 
was the property of Mrs. Elizabeth Co.\, of Alexandria. Tom was a very 
black man. He was brought to this country at the age of fourteen, and was 
sold as a slave with many of his unfortunate countrymen. This inan was a 



" Needles's Hist. Memoir of the Penn. Si ; the .\bolition of Slaver}', p. j2. 

- J. P. Brissot de Warville's Travels in the 1. . >.. vol. i. p, 243. 



400 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

prodigy. Though he could neither read nor write, he had perfectly acquired 
tlie use of enumeration. He could give the number of montlis, days, weeks, 
hours, minutes, and seconds, for any period of time tliat a person chose to 
mention, allowing in his calculations for all the leap years that happened in the 
time. He would give the number of poles, yards, feet, inches, and barley-corns 
in a given distance — say, the diameter of the earth's orbit — and in every 
calculation he would produce the true answer in less time than ninety-nine out 
of a hundred men would take with their pens. And what was, perhaps, more 
extraordinary, though interrupted in the progress of his calculations, and 
engaged in discourse upon any other subject, his operations were not thereby 
in the least deranged ; he would go on where he left off, and could give any and 
all of the stages through which the calculation had passed. 

'■Thus died Negro Tom, this untaught arithmetician, this untutored 
scholar. Had his opportunities of improvement been equal to those of thou- 
sands of his fellow-men, neither the Royal Society of London, the Academy of 
Science at Paris, nor even a Newton himself need have been ashamed to 
acknowledge him a brother in science." ' 



DERH.\M THE PHYSICIAN. 

Through all time the science of medicine has been regarded 
as ranking among the most intricate and delicate pursuits man 
could follow. Our Saviour was called " the Great Physician," and 
St. Luke "the beloved p,hysician." No profession brings a man 
so near to humanity, and no other class of men have a higher 
social standing than those who are consecrated to the "art of 
healing." Such a position demands of a man not only profound 
research in the field of medicine, but the rarest intellectual and 
social gifts and accomplishments. For a Negro to gain such a 
position in the nineteenth century would require merit of unusual 
order. But in the eighteenth century, when slavery had cast its 
long, dark shadows over the entire life of the nation, for a Negro, 
born and reared a slave, to obtain fame in medicine second to 
none on the continent, was an achievement that justly challenged 
the admiration of the civilized world. 

Dr. James Derham was born a slave in Philadelphia in 1763. 
His master was a physician. James was taught to read and write, 
and early rendered valuable assistance to his master in compound- 
ing medicines. Endowed with more than average intelligence, he 
took a great liking to the science of medicine, and absorbed all the 
information that came within his obsei'vation. On the death of his 
master he was sold to the surgeon of the Si.xteenth British Regi- 

* Columbian Ccntinal of Boston, Dec. 29, 1790. 



THE NEGRO INTELLECT. A.O\ 

mcnt, at that time stationed in Philadclpliia. y\t tlic close of the 
war he was sold to Dr. Robert Dove of New Orleans, a humane 
and intelligent man, who employed him as his assistant in a large 
business. He grew in a knowledge of his profession every day, 
was prompt and faithful in the discharge of the trusts reposed in 
him, and thereby gained the confidence of his master. Dr. Dove 
was so much pleased with him, that he offered him his freedom 
upon very easy terms, requiring only two or three years' service. 
At the end of the time designated, Dr. Derham entered into 
the practice of medicine upon his own account. lie acquired the 
English, French, and Spanish languages so as to speak them 
fluently, and built up a practice in a short time worth three thou- 
sand dollars a year." He married, and attached himself to the 
Episcopal Church, in 1788, and at twenty-si.v: years of age was 
regarded as one of the most eminent physicians in New 
Orleans. 

Dr. Rush of Philadelphia, in " The American Museum " for 
January, 1789, gave an interesting account of this distinguished 
" Negro physician." Says Dr. Rush, — 

" I have conversed with him upon most of the acute and epidemic diseases 
of the country where he lives. I expected to liave suggested some new medi- 
cines to him, but he suggested many more to me. He is very modest and 
engaging in his manners. He speaks French fluently, and has some knowl- 
edge of the Spanish." - 

Phillis Wheatley has been mentioned already. So, in the midst 
of darkness and oppression, the Negro race in America, without 
the use of the Christian church, schoolhou.se, or printing-press, 
produced 7i poetess, an astronomer, a viatltematieian, and ■^ pliysicmn, 
who, had they been white, woidd have received monuments and 
grateful memorials at the hands of their countrymen. But even 
their color cannot rob them of the immortality their genius 
earned. 



' Brissot de Warville's New Travels in the U. S., cd. 1794, vol. i. p. 242. 

' For an account of Fuller and Dcrliam, see De la Littcrature des Ne;re.s ou Rechcrclies 
s»r Icurs Facult6s intellectuelles, Icurs Qualit^s morales et leur Litterature; suivics de Notices sur 
la Vie et les Ouvrases des Negres qui sc sont distinguds dans les Sciences, les Lettres et les Arts. 
Par H. Grfgoire, ancien Evcqiie de Blois, mcmbre du Senat cimservateur, de I'lnstitut national, 
de la Sociit^ royale des Sciences de Gbttingue, etc. Paris : MDCCCVIII. 



4C2 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

SLAVERY DURING THE REVOLUTION. 

1775-1783- 

Progress of the Slave-Trade. — A Great War for the Emancipation of the Colonies from 
Political Bondage. — Condition of the Southern States during the War. — The Virginia 
Declaration of Rights. — Immediate Legislation against Slavery demanded. — Advertise- 
ment FROM "The Independent Chronicle. " — Petition of Massachusetts Slaves. — An 
Act preventing the Practice of holding Peusons in Slavery. — Advertisements from 
"The Continental Journal. " — A Law passed in Virginia limiting the Rights of Slaves. 
— Law emancipating all Slaves who served in the Army. — New York promises her 
Negro Soldiers Freedom. — A Conscientious Minority in Favor of the Abolition of the 
Slave-Trade. — Slavery flourishes during the Entire Revolutionary Period. 

THE thunder of the guns of the Revolution did not drown 
the voice of the auctioneer. The slave-trade went on. A 
great war for the emancipation of the colonies from the 
political bondage into which the British Parliament fain would 
precipitate them did not depreciate the market value of human 
flesh. Those whose hearts were not enlisted in the war skulked 
in the rear, and gloated over the blood-stained shekels they wrung 
from the domestic slave-trade. While the precarious condition of 
the Southern States during the war made legislation in support 
of the institution of slavery impolitic, there were, nevertheless, 
many severe laws in force during this entire period. In the New 
England and Middle States there was heard an occasional voice 
for the oppressed ; but it was generally strangled at the earliest 
moment of its being by that hell-born child, avarice. On the 21st 
of September, 1776, William Gordon of Roxbury, Mass., wrote, — 

" The \'irginians begin their Declaration of Rights with saying, ' that all 
men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural 
rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive themselves or their pos- 
terity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty.^ The Congress 
declare that thev 'hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, 
tiuit aiming these are life, liberlv and pursuit of happiness.' The Continent 
lias rung with affirmations of the like import. If these. Gentlemen, are our 



SLAVERY DURL\G THE REVOLUTION. 403 

genitine sentiments, and we are not provoking tlie Deity, by acting hypocriti- 
cally to serve a turn, let us apply earnestly and heartily to the extirpation of 
slavery from among ourselves. Let the State allow of nothing beyond servi- 
tude for a stipulated number of years, and that only for seven or eight, when 
l)ersons are of age, or till they are of age: and let the descendants of the 
Africans born among us, be viewed as free-born ; and be wholly at their own 
disposal wlien one-and-lwcnty, the latter part of which age will compensate for 
the expense of infancy, education, and so on." 



No one gave heed. Two months later, Nov. 14, there appeared 
in^'^'Thc Independent Chronicle" of Boston a plan for gradual 
emancipation ; and on the 2Sth of the same month, in the same 
paper there appeared a comnumication demanding specific and 
immediate legislation against slavery. But all seemed vain : 
there were few moral giants among the friends of "liberty for 
all ; " and the comparative silence of the press and pulpit gave the 
advocates of human slavery an easy victory. 

Boston, the home of Warren, and the city that witnessed the 
first holy offering to liberty, busied herself through all the peril- 
ous }'ears of the war in buying and selling human beings. The 
following are but a few of the many advertisements that appeared 
in the papers of the city of Boston dtn-ing the war : ' — 

From "The Independent Chronicle," Oct. 3, 1776: — 



Cbr 



' To be .SOLD A stout, hearty, likely Negko Girl, tit for cither Town or 
untry. Inquire of .Mr. Andrew Gillespie, Dorcliester, Octo. I., i 77O." 



From the same, Oct. 10: — 

"A hearty Negro M.'VN, with a small sum of Money to be given away." 

From the same, Nov. 28 : — 

"To Skll — A Hearty likely Ni!GRO Wenxh about 12 or 13 Years of 
Age, has had the Small Pox, can wash, iron, card, and spin, etc., for no other 
Fault but for want of Employ."' 

From the same, Feb. 27, 1777: — 

"WANTED a Negro Girl between 12 and 20 Years of Age, f' r which 
a good Price will be given, if she can be recommended." 

From "The Continental Journal," April 3, 1777- — 

" To be SOLD, a likely Negro Man. twenty-two years old, has had the 
small-pox, can do any sort of business ; sold for want of employment." 

' See Slavery in Mass., p. 178. 



404 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" To be SOLD, a large, commodious Dwelling House, Barn, and Out- 
houses, with any quantity of land from i to 50 acres, as the Purchaser shall 
choose within 5 miles of Boston. Also a smart well-tempered Negro Boy 
of 14 years old, not to go out of this State and sold for \i years only, if he con- 
tinues to behave well." 

From "The Independent Chronicle," May 8, 1777: — 

" To l>e SOLD, for want of employ, a likely strong Negro Girl, about iS 
years old, understands all sorts of household business, and can be well recom- 
y mended." 

The strange and trying vicissitudes through which the colonies 
had passed exposed their hypocrisy, revealed the weakness of 
their government, and forced them to another attempt at the extir- 
pation of slavei'y. The valorous conduct of the Negro soldiers in 
the army had greatly encouraged their friends and emboldened 
their brethren, who still suffered from the curse of slavery. The 
latter were not silent when an ojjportunity presented to claim the 
rights they felt their due. On the iSth of March, 1777, the fol- 
lowing petition was addressed, by the slaves in Boston, to the 
Legislature : — 

"PETITION OF M.-\SSACHUSETTS SL.WES. 

"The petition of a great number of negroes, who are detained in a state of 
slavery in the very bowels of a free and Christian country, humbly show- 
ing,— 

"That your petitioners apprehend that they have, in common with all other 
men, a natural and inalienable right to that freedom, which the great Parent of 
the universe hath bestowed equally on all mankind, and which they have never 
forfeited by any compact or agreement whatever. But they were unjustly 
dragged by the cruel hand of power from their dearest friends, and some of 
them even torn from the embraces of their tender parents, — from a populous, 
pleasant and plentiful country, and in violation of the laws of nature and of 
nations, and in defiance of all the tender feelings of humanity, brought hither 
to be sold like beasts of burthen, and, like them, condemned to slavery for life 
— among a people possessing the mild religion of Jesus — a people not insen- 
sible of the sweets of national freedom, nor without a spirit to resent the unjust 
endeavors of others to reduce them to a state of bondage and subjection. 

"Your fionors need not to be informed that a life of slavery like that of 
your petitioners, deprived of every social privilege, of every thing requisite to 
render life even tolerable, is far worse than non-existence. 

"In imitation of the laudable e.xample of the good people of these States, 
your petitioners have long and patiently waited the event of petition after 
petition, by them presented to the legislative body of this State, and cannot but 
with grief reflect that their success has been but too similar. 



SLAVERY DURING THE REVOLUTION. 405 

"They cannot but express their astonishment that it has never been con- 
sidered, that every principle from which America lias acted, in tlic course of her 
imhappy difficulties with Great Britain, bears stronger than a thousand argu- 
ments in favor of your humble petitioners. They therefore humbly beseech 
Your Honors to give their petition its due weight and consideration, and cause 
an act of the legislature to be passed, whereby they may be restored to the 
enjoyment of that freedom, which is the natural right of all men, and their 
children (who were born in this land of liberty) may not be held as slaves after 
they arrive at the age of twenty-one years. So may the inhabitants of this 
State (no longer chargeable with the inconsistency of acting themselves the 
part which they condemn and oppose in others) be prospered in their glorious 
struggles for liberty, and have those blessings secured to tlicm by Heaven, of 
which benevolent minds cannot wish to deprive their fcllow-mcn. 
"And your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever |)ray : — 

Lancasti:k Hii.i,, 
Peter Bess, 
Brister Slenfen, 
Prince Hall, 

Jack Piertont, [his x mark.] 
Nero Flnelo, [his x mark.] 
Newport Su.mner, [his x mark.]" 

The following entry, bearing the same date, was made : — 

"A petition of Lancaster Hill, and a number of other Negroes, praying the 
Court to take into consideration their state of bondage, and pass an act whereby 
they may be restored to the enjoyment of that freedom which is the natural 
right of all men. Read and committed to Judge Sargent, Mr. Dalton, Mr. 
Appleton, Col. Brooks, and Mr. Story." 

There is no record of the action of the committee, if any were 
ever had ; but at the afternoon session of the Legislature, Monday, 
June g, 1777, a bill was introduced to prevent "the Practice of 
holding persons in Slavery." It was "read a first time, and 
ordered to be read again on Friday ne.xt, at 10 o'clock a.m." 
Accordingly, on the 13th of June, the bill was "read a second 
time, and after Debate thereon, it was moved and seconded. That 
the same lie upon the Table, and that Apiilication be made to 
Congress on the subject thereof; and the Question being put, it 
passed in the affirmative, and Mr. Speaker, Mr. Wendell, and Col. 
Ornc, were appointed a Committee to prepare a letter to Congress 
accordingly, and report." The last action, as far as indicated by 
the journal, was had on Saturday, Jiuie 14. when "the Com- 
mittee appointed to prepare a Letter to Congress, on the subject 
of the Bill for preventing the Practice of holding Persons in 



4o6 n I STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Slavery, reported." It was "Read and ordered to lie." ' And 
so it did "lie," for tliat was the end of the matter. 

Judge Sargent, who was chairman of the committee appointed 
on the 1 8th of March, 1777, was doubtless the author of the fol- 
lowing bill : — 

"State of Massachusetts Bav. In the Year of our Lord, 1777. 

"An Act for preventing the practice of liolding persons in Slavery. 

"Whereas, tlie practice of holding Africans and the children born of 
them, or any other persons, in Slavery, is unjustifiable in a civil government, 
at a time when they are asserting their natural freedom ; wherefore, for pre- 
venting such a practice for the future, and establishing to every person residing 
within the State the invaluable blessing of liberty. 

"i)6' /■/ .fw^rtoi', by the Council and House of Representatives, in General 
Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, — That all persons, whether 
black or of other complexion, above 21 years of age, now held in Slavery, shall, 
from and after the day of next, be free from any subjection to any master 
or mistress, who have claimed their servitude by right of purchase, heirship, 
free gift, or otherwise, and they are hereby entitled to all the freedom, rights, 
privileges and immunities that do, or ought of right to belong to any of the 
subjects of this State, any usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. 

•^ And be it Enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that all written deeds, bar- 
gains, sales or conveyances, or contracts without writing, whatsoever, for con- 
veying or transferring any property in any person, or to the service and labor 
of any person whatsoever, of more than twenty-one years of age, to a third 
person, except by order of some court of record for some crime, that has been, 
or hereafter shall be made, or by their own voluntary contract for a term not 
exceeding seven years, shall be and hereby are declared null and void. 

"And WHEREAS, divers persons now have in their service negroes, mulat- 
toes or others who have been deemed their slaves or property, and who are now 
incapable of earning their living by reason of age or infirmities, and may be 
desirous of continuing in the service of their masters or mistresses, — be it 
therefore Enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that whatever negro or mulatto, 
who shall be desirous of continuing in the service of his master or mistress, 
and shall voluntarily declare the same before two justices of the County in 
which said master or mistress resides, shall have a right to continue in the 
service, and to a maintenance from their master or mistress, and if they are 
incapable of earning- their living, shall be supported by the said master or 
mistress, or their heirs, during the lives of said servants, any thing in this act 
to the contrary notwithstanding. 

"/"/-tPT'/f/tv/, nevertheless, that nothing in this act shall be understood to 
prevent any master of a vessel or other person from bringing into this State any 
persons, not Africans, from any other part of the world, except the United States 
of America, and selling their service for a term of time not exceeding five years, 
if twenty-one years of age, or, if under twenty-one, not exceeding the time 

^ House Journal, pp. 19, 25. 



SLAVERY DURIXG THE REVOLUTION. 407 

wl-.en he or she so brought into the State shall be twenty-six years o£ age, to 
pay for and in consideration of the transportation and other charges said master 
of vessel or other person may have been at, agreeable to contracts made with 
the persons so transported, or their parents or guardians in their behalf, before 
they are brought from their own country."' ' 

On the back of the bill the following indorsement was written 
by some officer of the Legislature: "Ordered to lie till the second 
Wednesday of the next Session of the General Court." This 
might have ended the struggle for the extinction of slavery in 
Massachusetts, had not the people at this time made an earnest 
demand for a State constitution. As the character of the consti- 
tution was discussed, the question of slavery divided public senti- 
ment. If it were left out of the constitution, then the claims of 
the master would forever lack the force of law; if it were inserted 
as part of the constitution, it would evidence the insincerity of the 
people in their talk about the equality of the rights of man, etc. 
The Legislature — Convention of 1777-7'i — prepared, debated, 
and finally approved and submitted to the people, a draught of a 
constitution for the State, on the 28th of February, 177S. The 
framers of the constitution seemed to lack the courage necessary 
to declare in favor of the freedom of the faithful blacks who had 
rendered such efficient aid to the cause of the colonists. The 
prevailing sentiment of the people demanded an article in the 
constitution denying Negroes the right of citizens. It may be 
fortunate for the fame of the Commonwealth that the record of 
the debates on the article denying Negroes the right of suffrage 
has not beeii preserved. The article is here given : — 

" V. Every male inhabitant of any town in this .State, being fret:, and twenty- 
one years of age, excepting Negroes, Indians and Mulaltoes, shall be intitled 
to vote for a Representative or Representatives, as the case may be," etc. 

By this article three classes of iaihabitants were excluded from 
the rights, blessings, and duties of citizenship ; and the institution 
of slavery was recognized as existing by sanction of law. I^ut 
the constitution was rejected by the people, by an overwhelming 
majority ; not, however, on account of the fifth article, but because 
the instrument was obnoxious to them on general principles. 

The defeat of the constitution did not temper public senti- 
ment on the question of Negro slavery, for the very next year the 



■ Mass. .Archives: KcvoUitionavy Resolves, vol. vii. p. 133. 



408 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

domestic trade seemed to receive a fresh impetus. The following 
advertisements furnish abundant proof of the undiminished vit^or 
of the enterprise. 

From "The Continental Journal," Nov. 25, 1779: — 

" To be SOLD A likely Negro Girl, 16 years of Age, for no fault, but 
Want of employ." j 

From the same, Dec. 16, 1779: — 



\ " To be SOLD, .4 Strong likely Negro Girl," etc. 
From "The Independent Chronicle," March 9, 1780: — 

" To be SOLD, for want of employment, an exceeding likely Negro Girl, 
aged si.xteen." 

From the same, March 30 and April 6, 1780: — 

" To be SOLD, very Cheap, for no other Reason than for want of Employ, 
an exceeding Active Negro Boy, aged fifteen. Also, a likely Negro Girl, 
aged seventeen." 

From "The Continental Journal," Aug. 17, 1780: — 

'• To be SOLD, a likely Negro Boy." 

From the same, Aug. 24 and Sept. 7 : — 

" To be SOLD or LETT, for a term of years, a strong, hearty, likely Negro 
Girl." \ 

From the same, Oct. 19 and 26, and Nov. 2 : — 

" To he SOLD, a likely Negro Boy, about eighteen years of Age, fit for 
to serve a Gentleman, to tend horses or to work in the Country." 

From the same, Oct. 26, 17S0: — 

" To be SOLD, a likely Negro Boy, about 13 years old, well calculated to 
wait on a Gentleman. Inquire of the Printer." 

" To be SOLD, a likely young Cow and Calf. Inquire of the Printer." 

"Independent Chronicle," Dec. 14, 21, 28, 1780: — 

"A Negro Child, soon expee/ed, of a good breed, may be owned by any 
Person inclining to take it, and iVloney with it." 

"Continental Journal," Dec. 21, 1780, and Jan. 4, 1781 : — 

" To be SOLD, a hearty, strong Negro We.nch, about 29 years of age, 
fit for town or countr)-." 



SLAl'ERY DURING TIIF. RI-.IOI.UTION. 409 

From "The Continental Journal," March i, 1781 : — 

" To be SOLD, an extraordinary likely Negro Wenxii, 17 years old, she 
can be warranted to be strong, healthy and good-natured, has no notion of 
Freedom, has been always used to a Fanner's Kitchen and dairy, and is not 
known to have any failing, but being witli Child, which is the only cause of her 
lieing sold." \ 

It is evident, from the wording of the last advertisement 
quoted, that the Negroes were sniffing the air of freedom that 
occasionally blew from the victorious battle-fields, where many of 
their race had distinguished themselves by the most intrepid 
\alor. They began to get "notions of freedom" and this depre- 
ciated their market value. 

Dr. William Gordon, the steadfast, earnest, and intelligent 
friend of the Negro, was depo.sed as chaplain of both branches of 
the Legislature on account of his vehement protest against the 
adoption of the fifth article of the constitution by that body. But 
his zeal was not thereby abated. He continued to address able 
articles to the public, and wrought a good work upon the public 
conscience. 

In Virginia, notwithstanding Negroes were among the State's 
most gallant defenders, a law was passed in October, 1776, "de- 
claring tenants of lands or slaves in taille to hold the same in fee 
simple." Under the circumstances, after the war had begun, and 
after the declaration by the State of national independence, it 
was a most remarkable law. 

"That any person who now hath, or hereafter may have, any estate in fee 
taille, general or special, in any lands or slaves in possession, or in the use or 
trust of any lands or slaves in possession, or who now is or hereafter may be 
entitled to any such estate taille in reversion or remainder, after the determi- 
nation of any estate for life or lives, or of any lesser estate, whether such estate 
taille hath been or shall be created by deeds, will, act of assembly, or by any 
other ways or means, shall from henceforth, or from tlie commencement of 
such estate taille, stand ipso faclo seized, possessed, or entitled of, in, or to 
such lands or slaves, or use in lands or slaves, so held or to be held as afore- 
said, in possession, reversion, or remainder, in full and absolute fee simple, in 
like manner as if such deed, will, act of assembU', or other instrument, had 
conveyed the same to him in fee simple; any words, limitations, or conditions, 
in the said deed, will, act of assembly, or other instrument, to the contrary not- 
withstanding." ■ 

' Hcning, vol. ix. p. 236. 



4IO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

But the valor of the Negro soldier had great influence upon 
the public mind, and inspired the people in many of the States to 
demand public recognition of deserving Negroes. It has been 
noted already, that in South Carolina, if a Negro, having been 
captured by the enemy, made good his escape back into the State, 
he was emancipated ; and, if wounded in the line of duty, was 
rewarded with his freedom. Rhode Island purchased her Negroes 
for the army, and presented them with fifty dollars bounty and a 
certificate of freedom at the close of the war. Even Virginia, the 
mother of slavery, remembered, at the close of the war, the brave 
Negroes who had fought in her regiments. In October, i/83, the 
following Act was passed emancipating all slaves who had served 
in the army with the permission of their masters. It is to be 
regretted, however, that all slaves who had served in the army 
were not rewarded with their freedom. 



"I. WHEREA.S it hath been represented to the present general assem- 
bly, that during the course of the war, many persons in this state had caused 
their slaves to enlist in certain regiments or corps raised within the same, hav- 
ing tendered such slaves to the officers appointed to recruit forces within the 
state, as substitutes for free persons, whose lot or duty it was to serve in such 
regiments or corps, at the same time representing to such recruiting officers 
that the slaves so enlisted by their direction and concurrence were freemen; 
and it appearing further to this assembly, that on the expiration of the term of 
enlistment of such slaves that the former owners have attempted again to force 
them to return to a state of servitude, contrary to the principles of justice, and 
to their own solemn promise. 

"II. And whereas it appears just and reasonable that all persons enlisted 
as aforesaid, who have faithfully served agreeable to the terms of their enlist- 
ment, and have thereby of course contributed towards the establishment of 
American liberty and independence, should enjoy the blessings of freedom as 
a reward for their toils and labours; Be it therefore enacted. That each and 
every slave who by the appointment and direction of his owner, hath enlisted 
in any regiment or corps raised within this state, either on continental or state 
establishment, and hath been received as a substitute for any free person whose 
duty or lot it was to serve in such regiment or corps, and hath served faithfully 
during the term of such enlistment, or hath been discharged from such service 
by some officer duly authorized to grant such discharge, shall from and after 
the passing of this act. be fully and compleatly emancipated, and shall be held 
and deemed free in as full and ample a manner as if each and every of them 
were specially named in this act; and the attorney-general for the common- 
wealth, is hereby required to commence an action, in forma pauperis, in behalf 
of any of the persons above described who shall after the passing of this act 
be detained in servitude by any person whatsoever ; and if upon such prosecu- 
tion It shall appear that the pauper is entitled to his freedom in consequence 



SLAVERY DURING THE RF.VOLUriON. 41 I 

of this act, a jury shall be empannclled to assess the damages for his deten- 
tion." ' 

New York enlisted her Negro soldiers under a statutory 
promise of freedom. They were required to serve three years, or 
until regularly discharged. Several other .Stales emanci])atcd a 
few slaves who had served faithfully in the army ; and the recital 
of the noble deeds of, black soldiers was listened to with great 
interest, had an excellent effect upon many white men after 
the war, and went far towards mollifying public sentiment on the 
slavery question. 

If Massachusetts were ever moved In' the valor of her black 
soldiers to take any action recognizing their services, the record 
has not been found up to the present time. After commemorat- 
ing the 5th of March for a long time, as a day on which to inflame 
the iHiblic zeal for the cause of freedom, her Legislature refused to 
mark the grave of the first martyr of the Revolution, Crispus 
Attucks ! 

Slavery flourished during the entire Revolutionary period. It 
enjoyed the silent acquiescence of the pulpit, the support of the 
public journals, the sanction of the courts, and the indorsement 
of the military establishment. In a free land (.'), under the flag 
of the government Negroes fought, bled, .sacrificed, and died to 
establish, slavery held undisputed sway. The colonial govern- 
ment, built by the cruel and voracious avarice of Britain, crumbled 
under the master-stroke of men who desired political and religious 
liberty more than jewelled crowns; but the slave institution stood 
unharmed by the shock of embattled arms. The colonists asked 
freedom for themselves and children, but forged chains for 
Negroes and their children. And while a few individual Negro 
slaves were made a present of themselves at the close of the war, 
on account of their gallant service, hundreds of thousands of 
their brethren were still retained in bondage. 

' Hening, vol. .\i. pp. 338, 309. 



412 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXXL 

SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 
1775-1800. 

British Colonies in North America declare their Independence. — A New Government 
ESTABLISHED. — Slavery THE Bane of American Civilization. — The Tory Party accept 
THE Doctrine of Property in Man. — The Doctrine of the Locke Constitl'Tion m the 
South. — The Whig Party the Dominant Political Organization in the Northern 
States. — Slavery recognized under the New Government. — Anti-Slavery Agitation in 
the States. — Attempted Legislation against Slavery. — Articles of Confederation.^ 
Their Adoption in 1778. — Discussion concerning the Disposal of the Western Territory. 

— Mr. Jefferson's Recommendation. — Amendment by Mr. Spaight. — Congress in New 
York in 1787. — Discussion respecting the Government of the Western Territory. — Con- 
vention at Philadelphia to frame the Federal Constitution. — Proceedings of the Con- 
vention. — The Southern States still advocate Slavery. — Speeches on the Slavery 
Question by Leading Statesmen. — Constitution adopted by the Convention in 1787. — 
First Session of Congress under the Federal Constitution held in New York in 1789. 
— -THe^Introduction of a Tariff-Bill. —An Attempt to amend it by inserting a Clause 
levying a Tax on Slaves brought by Water. — Extinction of^Slaverv in Massachusetts. 
A A Change in the Public Opinion of the Middle and Eastern States ottthe Subject 
OP Slavery. — Dr, Benjamin Franklin's Address to the Public fob promoting the Aboli- 

^;ri0N of Slavery. — Memorial to the United-States Congress. — Congress in 1790. — 

--"^ Bitter Discussion on the Restriction of the Slave-Trade. — Slave Population.— 

Vermont and Kentucky admitted into the Union. — A Law providing for the Return 

OF Fugitives from "Labor and Service." — Convention of Friends held in Philadelphia. 

— An Act against the Foreign Slave-Trade. — Mississippi Territory. — Constitution of 
Georgia revised. — New York passes a Bill for the Gradual Extinction of Slavery. — 
Constitution of Kentucky revised. — Slavery as an Institution firmly established. 

THE charge that the mother-country forced slavery upon the 
British colonies in North America held good until the 
colonics threw off the yoke, declared their independence, 
and built a new government, on the 4th of July, 1776. After the 
promulgation of the gospel of human liberty, the United States 
of America could no longer point to England as the "first man 
Adam '* of the accursed sin of slavery. Henceforth the American 
government, under the new dispensation of peace and the equality 
of all men, was responsible for the continuance of slavery, both 
as a political and legal problem. 

Slavery did not escheat to the English government upon the 
expiration of its authority in North America. It became the 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AAD LEGAL PROBLEM. 413 

dreadful inheritance of the new <:jovcrnment, and the eyesore of 
American civilization. Instead of expelling it from the political 
institutions of the country, it gradually became a factor of great 
power. Insteail of ruling it out of the courts, it was clothed with 
the ample garments of judicial respectability. 

The first article of the immortal Declaration of Independence 
was a mighty shield of beautifully wrought truths, that the authors 
intended should protect every human being on the .American 
Continent. 

" IVe Itohi these truths to be self-evident : — that all men are created equal, 
that they are endoxved by their Creator ivith certain inalienable rights; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessi That to secure 
these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their fust powers 
from the consent of the governed; that -whenever any form of government 
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new go''ernmcnt, laying its foundation on such 
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
likely to effect their safety and happiness." 

It was to be expected, that, after such a declaration of prin- 
ciples, the United States would have abolished slaverv and the 
slave-trade forever. While the magic words of the Declaration of 
Independence were not the empty "palaver" of a few ambitious 
leaders, yet the practices of the local and the national govern- 
ment belied the grand sentiments of that instrument. From the 
earliest moment of the birth of the United-States government, 
slavery began to recei\'e political support and encouragement. 
Though it was the cruel and depraved offspring of the British 
government, it nevertheless was adopted hy ihc fnc government 
of America. Political policy seemed to dictate the methods of a 
political recognition of the institution. .And the fact that the 
slave-trade was prohibited by Congress at an early day, and by 
many of the colonies also, did not affect the institution in a local 
sense. 

The Tory party accepted the doctrine of property in man, 
without hesitation or reservation. Their political fealty to the 
Crown, their party exclusiveness, and their earnest desire to 
co-operate with the Royal African Company in the establishment 
of the slave institution in America, made them, as ]')er necessit}", 
the political guardians of slavery. The institution once planted, 
property in man having been acquired, it was found to be a diffi- 
cult task to uproot it. Moreover, the loss of the colonies to the 



414 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

British Crown did not imply death to the Tory party. It doubt- 
less suffered organically ; but its individual members did not 
forfeit their political convictions, nor suffer their interest in the 
slave-trade to abate. The new States were ambitious to acquire 
political power. The white population of the South was small 
when compared with that of the North ; but the slave population, 
added to the former, swelled it to alarming proportions. 

The local governments of the South had been organized upon 
the fundamental principles of the Locke Constitution. The 
government was hxlged with the few, and their rights were built 
upon landed estates and political titles and favors. Slaves in the 
Carolinas and .Virginias answered to the vassals and villeins of 
England. This aristocratic element in Tory politics was in 
harmony, even in a republic, with the later wish of the South to 
build a great political "government upon Slavery as its chief 
corner-stone." Added to this was the desire to abrogate the law 
of indenture of white servants, and thus to the odium of slavery 
to loan the powerful influence of caste, — ranging the Caucasian 
against the Ethiopian, the intelligent against the ignorant, the 
strong against the weak. 

New England had better ideas of popular government for and 
of the people, but her practical position on slavery was no better 
than any State in the South. The Whig party was the dominant 
political organization throughout the Northern States ; but the 
universality of slavery made dealers in human flesh members of 
all parties. 

The men who wrote the Declaration of Independence depre- 
cated slavery, as they were pronounced Whigs ; but nevertheless 
many of them owned slaves. They wished the evil exterminated, 
but confessed themselves ignorant of a plan by which to carry 
their desire into effect. The good desires of many of the people, 
born out of the early days of the struggle for independent exist- 
ence, perished in their very infancy ; and, as has been shown, all 
the States, and the Congress of the United States, recognized 
slavery as e.xisting under the new political government. 

But public sentiment changes in a country where the intellect 
is unfettered. First, on the eve of the Revolutionary War, Con- 
gress and nearly all the States pronounced against slavery ; a few 
years later tfiey all recognized the sacredness of slave property ; 
and still later all sections of the United States seemed to have 
been agitated by anti-slavery sentiments. In 17S0 the Legislature 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AXD LI-.GAL I'KOBLF.M. 415 

of Pennsylvania prohibited the fuilher introduction of slaves, and 
gave freedom to the children of all slaves born in the State. 
Delaware resolved "that no person hereafter imported from 
Africa ought to be held in slavery under any pretense wluitever." 
In 1784 Connecticut and Rhode Island modified their slave-code, 
and forbade further importations of slaves. In 1778 Virginia 
passed a law prohibiting the importation of slaves, and in 1782 
repealed the law that confined the power of emancipating to the 
Legislature, only on account of meritorious conduct. Private 
emancipations became very numerous, and the sentiment in its 
favor pronounced. But the restriction was re-enacted in about 
ten years. The eloquence of Patrick Henry and the Jogic of 
Thomas Jefferson went far to enlighten public sentiment ; but the 
political influence of the institution grew so rapidly that in 1785, 
but two years after the war, Washington wrote LaFayette, "peti- 
tions for the abolition of slavery, presented to the Virginia Legis- 
lature, could scarcely obtain a hearing." Maryland, New York, 
and New Jersey prohibited the slave-trade ; but the institution 
held its place among the people until 1830. North Carolina 
attempted to prohibit in 1777, but failed; but in 1786 declared 
the slave-trade " of evil consequences and highly impolitic." South 
Carolina and Georgia refused to act, and the slave-trade continued 
along their shores. 

After the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1778, 
the Continental Congress found itself charged with the responsi- 
bility of deciding the conflicting claims of the various States to 
the x-ast territory stretching westward from the Ohio River. The 
war over, the payment of the public debt thus incurred demanded 
the consideration of the people and of their reprt-sentatives. 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, \'irginia. North Carolina, 
and Georgia laid claim to boundless tracts of lands outside of 
their State boundaries. But New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New 
Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and South Carolina, making no such 
claims, and lacking the resources to pay their share of the war 
debt, suggested that the other States should cede all the territory 
outside of their State lines, to the United States Government, to 
be used towards liquidating the entire debt. The proposition was 
accepted by the States named ; but not, however, without some 
modification. Virginia reserved a large territory beyond the Ohio 
with which to pay the bounties of her soldiers, while Connecticut 
retained a portion of the Reserve since so famous in the history 



4l6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of Ohio. The duty of framing an ordinance for the government 
of the Western territory was referred to a select committee by 
Congress, consisting of Mr. Jefferson of Virginia (chairmart), Mr. 
Chase of Maryland, and Mr. Howell of Rhode Island. The plan 
reported by the committee contemplated the whole region in- 
cluded within our boundaries west of the old thirteen Stales, and 
as far south as our thirty-first degree north latitude. Tlie plan 
proposed the ultimate division of this territory into seventeen 
States ; eight of which were to be located below the parallel of 
the Falls of the Ohio (now Louisville), and nine above it. But 
the most interesting rule reported by Mr. Jefferson was the fol- 
lowing, on the igth of April, 1784: — 

" That after the year iSoo, of the Christian era, there shall be neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states, otherwise tlian in 
punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted to be per- 
sonally guilty." 

Mr. Spaight of North Carolina moved to amend the report 
by striking out the above clause, which was seconded by Mr. 
Reed of South Carolina. The question, upon a demand for the 
yeas and nays, was put : " Shall the words moved to be stricken 
out stand.''" The question was lost, and the words were stricken 
out. The ordinance was further amended, and finally adopted on 
the 23d of April. 

The last Continental Congress was held in the city of New 
York in 17S7. The question of the governtnent of the Western 
territory came up. A committee was appointed on this subject, 
with Nathan Dane of Massachusetts as chairman. On the nth 
of July the committee reported " An Ordinance for the govern 
nient of the Territory of the United States, Northwest of the 
Ohio." It embodied many of the features of Mr. Jefferson's bill, 
concluding with si.x unalterable articles of perpetual compact, the 
last being the following: "There shall be neither slavery nor 
involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in 
punishment of crimes, whereof the parties shall be duly con- 
victed." When upon its passage, a stipulation was added for the 
delivery of fugitives from "labor or service;"' and in this shape 
the entire ordinance passed on the 13th of July, 1787. 

Thus it is clear that under the Confederation slavery existed, 

' St. Clair Papers, vol. i. p. 120. 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 417 

a part of the political govcnimcnt, as a legal fact. There was no 
effort made by Congress to abolish it. Wr. Jefferson simply 
sought to arrest its progress, and confine it to the original thirteen 
States. 

On the 25th of May, 1787, the convention to frame the 
Federal Constitution met at Philadelphia, although the dav 
appointed was the 14th. George Washington was chosen presi- 
dent, a committee chosen to report rules of proceeding, and a 
secretarj' appointed. The sessions were held with closed doors, 
and all the proceedings were secret. It contained the most 
eminent men in the United States, — generals of the army, states- 
men, lawyers, and men of broad scholarship. The question of 
congressional apjiortionment was early before them, and there 
was great diversity of opinion. But, as there was no census, 
therefore there could be no just apportionment until an enumera- 
tion of the people was taken. Until that was accomplished, the 
number of delegates was fi.xed at sixty-fi\-e. Massachusetts was 
the only State in the Union where slavery did not exist. The 
Northern States desired representation according to the free 
inhabitants only ; while all of the Southern States, where the great 
mass of slaves was, wanted representation according to the entire 
population, bond and free. Some of the Northern delegates 
urged their view with great force and eloquence. Mr. Patterson 
of New Jersey said he regarded slaves as mere property. They 
were not represented in the States : why should they be in the 
general government .' They were not allowed to vote : why should 
they be represented.' He regarded it as an encouragement to 
the slave-trade. Mr. Wilson of Penn.sylvania said, "Are they 
admitted as citizens.' then, why not on an equality with citizens.'' 
Are they admitted as property t then, why is not other property 
admitted into the computation .' " It was evident that neither 
extreme view could carry : so the proposition carried to reckon 
three-fifths of the slaves in estimating taxes, and to make taxation 
the basis of representation. New Jersey and Delaware voted 
Nay ; Massachusetts and South Carolina were divided ; and New 
York was not represented, her delegates having failed to arrive. 

It was apparent during the early stages of the debates, that a 
constitution had to be made that would be acceptable to the 
Southern delegates. A clause was inserted relieving the Southern 
States from duties on exports, and upon the importation of slaves ; 
and that no navigation act should be passed except by a two-thirds 



4l8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

vote. By den_ying Congress the authority of giving preference 
to American over foreign shipping, it was designed to secure 
cheap transportation for Southern exports ; but, as the shipping- 
was largely owned in the Eastern States, their delegates were 
zealous in their efforts to prevent any restriction of the power of 
Congress to enact navigation laws. It has been already shown 
that all the States, with the exception of Nortli Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia, had prohibited the importation of slaves. 
The prohibition of duties on the importation of slaves was 
demanded by the delegates from South Carolina and Georgia. 
They assured the Convention that without sucii a provision they 
could never give their assent to the constitution. This declara- 
tion dragooned some Northern delegates into a support of the 
restriction, but provoked some very plain remarks concerning 
slavery. Mr. Pinckney said, that, " If the Southern States were 
let alone, they would probably of themselves stop importations. 
He would himself, as a citizen of South Carolina, vote for it." 

Mr. Sherman remarked that "the abolition of slavery seemed 
to be going on in the United States, and that the good sense of 
the several states would probably by degrees complete it;" and 
Mr. Ellsworth thought that " slavery, in time, will not be a speck 
in our country." Mr. Madison said "he thought it wrong to 
admit in the Constitution the idea of property in men." 

Slavery, notwithstanding the high-sounding words just quoted, 
was recognized in and by three separate clauses of the Constitu- 
tion. The word "slave" was excluded, but the language does 
not admit of any doubt. 

"Art. I. .Sect. 2. . . . Representatives and direct taxes shall he appor- 
tioned among the several States which may be inckided within this Union, 
according to their respective numbers ; which shall be determined by adding to 
the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term 
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, //;ytvy?/M.r (?/"«// o///£'r/dV-.ft)«j-.' . . . 

"Akt. I. Sect. 9. Tlie migration or importation of ^vlA\ persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight; but 
a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each person. . . . 

"Art. IV. Sect. 2. . . . 'Ho person held to service or labor in one State, 
tinder the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law 
or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 



^ The cl.iuse " three-fifths of all other persons " refers to Negro slaves. Tiie Italics are our 
own. The Negro is referred to as ^ /'crsoii all throiigli the Constitution. 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL I'ROBLEM. 419 

delivered up on claim of the party to wlioni such service or labor may be 
due." 

The debate on the above was exciting and interesting, as tlie 
subject of slavery was examined in all its bearings. Finally the 
Constitution was submitted to Gouverncur Morris of Pennsylvania, 
to receive the finishing touches of his facile pen. On the Sth of 
August, 1787, during the debate, he delivered the following 
speech : — 

" He never would concur in upholding domestic slavery. It was a nefarious 
institution. It was the curse of Heaven on the States where it jirevaileil. 
Compare the free regions of the Middle States, where a rich and noble culti- 
vation marks the prosperity and happiness of the people, with the misery and 
jiovcrty which overspread tlie barren wastes of Virginia, Maryland, and the 
other States having slaves. Travel through tiie whole continent, and you 
Dehold the prospect continually varying with the appearance and disappearance 
of slavery. The moment you leave the Eastern States, and enter New Yorii, 
the effects of the institution become visible. Passing through the Jerseys, and 
entering Pennsylvania, every criterion of superior improvement witnesses tlit- 
cliange. Proceed southwardly, and every step you take througli the great 
regions of slaves presents a desert, increasing with the increasing proportion 
of these wretched beings. Upon what principle is it that the slaves shall be 
computed in the representation ? Are they men? Then make them citizens, 
and let them vote. Are they property? Why, then, is no otlicr property 
included? The houses in this city (Philadelphia) are worth more than all the 
wretched slaves who cover the rice-swamps of South Carolina. Tlie admission 
of slaves into the representation, wlien fairly explained, comes to this, — that 
the inhabitant of Georgia and South Carolina, who goes to the coast of Africa, 
and, in defiance of the most sacred laws of humanity, tears away his fellow- 
creatures from their dearest connections, and damns them to the most cruel 
bondage, shall have more votes in a government instituted for the protection 
of the rights of mankind than the citizen of Pennsylvania or New Jersey, who 
views with a laudable horror so nefarious a practice. He would add, that 
domestic slavery is the most prominent feature in the aristocratic countenance 
of the proposed Constitution. The vassalage of the poor has ever been the 
favorite offspring of aristocracy. And what is the proposed compensation to 
the Northern States for a sacrifice of every principle of right, of every impulse 
of humanity? They are to bind themselves to march tlieir militia for the 
defence of the Southern States, for their defence against those very slaves cf 
whom they complain. Thev must supply vessels and seamen in case of foreign 
attack. The Legislature will have indefinite power to tax them by excises and 
duties on imports, both of which will fall heavier on them than on the Southern 
inhabitants; for the bohea tea used by a Northern freeman will pay more lax 
tlian the whole consumption of the miserable slave, which consists of nothing 
more than his pliysical subsistence and the rag that covers his nakedness. On 
the other side, the Southern States are not to be restrained from importing 
fresh supplies of wretched Africans, at once to increase the danger of attack 



420 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and the difficulty of defence : nay, they are to be encouraged to it by an assur- 
ance of iiaving their votes in the National Government increased in propor- 
tion; and are, at the same time, to have their exports and their slaves exempt 
from all contributions for the public service. Let it not be said that direct 
taxation is to be proportioned to representation. It is idle to suppose that 
the General Government can stretch its hand directly into the pockets of the 
people scattered over so vast a country. They can only do it through the 
medium of exports, imports, and excises. For what, then, are all the sacrifices 
to be made? He would sooner submit himself to a tax for paying for all the 
negroes in the United States than saddle posterity with such a Constitution." ' 

Mr. Rufus King of Massachusetts in tlie same debate said, — 

"The admission of slaves was a most grating circumstance to his mind, 
and he believed would be so to a great part of the people of America. He had 
not made a strenuous opposition to it heretofore, because he had hoped that 
this concession would have produced a readiness, which bad not been mani- 
fested, to strengthen the General Government, and to mark a full confidence 
in it. The report under consideration had, by the tenor of it, put an end to all 
those hopes. In two great points, the hands of the Legislature were abso- 
lutely tied. The importation of slaves could not be prohibited. Exports could 
not be taxed. Is this reasonable.' What are the great objects of the general 
system? First, defence against foreign invasion; secondly, against internal 
sedition. .Shall all the States, then, be bound to defend each ? and shall each 
be at libertv to introduce a weakness which will render defence more difficult? 
Shall one part of the United States be bound to defend another part, and that 
other part be at liberty, not only to increase its own danger, but to withhold the 
compensation for the burden ? If slaves are to be imported, shall not the 
exports produced by their labor supply a revenue, the better to enable the Gen- 
eral Government to defend their inasters? There was so much inequality and 
unreasonableness in all this, that the people of the Northern States could 
never be reconciled to it. No candid man could undertake to justify it to them. 
He had hoped that some accommodation would have taken place on this 
subject; that, at least, a time would have been limited for the importation of 
slaves. He never could agree to let them be imported without limitation, and 
then be represented in the National Legislature. Indeed, he could so little 
persuade himself of the rectitude of such a practice, that he was not sure he 
could assent to it under any circumstances. At all events, either slaves should 
not be represented, or exports should be taxable." 

Mr. Roger Slicrman of Connecticut, — 

'• Regarded the slave-trade as iniquitous : but, the point of representation 
having been settled after much difficulty and deliberation, he did not think him- 
self bound to make opposition; especially as the present article, as amended, 
did not preclude any arrangement whatever on that point, in another place of 
the report." - 

' Madison Papers, Elliot, vol. v. pp. 392, 39J. ^ Ibid., vol. v. pp. 31)1, 392. 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 421 

Mr. Luther Martin of Maryland, in the debate, Tuesday, 
Aug. 21, — 

"Proposed to vary Art. 7, Sect. 4, so as to allow a prohibition or ta.x on 
the importation of slaves. In tlie first place, as five slaves are to be counted 
as three free men in the apportionment of representatives, such a clause would 
leave an encouragement to this traffic. In the second place, slaves weakened 
one part of the Union, which the other parts were bound to protect: the privi 
lege of importing them was therefore unreasonable. And, in the tliird place, 
it was inconsistent with the principles pf the Revolution, and dishonorable to 
the American character, to have such a feature in the Constitution. 

"Mr, RuTLEDGE did not see how the importation of slaves could be 
encouraged by this section. He was not apprehensive of insurrections, and 
would readily exempt the other States from the obligation to protect the 
Southern against them. Religion and humanity had nothing to do with this 
question : interest alone is the governing principle with nations. The true 
question at present is, whether the Southern States shall or shall not be parties 
to the Union. If the Northern 'States consult their interest, they will not 
oppose the nicrease of slaves, which will increase the commodities of which 
they will become the carriers. 

" Mr. Ellsworth was for leaving the clause as it stands. Let every 
State import what it pleases. The morality or wisdom of slavery are con- 
siderations belonging to the States themselves. What enriches a part enriches 
the whole, and the States are the best judges of their particular interest. The 
old Confederation had not meddled with this point ; and he did not see any 
greater necessity for bringing it within the policy of the new one. 

'■ Mr. I'lNXKNEY. South Carolina can never receive the plan if it prohib- 
its the slave-trade. In every proposed extension of the powers of Congress, 
that State has expressly and watchfully excepted that of meddling with the 
importation of Negroes. If the Stales be all left at liberty oh this subject, So2ith 
Carolina may perhaps, by degrees, do of herself what is -wished, as Virginia 
and Maryland have already done. 
" Adjourned. 

" Wednesday, Aug. 22. 
" In Convention. — Art. 7, Sect. 4, was resumed. 

"Mr. Sherman was for leaving the clause as it stands. He disapproved 
of the slave-trade; yet, as the States were now possessed of the right to 
import slaves, as the public good did not require it to be taken from them, and 
as it was expedient to have as few objections as possible to the proposed 
scheme of government, he thought it best to leave the matter as we find it. 
... He urged on the Convention the necessity of despatching its business. 

" Col. Mason. This infernal traffic originated in the avarice of British 
merchants. The British Government constantly checked the attempts of Vir- 
ginia to put a stop to it. The present question concerns, not the importing 
States alone, but the whole Union. The evil of having slaves was experienced 
during the late war. Had slaves been treated as they might have been by tlie 
enemy, they would have proved dangerous instruments in their hands. But 
their folly dealt by the slaves as it did by the Tories. He mentioned the dan- 
gerous insurrections of the slaves in Greece and Sicily, and the instructions 



422 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

o-iven by Cromwell to the commissioners sent to Virginia, — to arm the serv- 
ants and slaves, in case other means of obtaining its submission should fail. 
Maryland and Virginia, he said, had already prohibited the importation of 
slaves expressly. North Carolina had done the same in substance. All this 
■would be in vain, if South Carolina and Georgia be at liberty to import. The 
Western people are already calling out for slaves for their new lands ; and will 
fill that country with slaves, if they can be got through South Carolina and 
Georgia. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor 
when performed by slaves. They prevent the emigration of whites, who really 
enrich and strengthen a country. Tliey product: the most pernicious effect on 
manneis. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the 
jndsrment of heaven on a country. As nations cannot be rewarded or punished 
in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and 
effects., Providence punishes national sins by national calamities. He lamented 
that some of our Eastern brethren had, from a lust of gain, embarked in this 
nefarious traffic. As to the States being in possession of the right to import, 
this was the case witli many other rights, now to be properly given up. He 
held it essential, in every point of view, that the General Government should 
have power to prevent the increase of slavery. 

" Mr. Ellsworth, as he had never owned a slave, could not judge of the 
effects of slavery on character. He said, however, that, if it was to be con- 
sidered in a moral light, we ought to go further, and free those already in the 
country. As slaves also multiply so fast in Virginia and Maryland, that it is 
cheaper to raise than import them, whilst in the sickly rice-swamps foreign 
supplies are necessary, if we go no further than is urged, we shall be unjust 
towards South Carolina and Georgia. Let us not intermeddle. As population 
increases, poor laborers will be so plenty as to render slaves useless. Slavery, 
in time, ivill not be a speck in our country. Provision is already made in 
Connecticut for abolishing it; and the abolition has already taken place in 
Massachusetts. As to the danger of insurrections from foreign influence, that 
will become a motive to kind treatment of the slaves. 

"Gen. PiNCKNEY declared it to be his firm opinion, that if himself and all 
his colleagues were to sign the Constitution, and use their personal influence, 
it would be of no avail towards obtaining the assent of their constituents. 
Soutli Carolina and Georgia cannot do without slaves. As to Virginia, she 
will gain by stopping the importations. Her slaves will rise in value, and she 
has more than she wants. It would be unequal to require South Carolina and 
Georgia to confederate on such unequal terms. He said, the royal assent, 
before the Revolution, had never been refused to South Carolina as to Virginia. 
He contended, that 'the importation of slaves would be for the interest of the 
whole Union. The more slaves, the more produce to employ the carrying- 
trade ; the more consumption also; and, the more of this, the more revenue 
for the common treasury. He admitted it to be reasonable, that slaves should 
be diitied like other imports ; but should consider a rejection of the clause as 
an exclusion of Soutli Carolina from the Union. 

"Mr. Baldwin had conceived national objects alone to be before the 
Convention ; not such as, like the present, were of a local nature. Georgia 
was decided on this point. That State has always hitherto supposed a General 
Government to be the pursuit of the Central States, who wished to have a 



Slavery AS a political axd legal problem. 



I o ^ 



vortex for every thing; that her distance would preclude her from equal 
advantage : and that she could not prudently purchase it by yielding national 
powers. From tliis it might be understood in what light she would view an 
attempt to abridge one of her favorite prerogatives. If left to herself she may 
probablv put a slop to the evil. As one ground for this conjecture, lie took 

notice of the sect of , which, he said, was a respectable class of people, 

who carried their ethics beyond the mere equality of men, — extending their 
humanity to the claims of the whole animal creation. 

"Mr. Wilson observed, that, if South Carolina and Georgia were tltem- 
selves disposed to get rid of the importation of slaves in a short time, as had 
been sui^t^ested, they would never refuse to unite because the importation might 
be prohibited. As the section now stands, all articles imported are to be taxed. 
Slaves alone are exempt. This is, in fact, a bounty on that article. 

"Mr. Gekry thought we had nothing to do with the conduct of the States 
as to slaves, but ought to be careful not to give any sanction to it. 

" Mr. Dickinson considered it as inadmissible, on every principle of honor 
and safety, that the importation of slaves .should be authorized to the States by 
the Constitution. The true question was, whether the national luappiness would 
be promoted or impeded by the importation ; and this question ought lo be left 
to the National Government, not to the States particularly interested. If Kng- 
land and France permit slavery, slaves are, at the same time, excluded from 
both tliose kingdoms. Greece and Rome were made unhapi)y by their slaves. 
He could not believe that the Southern States would refuse to confederate on 
the account apprehended ; especially as tlie power was not likely lo be immedi- 
ately exercised by the General Government. 

"Mr. WiLLl.AMSON stated the law of North Carolina on the sul)ject; to 
wit, that it did not directly prohibit the importation of slaves. It imposed a 
duty of ^5 on each slave imported from Africa, j^io on each from elsewhere, 
and ^50 on each from a State licensing manumission. He thought tlie South- 
ern States could not be members of the Union, if the clause should be rejected : 
and it was wrong to force any thing down not absolutely necessary, and which 
any State must disagree to. 

"Mr. King thought the subject should be considered in a political light 
only. If two States will not agree to the Constitution, as stated on one side, 
he could affirm with equal belief, on the other, that great and equal opposition 
would be experienced from the other States. He remarked on the exemption 
of slaves from duty, whilst every other import was subjected to it, as an ine- 
quality tliat could not fail to strike the commercial sagacity of the Northern 
and Middle States. 

" Mr. L.VNGUON was strenuous for giving the power to the General Gov- 
ernment. He could not, with a good conscience, leave it with the States, who 
could then go on with the traffic, without being restrained by the opinions here 
given, that ihev will themselves cease to import slaves. 

" Gen. PiNCKNnv thought himself bound to declare candidly, that he did 
not think South Carolina would stop her importations of slaves in any short 
time: but only stop them occasionally, as she now does. He moved lo commit 
the clause, that slaves might be made liable to an equal tax with other imports : 
which he thought right, and which would remove one difficulty that had been 
started. 



424 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Mr. RuTLEDGE. If the Convention thinks that North Carohna, South 
Carolina, and Georgia will ever agree to the plan, unless their right to import 
slaves be untouched, the expectation is vain. Tlie people of those States will 
never be such fools as to give up so important an interest. He was strenuous 
against striking out the section, and seconded the motion of Gen. Pinckney 
for a commitment. 

" Mr. GoLn'ERNEUR Morris wished the whole subject to be committed, 
including the clauses relating to taxes on exports and to a navigation act. 
These things may form a bargain among the Northern and Southern States. 

" Mr. Butler declared, that he never would agree to the power of taxing 
exports. 

" Mr. Sherman said it was better to let the Southern States import 
slaves than to part with them, if they made that a sine qua non. He was 
opposed to a tax on slaves imported, as making the matter worse, because it 
implied they were /ro/tv/y. He acknowledged, that, if the power of prohibit- 
ing the importation should be given to the General Government, it would be 
exercised. He thought it would be its duty to exercise the power. 

" Mr. Read was for the commitment, provided the clause concerning taxes 
on exports should also be committed. 

"Mr. Sherman observed, that that clause had been agreed to, and there- 
fore could not be committed. 

" Mr. Randolph was for committing, in order that some middle ground 
might, if possible, be found. He could never agree to the clause as it stands. 
He would sooner risk the Constitution. He dwelt on the dilemma to which the 
Convention was exposed. By agreeing to the clause, it would revolt the 
Quakers, the Methodists, and many others in the States having no slaves. On 
the other hand, two States might be lost to the Union. Let us then, he said, 
try the chance of a commitment."' 

Three days later (Saturday, Aug. 25) the debate on the subject 
was resumed, and the report of the committee of eleven was taken 
up. It was in the following words : — 

" .Strike out so much of the fourth section as was referred to the Com- 
mittee, and insert ' The migration or importation of such persons as the sev- 
eral States, now existing, think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
Legislature prior to the year 1800; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such 
migration or importation, at a rate not exceeding the average of the duties laid 
on imports.' 

" Gen. Pinckney moved to strike out the words 'the year eighteen hun- 
dred ' as the year limiting the importation of slaves, and to insert the words 
'the year eighteen hundred and eight.' 

" Mr. Gorham seconded the motion. 

"Mr. Madison. Twenty years will produce all the mischief that can be 
apprehended from the liberty to import slaves. So long a term will be more 

' Madison Papers, Elliot, vol. v. pp. 457-461. 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL I'ROBLEM. 425 

dishonorable to the American character than to say nothing about it in tlie 
Constitution. 

"On the motion, which passed in the affirmative, — 

" New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, ay, — 7; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Vir- 
ginia, no, — 4. 

" Mr. GouvKKNEUR MoRUis was for making the clause read at once, — 

'• ' The importation of slaves into North Carolina, South Carolina, and 
Georgia, shall not be prohibited,' &c. This, he said, would be most fair, and 
would avoid the ambiguity by which, under the power with regard to natural- 
ization, the liberty reserved to the States might be defeated. He wished it to 
be known, also, that this part of the Constitution was a compliance with those 
States. If the change of language, however, should be objected to by the 
members from those States, he should not urge it. 

"Col. Masox was not against using the term 'slaves,' but against naming 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, lest it should give offence to 
the people of those States. 

"Mr. SiiF,RM.'\N liked a description better than the terms proposed, which 
had been declined by the old Congress, and were not pleasing to some people. 

" Mr. Clymer concurred with Mr. Sherman. 

" Mr. WiLLiAMSO.x said, that, both in opinion and practice, he was against 
slavery ; but thought it more in favor of humanity, from a view of all circum- 
stances, to let in South Carolina and Georgia on those terms, than to exclude 
them from the Union. 

" Mr. GouvERNEUR Morris withdrew his motion. 

" Mr. Dickinson wished the clause to be confmed to the States which 
had not themselves prohibited the importation of slaves ; and, for that purpose, 
moved to amend the clause so as to read, — 

" • The importation of slaves into such of the States as shall permit the 
same shall not be prohibited by the Legislature of the United States until the 
year 1808:' — 

"which was disagreed to, ticm. con. 

"The first part of the Report was then agreed to, amended as follows: — 

" ' The migration or importation of such persons as the several States now 
existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the Legislature 
prior to the year i^SoS.' 

"New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, ALiryland, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, ay,- -7; New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, \'ir- 
ginia, no, — 4." ' 

The above specimens of the speeches on the slaveiy ques- 
tion, during the debate, are sufficient to furnish a fair idea of the 
personal opinion of the great thinkers of that time on slavery. 
It is clear that it was the wish of the great majority of the North- 
ern delegates to abolish the institution, in a domestic as well as in 

' Madison Papers, Elliot, vol. v. pp. 477, 47S. 



426 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

a foreign sense ; but they were not strong enough to resist the 
temptation to compromise their profoundest convictions on a ques- 
tion as broad and far-reaching as the Union that they were met to 
launch anew. Thus by an understanding, or, as Gouverneur 
Morris called it, "a bargain," between the commercial representa- 
tives of the Northern States and the delegates of South Carolina 
and Georgia, and in spite of the opposition of Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, the unrestricted power of Congress to enact navigation-laws 
was conceded to the Northern merchants ; and to the Carolina 
rice-planters, as an equivalent, twenty years' continuance of the 
African slave-trade. This was the third great "compromise" of 
the Constitution. The other two were the concession to the 
smaller States of an equal representation in the Senate ; and, to 
the slaveholders, the counting three-fifths of the slaves in deter- 
mining the ratio of representation. If this third compromise 
differed from the other two by involving not merely a political 
but a moral sacrifice, there was this partial compensation about it, 
that it was not permanent like the others, but expired, by limita- 
tion, at the end of twenty years.' 

The Constitution was adopted by the Convention, and signed, 
on the 17th of September, 1787. It was then forwarded to 
Congress, then in session in New-York City, with the recom- 
mendation that that body submit it to the State conventions for 
ratification ; which was accordingly done. Delaware adopted it 
on the 7th of December, 1787; Pennsylvania, Dec. 12; New 
Jersey, Dec. iS; Georgia, Jan. 2, 17S8; Connecticut, Jan. 9; 
Massachusetts, Feb. 7 ; Maryland, April 28 ; South Carolina, 
May 23; New Hampshire, June 21 (and, being the ninth ratify- 
ing, gave effect to the Constitution); Virginia ratified June 27; 
New York, July 26. North Carolina gave a conditional ratifica- 
tion on the 7th of August, but Congress did not receive it until 
January, 1790; nor that of Rhode Island, until June of the same 
year. 

At the conclusion of the deliberations of the convention that 
framed the Constitution, it was voted that its journal be intrusted 
to the custody of George Washington. He finally deposited it in 
the State Department, and it was printed in 1818 by order of 
Congress. 

The first session of Congress, under the new Constitution, was 

* H.Kaniine Hildreth and the Secret Debates on the subject of the "compromise^.'' 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AXD LEGAL PROBLEM. 427 

held in the city of New York, in 1789. A quorum was obtained 
on the 6th of April ; and the first measure brought up for consid- 
eration was a tariff-bill which Mr. Parker of Virginia sought to 
amend by inserting a clause levying an impost-tax of ten dollars 
upon every slave brought by water. " He was sorry the Consti- 
tution prevented Congress from prohibiting the importation alto- 
gether. It was contrary to revolution principles, and ought not 
to be permitted." Thus the question of slavery made its appear- 
ance early at the first session of the first Congress under the 
present Constitution. At that time Georgia was the only State 
in the Union that seemed to retain a pecuniary interest in the 
importation of slaves. Even South Carolina had passed an Act 
]irohibiting for one year the importation of slaves. In this, as on 
several occasions before, she was actuated on account of the low 
prices of produce, — too low to be remunerative. But, notwith- 
standing this, Mr. Smith, the member from the Charleston dis- 
trict, grew quite captious over the proposition of the gentleman 
from Virginia. He 

'• Hoped that such nn important and serious proposition would not be 
hastily adopted. It was rallier a late moment for the first introduction of a 
.subject so big with serious consequences. No one topic had been yet intro- 
duced so important to South Carolina and the welfare of the Union.'' 

Mr. Sherman got the floor, and said he 

"Approved the object of the motion, but did not think it a fit subject to 
be embraced in this bill. He could not reconcile himself to the insertion of 
human beings, as a subject of impost, among goods, wares, and merchandise. 
He hoped the motion would be withdrawn for the present, and taken up after- 
wards as an independent subject." 

Mr. Jackson of Georgia 

"Was not surprised, however others might be so. at the quarter whence 
this motion came. Virginia, as an old settled State, had her complement of 
slaves, and the natural increase being sufficient for her purpose, she was care- 
less of recruiting her numbers by importation. But gentlemen ought to let 
their neighbors get supplied before they imposed such a burden. He knew 
this business was viewed in an odious light at the Eastward, because the people 
there were capable of doing their own work, and had no occasion for slaves. 
But gentlemen ought to have some feeling for others. Surely they do not 
mean to tax us for every comfort and enjoyment of life, and, at the same time, 
to take from us the means of procuring them ! He was sure, from the unsuit- 
ableness of the motion to the business now before the house, and the want of 
time to consider it, the gentleman's candor would induce him to withdraw it. 



428 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Should it ever be brought forward again, he hoped it would comprehend the 
white slaves as well as the black, imported from all the jails of Europe; 
wretches convicted of the most flagrant crimes, who were brought in and sold 
without any duty whatever. They ought to be taxed equally with Africans, 
and he had no doubt of the equal constitutionality and propriety of such a 
course." 

Mr. Parker of Virginia obtained the floor again, and proceeded 
to reply to tlie remarks offered upon his amendment by Sherman, 
Jackson, and Smith. He declared, — 

"That, having introduced tlie motion on mature reflection, he did not like 
to withdraw it. The gentleman from Connecticut had said that human beings 
ought not to be enumerated with goods, wares, and merchandise. Yet he 
believed they were looked upon by African traders in that light. He hoped 
Congress would do all in their power to restore to human nature its inherent 
privileges; to wipe off, if possible, the stigma under which America labored; 
to do away the inconsistence in our principles justly charged upon us; and to 
show, by our actions, the pure beneficence of the doctrine held out to the world 
in our Declaration of Independence." 

Mr. Ames of Massachusetts 

" Detested slavery from his soul ; but he had some doubts whether impos- 
ing a duty on their importation would not have an appearance of countenan- 
cing the practice." 

Mr. Madison made an eloquent speech in support of Mr. Park- 
er's amendment. He said, — 

• 

" The confounding men w^ith merchandise might be easily avoided by 
altering the title of the bill; it was, in fact, the very object of the motion to 
prevent men, so far as the power of Congress extended, from being confounded 
with merchandise. The clause in the Constitution allowing a tax to be imposed, 
though the traffic could not be prohibited for twenty years, was inserted, he 
believed, for the very purpose of enabling Congress to give some testimony 
of the sense of America with respect to the African trade. By expressing a 
national disapprobation of that trade, it is to be hoped we may destroy it, and 
so save ourselves from reproaches, and our posterity from the imbecility ever 
attendant on a country filled with slaves. This was as much the interest of 
South Carolina and Georgia as of any other States. Every addition they 
received to their number of slaves tended to weakness, and rendered them less 
capable of self-defence. In case of hostilities with foreign nations, their slave 
population would be a means, not of repelling invasions, but of inviting attack. 
It was the duty of the general government to protect every part of the Union 
against danger, as well internal as external. Every thing, therefore, which 
tended to increase this danger, though it might be a local affair, yet, if it 
involved national expense or safety, became of concern to every part of the 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 429 

Union, and a proper subject for the consideration of those charged with the 
jieneral administration of the jrovernment." 



Mr. Bland approved the position taken by Mr. Madison, while 
Mr. Burke of South Carolina charged the gentlemen with having 
wasted the time of Congress upon a useless proposition. He 
contended, that, while slaves were not mentioned in the Constitu- 
tion, they woukl come under the general five per cent ad valorem 
duty on all unenimierated articles, which would be equivalent to 
the proposition of the gentleman from Virginia. Mr. Madison 
replied by saying, that no collector of customs would {)resume to 
apply the terms "goods," "wares," and " merchandi.se " to persons. 
Mr. Sherman followed him in the same strain, and denied that 
persons were anywhere recognized as property in the Constitution. 
Finally, at the suggestion of Mr. Madison, Mr. Parker consented 
to withdraw his motion with the understanding that a separate 
bill should be brought in. A committee was appointed to dis- 
charge that duty, but the noble resolve found a quiet grave in the 
committee-room. 

The failure of this first attempt, under the new Constitution, 
to restrict slavery, did not lame the cause to any great extent. It 
was rather accelerated. The manner and spirit of the debate on 
the subject quickened public thought, animated the friends of the 
Negro, and provoked many people to good works. Slavery had 
ceased to e.\ist in Massachusetts. Several suits, entered by slaves 
against their masters for restraining their liberty, had been won. 
The case of Elizabeth Freeman, better known as " Mum Bet," 
was regarded as the first-fruits of the Massachusetts Declaration 
of Rights in the new Constitution of 1780. The Duke de la 
Rochefoucault Laincort gives the following interesting account 
of the extinction of slavery in Massachusetts : — 

" In 1781, some negroes, prompted by private suggestion, maintained that 
they were not slaves: tliey found advocates, among whom was Mr. Sedgwick, 
now a member of the Senate of the United States ; and the cause was carried 
before the Supreme Court. Their counsel pleaded, 1°. That no antecedent law 
had established slavery, and that the laws which seemed to suppose it were the 
offspring of error in the legislators, who had no authority to enact them : — 2°, 
That such laws, even if they had e.\isted, were annulled by the new Constitu- 
tion. They gained the cause under both aspects: and the solution of this first 
question that was brought forward set the negroes entirely at liberty, and at 
the same time precluded their pretended owners from all claim to indemnifica- 
tion, since they were proved to have possessed and held them in slavery with- 



430 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

out any right. As there were only a few slaves in Massachusetts, the decision 
passed without opposition, and banished all further idea of slavery." ' 

Mr. Nell gives an account of the legal death of slavery in 
Massachusetts, but unfortunately does not cite any authority. 
John Ouincy Adams, in reply to a question put by John C. 
Spencer, stated that "a note had been given for the price of a 
slave in 1787. This note was sued, and the Court ruled that the 
maker had received no consideration, as a man could not be sold. 
From that time forward, slavery died in the Old Bay State." 
There were several suits instituted by slaves against their reputed 
masters in 1781-82; but there are strong evidences that slavery 
died a much slower death in Massachusetts than many are willing 
to admit. James Sullivan wrote to Dr. Belknap in 1795 : — 

"In 1781, at the Court in Worcester County, an indictment was found 
against a white man named Jennison for assaulting, beating, and imprisoning 
Quock Walker, a black. He was tried at the Supreme Judicial Court in 1783. 
His defence was, that the black was his slave, and that the beating, etc., was 
the necessary restraint and correction of the master. This was answered by 
citing the aforesaid clause in the declaration of rights. The judges and jury 
were of opinion that he had no right to imprison or beat the negro. He was 
found guilty and fined 40 shillings. This decision put an end to the idea of 
slavery in Massachusetts." = 

There are two things in the above that throw considerable 
uncertaintv about the subject as to the precise date of the end of 
slavery in the Commonwealth. First, the suit referred to was 
tried in 1783, three years after the adoption of tlie new Constitu- 
tion. Second, the good doctor does not say that the decision 
sealed the fate of slavery, but only that it " was a mortal wound 
to slavery in Massachusetts." 

From 1 785- 1 790, there was a wonderful change in the public 
opinion of the Middle and Eastern States on the subject of 
slavery. Most of them had passed laws providing for gradual 
emancipation. The Friends of New York, New Jersey, and Penn- 
sylvania began to organize a crusade against domestic slavery. 
In the fall of 1789, while the Congressional debates were still 
fresh in the minds of the people, the venerable Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin, as president of the "Pennsylvania Society for Promot- 
ing the Abolition of Slavery," etc., issued the following let- 
ter : — 

' Travels, etc., vol. ii. p. 166. - M. H. S. Coll., 5th Series, III., p. 403. 



SLAVERY AS A J'OLJT/CAL AND LEGAL PROLyLEM. 43 1 

"AN ADDRKSS TO THK PUBLIC. 

"From the Pennsylvania Socieiy for Promoting; the Abolition of Slavery, and 
the Relief of P'ree Aegroes unlaufully held in Bondage. 

"It is with pcculiiir satisfaction we assure tlic friends of humanity, tliat, 
in prosecuting the design of our association, our endeavors have proved suc- 
cessful, far beyond our most sanguine expectations. 

" l^ncouragcd by tliis success, and by the daily jjrogress of that luminous 
and benign spirit of liberty which is diffusing itself throughout the world, and 
humbly hoping for the continuance of the divine blessing on our lators, we 
have ventured to make an important addition to our original plan ; and do 
tlierefore earnestly solicit the support and assistance of all who can feel the 
tender emotions of sympathy and compassion, or relish the exalted pleasure 
of beneficence. 

" Slavery is such an atrocious debasement of htmian n.iturc, that its very 
extirpation, if not performed with solicitous care, may sometimes open a source 
of serious evils. 

" Tlie unhappy man, who has long been treated as a brute animal, too 
frequently sinks beneath the common standard of the human species. The 
galling chains that bind his body do also fetter his intellectual faculties, and 
impair the social affections of his heart. . Accustomed to move like a mere 
machine, by the will of a master, reflection is suspended; he has not the 
power of choice; and reason and conscience have but little influence over his 
conduct, because he is chiefly governed by the passion of fear. He is poor 
and friendless; perhaps worn out by extreme labor, age, and disease. 

" Under such circumstances, freedom may often prove a misfortune to 
himself, and prejudicial to society. 

"Attention to emancipated black people, it is therefore to be hoped, will 
become a brancli of our national police ; but, as far as we contribute to promote 
this emancipation, so far that attention is evidently a serious duty incumbent 
o\\ us, and which we mean to discharge to the best of our judgment and 
abilities. 

"To instruct, to advise, to qualify those wlio have been restored to free- 
dom, for the exercise and enjoyment of civil liberty ; to promote in them habits 
of industry ; to furnish them with employments suited to their age, sex, talents, 
and other circumstances ; and to procure their children an education calculated 
fortlicir future situation in life, — these are the great outlines of the annexed 
l)lan, which we have adopted, and which we conceive will essentially promote 
tlie public good, and the happiness of these our hitherto too much neglected 
fellow-creatures. 

" k plan so extensive cannot be carried into execution without considera- 
ble pecuniary resources, beyond the present ordinary funds of the .Society. 
We hope much from the generosity of enlightened and benevolent freemen, 
and will gratefully receive any donations or subscri|)tions for this purpose 
whicli mav be m.ade to our Treasurer, James Starr, or to James Pemberton, 
Chairm.ui of our Committee of Correspondence. 

" Signed by order of the Society, 

" B. Fk.v.nklin, President. 
"Philadelphia, 9th of November, 17S9." 



432 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

And as his last public act, Franklin gave his signature to the 
subjoined memorial to the United-States Congress: — 

"The memorial respectfully slioweth, — 

" That, from a regard for the happiness of mankind, an association was 
formed several years since in this State, by a number of her citizens, of various 
religious denominations, for promoting the abolition of slavery, and for the 
relief of those unlawfully held in bondage. A just and acute conception of 
the true principles of liberty, as it spread through the land, produced accessions 
to their numbers, many friends to their cause, and a legislative co-operation 
with their views, which, by the Ijlessing of Divine Providence, have been suc- 
cessfully directed to the relieving from bondage a large number of their fel- 
low-creatures of the African race. They have also the satisfaction to observe, 
that, in consequence of that spirit of philanthropy and genuine liberty which is 
generally diffusing its beneficial influence, similar institutions are forming at 
home and abroad. 

" That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty Being, alike objects 
of his care, and equally designed for the enjoyment of happiness, the Chris- 
tian religion teaches us to believe, and the political creed of Americans fully 
coincides with the position. Your memorialists, particularly engaged in attend- 
ing to the distresses arising from slavery, believe it their indispensable duty 
to present this subject to your notice. They have observed, with real satisfac- 
tion, that many important and salutary powers are vested in you for 'promoting 
the welfare and securing the l:>lessings of liberty to the people of the United 
States ' ; and as they conceive that tliese blessings ought rightfully to be ad- 
ministered, without distinction of color, to all descriptions of ])eople, so they 
indulge themselves in the pleasing expectation, that nothing which can be done 
for the relief of the unh.appy objects of their care, will be either omitted or 
delayed. 

" From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the portion, and is 
still the birth-right, of all men ; and influenced b)' the strong ties of humanity, 
and the principles of their institution, your memorialists conceive themselves 
bound to use all justifiable endeavors to loosen the bands of slavery, and pro- 
mote a general enjoyment of tlie blessings of freedom. Under these impres- 
sions, they earnestly entreat your serious attention to the subject of slavery; 
that you will be pleased to countenance the restoration of liberty to those un- 
happy men, who alone, in this land of freedom, are degraded into perpetual 
bondage, and who, amidst the general joy of surrounding freemen, are groan- 
ing in servile subjection ; that you will devise means for removing this incon- 
sistency from the character of the American people ; that you will promote 
mercy and justice towards this distressed race ; and that you will step to the 
very verge of the power vested in you for discouraging every species of traffic 
in the persons of our fellow-men. 

" Ben'j. Franklin, President. 
"Philadelphia, Febniaryj, 1790." 

The session of Congress held in 1790 was stormy. The 
slavery question came back to haunt the members. On the 12th 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AXD LEGAL PROBLEM. 433 

of Fcbniarv, the memorial from the Pennsylvania society was read. 
It provoked fresh discussion, and greatly angered many of the 
Southern members. As soon as its reading was completed, the 
" Quaker Memorial," that had been read the day pre\ious, was 
called up ; and Mr. Hartley moved its commitment. A long and 
spirited debate ensued. It was charged that the memorial was 
"a mischievous attempt, an improper interference, at the best, an 
act of imprudence;" and that it "would sound an alarm and 
blow the trumpet of sedition through the Southern States." Vix. 
Scott of Pennsylvania replied by saying, " I cannot entertain a 
doubt that the memorial is strictly agreeable to the Constitution. 
It respects a part of the duty particularly assigned to us by that 
instrument." Mr. Sherman was in favor of the commitment of 
the memorial, and gave his reasons in cxtcnso. Mr. Smith of 
South Carolina said, " Notwithstanding all the calmness with 
which some gentlemen have viewed the subject, they will find 
that the mere discussion of it will create alarm. We have been 
told that, if so, we should have avoidctl discussion by saying 
nothing. But it was not for that pur[)ose we were sent here. 
We look upon this measure as an attack \\\>a\\ property ; it is, 
therefore, our duty to oppose it by every means in our power. 
When we entered into a political connection with the other States, 
this property was there. It had been acc[uirctl under a former 
government conformably to the laws and constitution, and every 
attempt to deprive us of it must be in the nature of an ex post 
facto law, and, as such, forbidden by our political compact." Fol- 
lowing the unwise and undignified example set by the gentlemen 
who had preceded him on that side of the question, he slurred the 
Quakers. " His constituents wanted no lessons in religion and 
morality, and least of all from such teachers." 

Madison, Gerry, Boudinot, and Page favored commitment. 
Upon the question to commit, the yeas and nays being demanded, 
the reference was made by a vote of forty-three to eleven. Of 
the latter, si.x were from Georgia and South Carolina, two from 
Virginia, two from Maryland, and one from New York. A special 
committee was announced, to whom the memorial was referred, 
consisting of one member from each of the following States : New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Penn.sylvania, and Virginia. At the end of a month, the commit- 
tee made the following report to Congress : — 



434 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"1st. That the general government was expressly restrained, until the 
year iSoS, from prohibiting the importation of any persons whom any of the 
existing states might till that time think proper to admit. 2d. That, by a fair 
construction of the constitution, congress was equally restrained from inter- 
fering to emancipate slaves within the states, such slaves having been born 
there, or having been imported within the period mentioned. 3d. That con- 
gress had no power to interfere in the internal regulation of particular states 
relative to the instruction of slaves in the principles of morality and religion, 
to their comfortable clothing, accommodation, and subsistence, to the regulation 
of marriages or the violation of marital rights, to the separation of children 
and parents, to a comfortable provision in cases of age or infirmity, or to the 
seizure, transportation, and sale of. free negroes; but entertained the fullest 
confidence in the wisdom and humanity of the state legislature that, from time 
to time, they would revise their laws, and promote these and all other measures 
tending to the happiness of the slaves. The fourth asserted that congress 
had authority to levy a tax of ten dollars, should they see fit to exact it, upon 
every person imported under the special permission of any of the states. The 
fifth declared the authority of congress to interdict or to regulate the African 
slave-trade, so far as it might be carried on by citizens of the United States for 
the supply of foreign countries, and also to provide for the humane treatment 
of slaves while on their passage to any ports of the United .States into which 
they might be admitted. The sixth asserted the right of congress to prohibit 
foreigners from fitting out vessels in the United States to be employed in the 
supply of foreign countries with sl.aves from Africa. The seventh expressed 
an intention on the part of congress to exercise their authority to its full extent 
to promote the humane objects aimed at in the Quaker's memorial." 

Mr. Tucker took the floor against the report of the committee, 
and, after a bitter speech upon the unconstitutionality of meddling 
with the slavery question in any manner, moved a substitute for 
the whole, in which he pronounced the recommendations of the 
committee "as unconstitutional, and tending to injure some of the 
States of the Union." Mr. Jackson seconded the motion in a 
rather intemperate speech, which was replied to by Mr. Vining. 
The substitute of Mr. Tucker was declared out of order. Mr. 
Benson moved to recommit in hopes of getting rid of the subject, 
but the motion was overwheliningly voted down. The report was 
taken up article by article. The three first resolutions (those 
relating to the authority of Congress over slavery in the States) 
were adopted ; while the second and third were merged into one, 
stripped of its objectionable features. But on the fourth the 
debate was carried to a high pitch. This one related to the ten- 
dollar tax. Mr. Tucker moved to amend by striking out the 
fourth resolution. Considerable discussion followed ; and, upon 
the cjuestion being put, it was carried by one vote. The fifth 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 435 

resolution, affirming the power of Congress to regulate the slave- 
trade, drew the fire of Jackson, Smith, and Tucker. Mr. Madi.son 
offered to modify it somewhat. It was argued by the opponents 
of this resolution, that Congress, under the plea of regulating the 
trade, might prohibit it entirely. Mr. Vining of Delaware, some- 
what out of patience with the demands of the Southern members, 
told those gentlemen very plainly that they ought to be satisfied 
with the changes already made to gratify them ; that they should 
show some respect to the committee ; that all the States from 
Virginia to New Hampshire had passed laws prohibiting the slave- 
trade ; and then delivered an eloquent defence of the Quakers. 
The resolution, as modified by Mr. Madison, carried. 

The sixth resolution, relating to the foreign slave-trade carried 
on from ports of the United States, received considerable atten- 
tion. Mr. Scott made an elaborate speech upon it, in which he 
claimed, that, if it were a question as to the power of Congress to 
regulate the foreign slave-trade, he had no doubts as to the author- 
ity of that body. " I desire," said that gentleman, " that the 
world should know, I desire that those people in the gallery, about 
whom so much has been said, should know, that there is at least 
one member on this floor who believes that Congress have ample 
powers tq do all they have asked respecting the African slave- 
trade. Nor do I doubt that Congress will, whenever necessity or 
policy dictates the measure, exercise those powers." Mr. Jackson 
attempted to reply. He started out with a labored argument 
showing the divine origin of slavery, quoting Scriptures ; showed 
that the Greeks and Romans had held slaves, etc. He was 
followed and supported by Smith of South Carolina. Boudinot 
obtained the floor, and, after defending the Quakers and praising 
Franklin, declared that there was nothing unreasonable In the 
memorial; that it simply requested them "to go to the utmost 
verge of the Constitution," and not beyond it. P'urther debate 
was had, when the sixth resolution was adopted. 

The seventh resolution, pledging Congress to e.xert their full 
powers for the restriction of the slave-trade — and, as some under- 
stood it, to discountenance slavery — was struck out. The com- 
mittee then arose and reported the resolutions to the house. The 
next day, the 23d March, 1790, after some preliminary business 
was disposed of, a motion was made to take up the report of the 
committee. Ames, Madison, and others thought the matter, hav- 
ing occupied so much of the time of the house, should be left 



436 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



where it was ; or rather, as Mr. Madison expressed it, simply 
entered on the Journals as a matter of public record. After some 
little discussion, this motion prevailed by a vote of twenty-nine to 
twenty-five. The entry was accordingly made as follows : — 

" That tlie migration or importation of such persons as any of the states 
now existing shall think proper to admit, can not be prohiljitcd by congress 
prior to the year 1 80S. 

'• That congress have no right to interfere in the emancipation of slaves, 
or in the treatment of them, in any of the states, it remaining with the several 
states alone to provide any regulations therein which humanity and true policy 
require. 

"That congress have authority to restrain the citizens of the United .States 
from carrying on the African slave-trade for the purpose of supplying for- 
eigners with slaves, and of providing by proper regulations for the humane 
treatment, during their passage, of slaves imported by the said citizens into 
the said states admitting such importation. 

"That congress have also authority to prohibit foreigners from fitting out 
vessels in any port of the United States for transporting persons from Africa 
to any foreign port." 

The census of 1790 gave the slave population of the States as 

follows : — 

Slave Population. — Census of 1790. 



Connecticut 

Delaware . 

Georgia . 

Kentucky . 

Maryland 

New Hampshire 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina 

Pennsylvania . 

Rhode Island . 

South Carolina 

Vermont . 

Virginia . 

Territorv south of Ohio 



Aggregate, 697,897, 



2,759 

8,887 

29,264 

11,830 

103,036 

158 

11,423 

21,324 

100,572 

3,737 

952 

107,094 

17 

293.427 

3,417 



on on the i8th of Feb- 
11 of Rights declared that 



Vermont was admitted into the Un 
ruary, 1791 ; and the first article of the B 
" no male person born in this country, or brought froin over sea, 
ought to be bound by law to serve any person as a servant, slave, 
or apprentice after he arrives at the age of twenty-one years, nor 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 437 

female, in like manner, after she arrives at the age of twenty-one 
years, unless they are bound by their own consent after they 
arrive at such age, or are bound by law for the payment of debts, 
damages, fines, costs, or the like." This provision was contained 
in the first Constitution of that State, and, therefore, it was the 
first one to abolish and prohibit slavery in North America. 

On the 4th of February, 1791, Kentucky was admitted into 
the Union by Act of Congress, though it had no Constitution. 
But the ne.xt year a Constitution was framed. By it the Legisla- 
ture was denied the right to emancipate slaves without the con- 
sent of the owner, nor without paying the full price of the slaves 
before emancipating them ; nor could any laws be passed prohib- 
iting emigrants from other states from bringing with them per- 
sons deemed slaves by the laws of any other states in the Union, 
so long as such persons should be continued as slaves in Ken- 
tucky. The Legislature had power to prohibit the bringing into 
the state slaves for the purpose of sale. Masters were required 
to treat their slaves with humanity, to properly feed and clothe 
them, and to abstain from inflicting any punishment extending 
to life and limb. Laws could be passed granting owners the right 
to emancipate their slaves, but requiring security that the slaves 
thus emancipated should not become a charge upon the county. 

During the session of Congress in 1791, the Pennsylvania 
Society for the Abolition of Slavery presented another memorial, 
calling upon Congress to exercise the powers they had been 
declared to possess by the report of the committee which had 
been spread upon the Journals of the house. Thus emboldened, 
other anti-slavery societies, of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, Virginia, and a few local societies of Maryland, presented 
memorials praying for the suppression of slavery in the United 
States. They were referred to a select committee ; and, as they 
made no report. New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the next 
year, called the attention of Congress to the subject. On the 
24th of November, 1792, a Mr. Warner Miflflin, an anti-slavery 
Quaker from Delaware, addressed a memorial to Congress on the 
general subject of slavery, which was read and laid upon the table 
without debate. On the 26th of November, Mr. Stute of North 
Carolina offered some sharp remarks upon the presumption of 
the Quaker, and moved that the petition be returned to the peti- 
tioner, and that the clerk be instructed to erase the entry from 
the Journal. This provoked a heated discussion ; but at length the 



438 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

petition was returned to the author, and the motion to erase the 
record from the Journal was withdrawn by the mover. 

In 1/93 a law was passed providing for the return of fugitives 
from justice and from service. "In case of the escape out of 
any state or territory of any person held to service or labor under 
the laws thereof, the person to whom such labor was due, his 
agent, or attorney, might seize the fugitive and carry him before 
any United States judge, or before any magistrate of the city, 
town, or county in which the arrest was made ; and such judge or 
magistrate, on proof to his satisfaction, either oral or by afifidavit 
before any other magistrate, that the person seized was really a 
fugitive, and did owe labor as alleged, was to grant a certificate 
to that effect to the claimant, this certificate to serve as sufficient 
warrant for the removal of the fugitive to the state whence he had 
fled. Any person obstructing in any way such seizure or removal, 
or harboring or concealing any fugitive after notice, was liable to 
a penalty of $500, to be recovered by the claimant." 

In 1794 an anti-slavery convention was held in Philadelphia, 
in which nearly all of the abolition societies of the country were 
represented. A memorial, carefully avoiding constitutional objec- 
tions, was drawn and addressed to Congress to do whatever they 
could toward the suppression of the slave-trade. This memorial, 
with several other petitions, was referred to a special committee. 
In due time they reported a bill, which passed without much 
opposition. It was the first act of the government toward 
repressing the slave-trade, and was as mild as a summer's day. 
On Wednesday, the 7th of January, 1795, another meeting was 
held in Philadelphia, the second, to consider anti-slavery measures. 
The Act of Congress was read. 

"An Act to prohibit the canying on the Slave-trade from the United States 
to any foreign place or country. 

" Section I. BE // enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America, in Congress assembled. That no citizen or citi- 
zens of the United States, or foreigner, or any other person coming into, or 
residing within the same, shall, for himself or any other person whatsoever, 
either as master, factor or owner, build, fit, equip, load or otherwise prepare 
any ship or vessel, within any port or place of the said United States, nor shall 
cause any ship or vessel to sail from any port or place within the same, for the 
purpose of carrying on any trade or traffic in slaves, to any foreign country; or 
for the purpose of procuring, from any foreign kingdom, place or country, the 
inhabitants of such kingdom, place or country, to be transported to any foreign 
country, port or place whatever, to be sold or disposed of, as slaves: And if 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AND LEGAL PROBLEM. 439 

<-in\- ship or vessel shall be so fitted out, as aforesaid, for the said purposes, or 
shall be caused to sail, so as aforesaid, every such ship or vessel, her tackle, 
furniture, apparel and other appurtenances, shall be forfeited to the United 
States; and shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted and condemned, in any of 
tlie circuit courts or district court for the district, where tlie said ship or vessel 
may be found and seized. 

"Section II. And be it further enacted. That all and every person, so 
building, fitting out, equipping, loading, or otherwise preparing, or sending 
away, any ship or vessel, knowing, or intending, that the same shall be 
employed in such trade or business, contrary to the true intent and meaning of 
tliis act, or any ways aiding or abetting therein, shall severally forfeit and pay 
tlie sum of two thousand dollars, one moiety thereof, to the use of the United 
States, and the other moiety thereof, to the use of him or her, who shall sue for 
and prosecute the same. 

'• Section III. And be it further enacted. That the owner, master or factor 
of each and every foreign ship or vessel, clearing out for any of the coasts or 
kingdoms of Africa, or suspected to be intended for the slave-trade, and the 
suspicion being declared to the officer of the customs, by any citizen, on oath 
or affirmation, and such information being to the satisfaction of the said 
officer, shall first give bond with sufficient sureties, to the Treasurer of the 
United States, that none of the natives of Africa, or any other foreign country 
or place, shall be taken on board the said ship or vessel, to be transported, or 
sold as slaves, in anv other foreign port or place whatever, within nine months 
thereafter. 

" Section IV. And be it further enacted. That if any citizen or citizens of 
the United States shall, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, 
take on board, receive or transport any such persons, as above described, in 
this act, for the purpose of selling them as slaves, as aforesaid, he or they 
shall forfeit and pay, for each and every person, so received on board, trans- 
ported, or sold as aforesaid, the sum of two hundred dollars, to be recovered in 
any court of the United States proper to try the same: the one moiety thereof, 
to the use of the United States, and the other moiety to the use of such person 
or persons, who shall sue for and prosecute the same. 

"Frederick Augl'stus Muhlenberg, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

"John .'\d.\.ms, 

Vice-President of the United States, and 
President of the Senate. 

"Approved — March the twenty-second. 1794. 

G°: Wa.shington, President of the l/nited States." 

In 1797 Congress again found themselves confronted by the 
dark problem of slavery, that would not down at their bidding. 
The Yearly Meeting of the Quakers of Philadelphia sent a memo- 
rial to Congress, complaining that about one hundred and thirty- 
four Negroes, and others whom they knew not of, having been 



440 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

lawfully emancipated, were afterwards reduced to bondage by an 
ex post facto law passed by North Carolina, in 1777, for that cruel 
purpose. After considerable debate, the memorial went to a 
committee, who subsequently reported that the matter complained 
of was purely of judicial cognizance, and that Congress had no 
authority in the premises. 

During the same session a bill was introduced creating all that 
portion of the late British Province of West Florida, within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, into a government to be called 
the Mississippi Territory. It was to be conducted in all respects 
like the territory north-west of the Ohio, with the single excep- 
tion that slavery should not be prohibited. During the discus- 
sion of this section of the bill, Mr. Thatcher of Massachusetts 
moved to amend by striking out the exception as to slavery, so as 
to make it conform to the ideas expressed by Mr. Jefferson a few 
years before in reference to the Western Territory. But, after a 
warm debate, Mr. Thatcher's motion was lost, having received 
only twelve votes. An amendment of Mr. Harper of South 
Carolina, offered a few days later, prohibiting the introduction of 
slaves into the new Mississippi Territory, from without the limits 
of the United States, carried without opposition. 

Georgia revised her Constitution in 1798, and prohibited the 
importation of slaves "from Africa or any foreign place." Her 
slave-code was greatly moderated. Any person maliciously killing 
or dismembering a slave was to suffer the same punishment as if 
the act had been committed upon a free white person, except in 
case of insurrection, or "unless such death should happen by 
accident, in giving such slave moderate correction." But, like 
Kentucky, the Georgia constitution forbade the emancipation of 
slaves without the consent of the individual owner; and encour- 
aged emigrants to bring slaves into the State. 

In 1799, after three failures, the Legislature of New York 
passed a bill for the gradual extinction of slavery. It provided 
that all persons in slavery at the time of the passage of the bill 
should remain in bondage for life, but all their children, born after 
the fourth day of July next following, were to be free, but were 
required to remain under the direction of the owner of their 
parents, males until twenty-eight, and females until twenty-five. 
Exportation of slaves was disallowed ; and if the attempt wer^ 
made, and the parties apprehended, the slaves were to be free 
instantcr. Persons moving into the State were not allowed to 



SLAVERY AS A POLITICAL AXD LEGAL I'ROBLEM. 44 1 

bring slaves, except they had owned them for a year previous to 
coming into the State. 

In 1799 Kentucky rex'ised her Constitution to meet the wants 
of a growing State. An attempt was made to secure a provision 
providing for gradual emancipation. It was supported by Henry 
Clay, who, as a young lawyer and ])romising orator, began on that 
occasion a brilliant political career that lasted for a half-century. 
But not even his magic eloquence could secure the jiassage of the 
humane amendment, and in regard to the question of slavery 
the Constitution recei\'ed no change. 

As the shadows gathered about the expiring days of the 
eighteenth century, it was clear to be seen that slavery, as an 
institution, had rooted itself into the political and legal life of 
the American Republic. An estate prolific of evil, fraught with 
danger to the new government, abhorred and rejected at first, was 
at length adopted with great political sagacity and deliberatcness, 
and then guarded by the solemn forms of constitutional law and 
legislative enactments. 



APPENDIX. 



PRELIM IN A R Y CONSIDER A TIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE UNITY OF MANKIND. 

In Acts xvii. 26 the apostle says, "And God hath made of one blood all nations 
of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before ap- 
pointed, and the bounds of their habitation." In Mark .xvi. 15, 16, is recorded that 
remarkable command of our Saviour, "Go YK IMO all the world, and preach 
the gospel TO every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; 
but he that believeth not shall be damned." (See also Matt, .xxviii. 18, 20.) Now 
there is a very close connection between the .statement here m.ade by the apostle, and 
tlie conunand here given by our Lord Jesus Christ ; for it was in obedience to this 
comn\and that the apostle was at that time at Athens. There, amid the proud and 
conceited philosophers of Greece, in the centre of their resplendent capital, surrounded 
on every hand by their noblest works of art and their proudest monuments of learning, 
the apostle proclaims the equality of ALL MEN, their common origin, guilt, and danger, 
and their universal obligations to receive and embrace the gospel. The .\thenians, 
like other ancient nations, and like them, too, in opposition to their own mythology, 
regarded themselves as a peculiar and distinct race, created upon the very soil which 
thev inhabited, and pre-eminently elevated above the barbarians of the earth, — as they 
regarded the other races of men. Paul, however, as an inspired and infallible teacher, 
authoritatively declares that "God who made the world and all things therein," "hath 
made of one blood," and caused to descend from one original pair the whole species of 
men, who are now by His providential direction so propagated .as to inhabit " all the face 
of the earth," having marked out in his eternal and unerring counsel the determinate 
periods for their inhabiting, and the boundaries of the regions they should inhabit. 

The apostle in this passage refers very evidently to the record of tBe early coloni- 
zation and settling of the earth contained in the books of Moses. Some Greek copies 
preserve only the word evof, leaving out aifiaToi:, a reading which the vulgar Latin fol- 
lows. The Arabic version, to e.xplain both, has ex /wmiiir, or as De Dieu renders it, 
,x Aditmo uiio. there being but the difference of one letter in the Eastern languages 
between dam and adttm, the one denoting blood, and the other man. But if we take 
this passage as our more ordinary copies read it, rftrcf oiimTor, it is still equally plain 
tfiat the meaning is not that all mankind were made of the same uniform matter, as the 
author of the work styled Pre-.A.damites weakly imagined, for on that ground, not only 
mankind, but the whole world might be said to be c-x hcnos haimalos, i.e., of the same 

443 



444 APPENDIX. 

blood, since all things in the world were at first formed out of the same matter. The 
word aifia therefore must be here rendered m the same sense as that in which it occurs 
in the best Greek authors — the stock out of which men come. Thus Homer says, — 

In like manner those who are near relations, are called by Sophocles oi n-pof ai/iaroi. 

And hence the term coiisaiiguiiiily, employed to denote nearness of relation. Virgil uses 

sanguis in the same sense. 

*' Trojano a saiii^iiine dticiy 

So that the apostle's meaning is, that however men now are dispersed in their habita- 
tions, and however much they differ in language and customs from each other, yei 
they were all originally of the same stock, and derived their succession from the first 
man whom God created, that is, from Adam, from which name the Hebrew word for 
blood — i.e. dam — is a derivative. 

Neither can it be conceived on what account Adam in the Scripture is called "the 
first man," and said to lie " made a living soul," and " of the earth earthy," unless it is 
to denote that he was absolutely the first of his kind, and was, therefore, designed to be 
the standard and measure of all the races of men. And thus when our Saviour would 
trace up all things to the beginning, he illustrates his doctrine by quoting those words 
which were pronounced after Eve was formed. "But from the beginning of the crea- 
tion, God made them male and female ; for this cause shall a man leave father and 
mother and cleave unto his wife." Now nothing can be more plain and incontroverti- 
ble than that those of whom these words were spoken, were the first male and female 
which were made in " the beginning of the creation." It is equally evident that these 
words were spoken of Adam and Eve : for " Adam said. This is now bone of my bone, 
and flesh of my flesh ; therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall 
cleave unto his wife." If the Scriptures then of the New Testament be true, it is most 
plain and evident that all mankind are descended from Adam.' 



THE CURSE OF CAN.^.AN. 

It is not necessary — nay, it is not admissible — to take the words of Noah, as to 
Shem and Japheth, as prophetic. We shall presently see that, as prophetic, they have 
failed. Let us not, in expounding Scripture, introduce the supernatural when the natu- 
ral is adequate. Noah had now known the peculiarities of his sons long enough, and 
well enough, to be able to make some probable conjecture as to their future course, 
and their success or failure in life. It is what parents do now-a-days. They say of 
one son. He will succeed, — he is so dutiful, so economical, so industrious. They say 
of another, This one wdl make a good lawyer — he is so sharp in an argument. Of 
another, they sny. We will educate him for the ministry, for he has suitable qualifica- 
tions While of another they may be constrained to predict that he will not succeed, 
because he is indolent, and selfish, and sensual. Does it require special inspiration 
for a father, having ordinary common sense, to discover the peculiar talents and dispo- 
sitions of his children, and to predict the probable future of each of them? Some- 
times they hit it: sometnnes they miss it. Shall it not be conceded to Noah that he 
could make as probable a conjecture, as to his sons, as your father made as to you, or 
as you think yourselves competent to make for either of your sons ? Noah made a 



* The Unity of the Human Races, pp. 14-17. 



APPENDIX. 445 

good hit. What he said as to the future of his sons, and of their posterity, has turned 
out, in some res])ects, as he said it would, but not exactly, — not so exactly as to 
authorize our calling his words an inspired prophecy, as we shall presently show. 

But, if we set out to establish or to justify slavery upon these words of Noah, on 
the assumption Gon spake by Noah as to the curse and blessings here recorded, we 
have a right to e.vpect to find the facts of history to correspond. If the facts of history 
do not correspond with these words of Noah, then God did not speak them by Noah 
as his own. Let us face this matter. It is said, by those who interpret the curse 
of Canaan as divine authority for slavery, that God has hereby ordoiiieii that the de- 
scendants of Ham shall be slaves. The descendants of Shcm are not, of coinsc, doomed 
to that curse. Now, upon the supposition that these are the words of God, and not 
the denunciations of an irritated father just awaking from his drunkenness, we ought 
not to find any of Canaan's descendants out of a condition of slazriy, not- any of the de- 
scendants of Shcm in it. If we do, then cither these are not (Jod's words, or God's 
words have not come true. 

But it is a fact that not all of Mam's entire descendants, nor even of Canaan's de- 
scendants (on whom alone, and not at all on Ham, nor on his three other sons, Noah's 
curse fell), are now, nor ever have been, as a whole, in a state of bondage. The Ca- 
naanites were not slaves, but free and powerful tribes, when the Hebrews entered their 
territory. The Carthaginians, it is generally admitted, were descended from Canaan. 
Thev certainly were free and powerful when, in frequent wars, they contended, often 
with success, against the formidable Romans. If the curse of Noah w.as intended for 
all the descendants of Ham, it signally failed in the case of the first military hero men 
tioned in the Bible, who was the founder of a world-renowned city and empire. I refer 
to Nimrod, who was a son of Cush, the oldest .son of Ham. Of this Ninirod the record 
is, "He began to be a mighty one in the earth: he was a mighty hunter before the 
Lord: and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and .-Vccad, and Cal- 
neh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur and builded Nineveh, 
and the city Kehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah ; the same 
is a great city." This is Bible authority, informing us that the grandson of Ham (Nim- 
rod, the son of Cireh) was a mighty man — the great 7nan of the world, in his day — the 
founder of the Babylonian empire, and the ancestor of the founder of the city of Nine- 
veh, one of the grandest cities of the ancient world. We are not led to conclude, from 
these wonderful achievements by the posterity of Cush (who was the progenitor of the 
Negroes), that this line of Ham's descendants was so weak in intellect as to be unable 
to set up and maintain a government.' 



ch.\pti:r III. 

NEGRO CIVII.IZATIOX. 



Dr. Wisem.in has also shown that both Aristotle and Herodotus describe the 
Egyptians — to whom Homer, I.ycurgus, Solon, Pythagoras, and Plato resorted for 
wisdom — as having the black skin, the crooked legs, the distorted feet and the woolly 
hair of the Negro, from wdiich we do not wish, or feel it necessary to infer that the 
Egyptians were Negroes, \mt. frst that the ideas of degradation and not-human, asso- 
ciated witli the dark-colored African races of people uo^m, were not attached to them 

^ Curse of Canaan, pp. 5-7. By Rev. C. H. Edgar. 



446 APPENDIX. 

at an early period of their history ; and secondly, that while depicted as Negroes^ the 
Egyptians were regarded by these prnfouud ancients — the one a naturalist and the 
other a historian — as one of the branches of the human family, and as identified with 
a nation of whose descent from Ham there is no question." Egyptian antiquity, not 
claiming priority of social existence for itself, often pointed to the regions of Habesh, 
or high African Ethiopia, and sometimes to the North, for the seat of the gods and 
demigods, because both were the intermediate stations of the progenitor tribes.^ 

There is, therefore, every reason to believe that the primitive Egyptians were con- 
formed much more to the African than to the European form and physiognomy, and 
therefore that there was a time when learning, commerce, arts, manufactures, etc., 
were all associated with a form and character of the human race now regarded as the 
evidence only of degradation and barbarous ignorance. 

But why question this fact when we can refer to the ancient and once glorious 
kingdoms of Meroe, Nubia, and Ethiopia, and to the prowess and skill of other an- 
cient and interior African Nations ? And among the existing nations of interior Africa, 
there is seen a manifold diversity as regards the blackest races. The characteristics of 
the most truly Negro race are not found in ,;//, nor to the same degree in many. 

Clapperton and other travellers among the Negro tribes of interior Africa, attest 
the superiority of the pure Negroes above the mi.xed races around them, in ail moral 
characteristics, and describe also large and populous kingdoms with numerous towns, 
well-cultivated fields, and various manufactures, such as weaving, dyeing, tanning, 
working in iron and other metals, and in pottery.' 

From the facts we have adduced it seems to follow, that one of the earliest races 
of men uf wliose existence, civilization and physiognomy, we have any remaining 
proofs, were dark or black colored. " We must," says Prichard, " for the present 
look upon the black races as the aborigines of Kelaenonesia, or Oceanica, — that is as 
the immemorial and primitive inhabitants. There is no reason to doubt that they were 
spread over the Austral island long before the same or the contiguous regions were 
approached by the Malayo-Polynesians. We cannot say definitely how far back this 
will carry us, but as the distant colonizations of the Polynesians probably happened 
before the island of Java received arts and civilization from Hindustan, it must be sup- 
posed to have preceded by some ages the Javan era of Batara Guru, and therefore to 
have happened before the Christian era." 

The Negro race is known to have existed 3,345 years, says Dr. Morton, 26S years 
later than the earliest notice of the white race, of which we have distinct mention B.C. 
2200. This makes the existence of a Negro race certain about 842 years after the flood, 
according to the Hebrew chronology ; or-i650 years after the flood, according to the 
Septuagint chronology, which may very possibly have been the original Hebrew chro- 
nology. There is thus ample time given for the multiplication and diffusion of man 
over the earth, and for the formation — either by natural or supernatural causes, in 
combination with the anomalous and altogether extraordinary condition of the earth — 
of all the various races of men. 

It is also apparent from the architecture, and other historical evidences of their 
character, that dark or black races, with more or less of the Negro physiognomy, were 
in the earliest period of their known history cultivated and intelligent, having king- 
doms, arts, and manufactures. And Mr. Pickering assures us that there is no fact to 
show that Negro slavery is not of modern origin. The degradation of this race of 
men therefore, must be regarded as the result of external causes, and not of natural, 
inherent and original incapacity.'' 

■ S« Dr. Wiseman's Lectures on the connection between Science and Revealed Religion, Am. ed., 

pp. 95. 98. 

2 See Nat. Hist. Human Species, p. 373- ' See British Encyclopaidia, vol. u. pp. 237, =38. 

•• Ticdenian, on the Brain of the Negro, in the Phil Trans., 1838, p. 497. 



APPENDIX. 447 



CHAPTER VI. 

NEGRO TYI'E. 

It has often been said that, indcpeiulently of the woolly hair and the complexion 
of the Negroes, there are sufficient differences between them and the rest of mankind 
to mark them as a very peculiar tribe. This is true, and yet the principal differences 
are perhaps not so constant as many persons imagine. In our West Indian colonies 
very many Negroes, especially females, are seen, whose figures strike Europeans as 
remarkably beautiful. This would not be the case if they deviated much from the 
idea prevalent in Europe, or from the European standard of beauty. Vet the slaves 
in the colonies, particularly in those of England, were brought from the west coast of 
intertropical Africa, where the peculiarities of figure, which in our eyes constitute 
deformity in the Negro, are chiefly prevalent. The black people imported into the 
French and to some of the Portuguese colonies, from the eastern coast of the African 
continent, and from Congo, are mucli better made. The most degraded and savage 
nations are the ugliest. Among the most improved and the partially civilized, as the 
Ashantees, and other interior States, the figure and the features of the native people 
approach much more to the European. The ugliest Negro tribes are confined to the 
equatorial countries ; and on both sides of the equator, as we advance towards the 
temperate zones, the persons of the inhabitants are most handsome and well formed. 

In a later period of this work I shall cite authors who have proved that many 
races belonging to this department of mankind are noted for the beauty of their fea- 
tures, and their fine stature and proportions. Adanson has made this observation of 
the Negroes on the Senegal. He thus describes the men. " Leur taille est pour 
I'ordinaire au-dessus de la mediocre, bien prise et sans defaut. lis sont forts, robustcs, 
et d'un temperament propre i la fatigue. lis ont les yeux noirs ct bien fendus, pen de 
barbe, les traits du visage assez agreables." They are complete Negroes, for it is 
added that their complexion is of a fine black, that their hair is black, frizzled, cottony, 
and of extreme fineness. The women are said to be of nearly equal stature with the 
men, and ecpially well made. " Leur visage est d'une douceur extreme. Idles ont les 
yeux noirs, bien fendus, la bouche et les levrcs petites, et les traits du visage bien pro- 
portionnes. II s'cn trouve plusieurs d'une beaute parfaite." Mr. Rankin, a highly 
intelligent traveller, who reports accurately and without prejudice the results of his 
personal observation, has reccndy given a similar testimony in regard to some of the 
numerous tribes of northern Negro-land, who frequent the English colony of Sierra 
Leone. In the skull of the more improved and civilized nations among the woolly- 
haired blacks of Africa, there is comparatively slight deviation from the form which 
may be looked upon as the common type of the human head. We are assured, for 
example, by ^L Golberry, that the loloffs, whose colour is a deep transparent black, 
and who have woolly hair, are robust and well made, and have regular features. Their 
countenances, he says, are ingenuous, and inspire confidence : they are honest, hos- 
pit.able, generous, and faithful. The women are mild, ver\- pretty, well made, and of 
agreeable manners. On the other side of the equinoctial line, the Congo Negroes, 
as Pigafetta declares, have not thick lips or ugly features ; except in colour they are 
very like the Portuguese. Kafirs in South Africa frequently resendile Europeans, as 
many late travellers have declared. It has been the opinion of many that the Kafirs 
ou>;ht to be separated from the Negroes as a distinct branch of the human family. 
This h.as been proved to be an error. In (he conformation of the skull, which is the 
leading character, the Kafirs associate themselves with tlie great majority of woolly 
African nations.' 



' Prichard's Physical History of Mankind, vol. i. pp. 347-J49. 



448 APPENDIX. 

THE NEGROES. 

The Negroes inhabit Africa from the southern margin of the Sahara as far as the 
territory of the Hottentots and Bushmen, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, 
although the extreme east of their domain has been wrested from them by intrusive 
Hamitcs and Semites. Most negroes have high and narrow skulls. According to 
W'ekker the average percentage of width begins at 6S and rises to 78. The variations 
are so great that, among eighteen heads from Equatorial Africa, Barnard Davis found 
no less than four brachycephals. In the majority dolichocephalism is ccmbined with 
a prominence of the upper jaw and an obliijue position of the teeth, yet there are 
whole nations which are purely mesognathous. It is to be regretted that in the opin- 
ion of certain mistaken ethnologists, the negro was the ideal of every thing barbarous 
and beast-like. They endeavoured to deny him any capability of improveitient, and 
even disputed his position as a man. The negro was said to have an oval skull, a 
flat forehead, snout-like jaws, swollen lips, a broad flat nose, short crimped hair, falsely 
called wool, long arms, meagre thighs, caifless legs, highly elongated heels, and flat 
feet. No single tribe, however, possesses all these deformities. The colour of the 
skin passes through every gr.idation, from ebony black, as in the Joloffer.s, to the light 
tint of the niulattoes, as in the Wakilema, and Barth even describes copper-coloured 
negroes in Marghi. As to the skull in many tribes, as in the above mentioned Joloffers, 
the jaws are not prominent, and the lips are not swollen. In some tribes the nose is 
pointed, straight, or hooked; even '" Grecian profiles" are spoken of, and travellers say 
with surprise that they cannot perceive anything of the so-called negro type among the 
negroes. 

According to Paul Broca, the ujjpcr limbs of the negro are comparatively much 
shorter than the lower, and therefore less ape-like than in Europeans, and, although in 
the length of the femur the negro may approximate to the proportions of the ape, he 
differs from them by the shortness of the humerus more than is the case with Euro- 
peans. Undoubtedly narrow and more or less high skulls are prevalent among the 
negroes. But the only persistent char.acter which can be adduced as connnon to all is 
greater or less darkness of skin, that is to say, yellow, copper-red, olive, or dark brown, 
passing into ebony bl.ack. The colour is always browner than that of Southern 
Europe. The hair is generally short, elliptic in section, often split longitudinallv, and 
much crimped. That of the negroes of South Africa, especially of the Kaffirs and 
Betshuans, is matted into tufts, although not in the same degree as that of the Hotten- 
tots. The hair is black, and in old age white, but there are also negroes with red hair, 
red eye-brows, and eye-lashes, and among the Monbuttoo, on the Uelle, Schweinfurth 
even discovered negroes with ashy fair hair. Hair on the body and beards exist, 
though not abundantly; whiskers are rare although not quite unknown. 

The negroes form but a single race, for the predominant as well as the constant 
characters recur in Southern as well as in Central Africa, and it was therefore a mis- 
take to separate the Bantu negroes into a peculiar race. But, according to language, 
the South Africans can well be separated, as a great family, from the Soudan negroes." 



THE RELATION OF PHYSICAL CH.4RACTER TO CLIM.\TE. 

We shall now find, on comparing these several departments with each other, that 
marked differences of physical character, and particularly of complexion, distinguished 
the human races which respectively inhabit them, and that these differences are suc- 
cessive or by gradations. 

* Peschel, The Races of Man, pp. 462-464. 



APPENDIX. 449 

First, Among the people of level countries within the Mediterranean region, includ- 
ing Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Moors, and the Mediterranean islanders, black hair 
with dark" eyes is almost universal, scarcely one person in some hundreds presenting 
an exception to this remark : with this colour of the hair and eyes is conjoined a com- 
])lexion of brownish white, which the French call the colour of brunettes. We must 
observe, that throughout all the zones into which we have divided the European region, 
similar complexions to this of the Mediterranean countries are occasionally seen. 
The qualities, indeed, of climate are not so diverse, but that even the same plants 
are found sporadically in the North of Europe as in the Alps and Pyrenees. 15ut if we 
make a comparison between the prevalent colours of great numbers, we can easily 
trace a succession of shades or of different hues. 

Secondly, In the southernmost of the three zones, to the northward of the PsTeno- 
Alpine line, namely, in the latitude of France, the prevalent colour of the hair is a 
chestnut-brown, to which the complexion and the colour of the eyes bear a certain 
relation. 

Thirdly, In the northern parts of Germany, England, in Denmark, Finland, and a 
great part of Russia, the xanthous variety, .strongly marked, is prevalent. The Danes 
have always been known as a people of florid comjilexion, blue eyes, and yellow hair 
The Hollanders were termed by Silius Italicus, "Auricomi Batavi," the golden-haired 
Batavians ; and Linna;us has defined the Finns as a tribe distinguished by " capillis 
flavis prolixis." 

Fourthly, In the northern division we find the Norwegians and .Swedes to be gen- 
erally tall, white-haired men, with light gray eyes, characters so frequent to the north- 
ward of the Baltic, that I.irmaius has specified them in a definition of the inhabitants 
of Swedish Gothland. We have thus to the northward of Mount Athas, four well- 
marked varieties of human complexion succeeding each other, and in exact accordance 
with the gradations of latitude and of climate from south to north. The people are 
thus far nearly white in the colour of their skin ; but in the more southerly of the three 
regions above defined, with a mixture of brown, or of the complexion of brunettes, or 
such as we term swarthy or sallow persons. 

Fifthly, In the next region, to the southward of Atlas, the native inh.abitants are 
the "gentes sub fusci colons " of Leo, and the immigrant .-Vrabs in the same country 
are, as we have seen by abundant testimonies, of a similar light brown hue, but vary- 
ing between th.at and a perfect black. 

Sixthly, With the tropic and the latitude of the Senegal, begins the region of pre- 
dominant and almost universal black, and this continues, if we confine ourselves to 
the low and plain countries, through all inter-tropical .Xfrica. 

Seventhlv, Beyond this is the country of copper-coloured and red people, who, in 
Kafirland, are the majority, while in inter-tropical Africa there arc but few such tribes, 
and those in countries of mountainous elevation. 

Lastly, Towards the Cape are the tawny Hottentots, .scarcely darker than the Mon- 
goles, whom they resemble in many other particulars besides colour. 

It has long been well known, that as travellers ascend mountains, in whatever 
region, they find the vegetation at every successive level altering its character, and 
assuming a more northern aspect, thus indicating that the state of the atmosphere, 
temperature, and physical agencies in general, assimilate as we approach alpine 
regions, to the peculiarities locally connected with high latitudes. If therefore, com- 
plexions and other bodily qualities belonging to races of men depend upon climate and 
external conditions, we should expect to find them varying in reference to elevation of 
surface, and if they should be found actually to undergo such variations, this will be a 
strong argument that these external characters do, in fact, depend upon local condi- 
tions. Now, if we inquire respecting the physical characters of the tribes inhabiting 
high tracts within either of the regions above marked out, we shall find that they coin- 



450 APPENDIX. 

cide with those which prevail in the level or low parts of more northern tracts. The 
Swiss, in the high mountains above the plains of Lombardy, have sandy or brown hair. 
What a contrast presents itself to the traveller who descends into the Milanese, where 
the peasants have black hair and eyes, with strongly-marked Italian and almost Orien- 
tal features. In the higher parts of the Biscayan country, instead of the swarthy com- 
plexion ar.d black hair of the Castilians, the natives have a fair complexion with 
light-blue eyes and flaxen or auburn hair. And in Atlantica, while the Berbers of the 
plains are of brown complexion with black hair, we have seen that the Shuluh moun- 
taineers are fair, and that the inhabitants of the high tracts of Mons Aurasius are 
completely xanthous, having red or yellow hair and blue eyes, which fancifully, and 
without the shadow of any proof, they have been conjectured to have derived from the 
Vandal troops of Genseric. 

Even in the inter-tropical region, high elevations of surface, as they produce a 
cooler climate, seem to occasion the appearance of light complexions. In the high 
parts of Senegambia, which front the Atlantic, and are cooled by winds from the West- 
ern Ocean, where, in fact, the temperature is known to be moderate and even cool at 
times, the light copper-coloured Frelahs are found surrounded on every side by Negro 
nations inhabiting lower districts ; and nearly in the same parallel, but at the opposite 
side of Africa, are the high plains of Enarea and Kaffa, where the inhabitants are said 
to be fairer than the natives of southern Europe. The Galla and the Abyssmians them- 
selves are, m proportion to the elevation of the country inhabited by them, fairer than 
the natives of low countries ; and lest an exception should be taken to a comp.inson of 
straight-haired races with woolly Negroes or Shungalla, they bear the same comparison 
with the Danakil, Hazorta, and the Eishari tribes, resembling them m their hair and 
features, who inhabit the low tracts between the mountains of Tigre and the shores of 
the Red Sea, and who are equally or nearly as black as Negroes. 

We may find occasion to observe that an equally decided relation e.xists between 
local conditions and the existence of other characters of human races in Africa. 
Those races who have the Negro character in an exaggerated degree, and who may be 
said to approach to deformity in person — the ugliest blacks with depressed foreheads, 
flat noses, crooked legs — are in many instances inhabitants of low countries, often 
of swampy tracts near the sea-coast, where many of them, as the Papels, have scarcely 
any other means of subsistence than shell fish, and the accidental gifts of the sea. In 
many places similar Negro tribes occupy thick forests in the hollows beneath high 
chains of mountains, the summits of which are inhabited by Abyssinian or Ethiopian 
races. The high table-lands of Africa are chiefly, as far as they are known, the abode 
or the wandering places of tribes of this character, or of nations who, like the Kafirs, 
recede very considerably from the Negro type. The Mandingos are, indeed, a Negro 
race inhabiting a high region; but they have neither the depressed forehead nor the 
projecting features considered as characteristic of the Negro race.' 



CHAPTER Vir. 

CITIES OF AFRICA. 



Carthage. The foundation of this celebrated city is ascribed to Elissa, a Tyrian 
princess, better known as Dido; it may therefore be fixed at the year of the world 
315S; when Joash was king of Judah; 98 years before the building of Rome, and 846 



' Prichard, vol. li pp. 334-333- 



APPENDIX. 451 

years before Christ. The king of Tyre, father of the famous Jezebel, called in Scrip- 
ture Ethbaal, was her great-grandfather. She married her near relation Acerbas, also 
called Sicharba.";, or Sichocus, an extremely rich prince ; Pygmalion, king of Tyro, was 
her brother. Pygmalion put Sichsus to death in order that he might have an oppor- 
tunity to seize his immense treasures; but Dido eluded her brother's cruel avarice, by 
secretly conveying awav her deceased husband's possessions. With a large train of 
followers she left her country, and after wandering .some time, landed on the coast of 
Ihc Mediterranean, in Africa ; and located her settlement at the bottom of the gulf, on 
.1 peninsula, near the spot where Tunis now stands. Many of the neighboring people, 
allured bv the prospect of gain, repaired thither to sell to those foreigners the necessa- 
ries of life ; and soon became incorporated with them. The people thus g.athered from 
different places soon grew very numerous. And the citizens of Utica, an .African city 
about fifteen miles distant, considering them as their countrymen, as descended from 
the s.ame common stock, advised them to build a city where they had settled. The 
other natives of the country, from their natural esteem and respect for strangers, like- 
wise encouraged them to the same object. Thus all things conspiring with Dido's 
views, she built her city, which was appointed to pay an annual tribute to the .Africans 
for the ground it stood upon, and called it Carthage — a name that in the Phoenician 
and Hebrew languages, [which have a great affinity,] signifies the " New City." It is 
said that in digging the foundation, a horse's head was found ; which was thought to 
be a good omen, and a presage of the future warlike genius of that people. Carthage 
had the same language and national character as its parent state — Tyre. It became 
at length, particularly at the period of the Punic War, one of the most splendid cities 
in the world ; and had under its dominion 300 cities bordering upon the Mediterranean. 
From the small beginning we h.ive described, Carth.age increased till her population 
numbered 700,000; and the number of her temples and other public buildmgs w.as im- 
mense. Her dominion was not long confined to Africa. Her ambitious inhabitants 
extended their conquest into Europe, by invadiug Sardinia, seizing a great part of 
Sicily, and subduing almost all of Spain. Having sent powerful colonies everywhere, 
they enjoyed the empire of the seas for more than six hundred years ; and formed a 
State which was able to dispute pre-eminence with the greatest empire of the world, by 
their wealth, their commerce, their numerous armies, their formidable fleets, and above 
.all by the courage and ability of their commanders; and .she e.\tended her commerce 
over every part of the known world. A colony of Phoenicians or Ethiopians, known in 
Scripture as Canaanites, settled in Carthage. The Carthaginians settled in Spain and 
Portugal. The first inhabitants of Spain were the Celtx, a people of Gaul ; after them 
the Phccniciatis possessed themselves of the most southern parts of the country, and 
may well be supposed to have been the first civilizers of this kingdom, and the founders 
of the most ancient cities. After these, followed the Grecians; then the Carthagini- 
ans. 

Portugal was anciently called Lusitania, and inh.ibitcd by tribes of wandering 
people, till it became subject to the Carthaginians and Phoenicians, wlio were dispos- 
sessed by the Romans 250 years before Christ. (Rollin.) 

The Carthaginians were masters of all the coast which lies on the Mediterranean, 
and all the country as far as the river Iberus. Their dominions, at the time when 
Hannibal the Great set out for Italy, all the coast of Africa from the .Vrx Philcanorum, 
by the great Syrtis, to the pillars of Hercules was subject to the Carthaginians, who had 
maintained three great wars against the Romans. But the Romans finally prevailed bj- 
carrying the war into Africa, and the last Punic war terminated with the overthrow of 
Carthage. (N'epos, in Vita Annibalis, liv.) 

The celebrated Cyrene was a very powerful city, situated on the Mediterranean, 
towards the greater Syrtis, in .\frica, and had been built by Battus, the Lacedaemonian. 

(ROLLI.V.) 



452 APPENDIX. 

Cyrene. — (Acts xi. 20.) A province and city of Libya. There was anciently a 
PhcEnician colony called Cyrenaica, or "Libya, about Cyrene." (Acts ii. 10.) 

Cy^-cw.— A country west of Egypt, and the birthplace of Callimachus the poet, 
Erato.sthenes the historian, and .Simon who bore the Saviour's cross. Many Jews from 
hence were at the Pentecost, and were converted under Peter's sermon (Acts ii.). The 
region is now under the Turkish power, and has become almost a desert. It is now 
called Cairoan. Some of the Cyrenians were among the earliest Christians (Acts xi. 
20) ; and one of them, it is supposed, was a preacher at Antioch (Acts xiii. 1). We 
find also, that among the most violent opposers of Christianity were the Cvrenians, 
who had a synagogue at Jerusalem, as had those of many other nations. It is said 
there were four hundred and eighty synagogues in Jerusalem. 

Lybia, or Libya (Acts ii. 10), was anciently, among the Greeks, a general name for 
Africa ; but properly it embraced only so much of Africa as lay west of Egypt, on the 
southern coast of the Mediterranean. Profane geographers call it Libya Cyrenaica, 
because Cyrene was its capital. It was the coimtry of the Lubims (2 Chron. xii. 3), 
or Lehabims, of the Old Testament, from which it is supposed to have derived its name. 

The ancient city of Cyrene is now called Cyreune, Cairoan, or Cayran, and lies in 
the dominion of Tripoli. This district of the earth has lately occasioned much inter- 
est among Italian and French geographers. Great numbers of Jews resided here 
(Matt, x.xvii 32). 

Libya, a part of Africa, bordering on Egypt, famous for its armed chariots and 
horses (2 Chron, xvi. 8). 

Ophir, the son of Joktan, gave name to a country in Africa, famous for gold, 
which was renowned even in the time of Job (Job .\xii. 24, xxviii. 16) ; and from the 
time of David to the time of Jehoshaphat the Hebrews traded with it, and Uzziah 
revived this trade when he made himself master of Elath, a noted port on the Red 
Sea. In .Solomon's time, the Hebrew fleet took up three years in their voyage to 
Ophir, and brought home gold, apes, peacocks, spices, ivory, ebony, and almug-trees 
(I Kings ix. 28, .x. 11, xxii. 48, 2 Chron. ix. 10). 

Tars/iish (Isa. xxiii. i), or Tharsish (i Kings .x. 22). It is supposed that some 
place of this name existed on the eastern coast of Africa, or among the southern ports 
of Asia, with which the ships of Hiram and .Solomon traded in gold and silver, ivorv, 
and apes and peacocks (2 Chron. ix. 21). It is said that once in every three vears 
these ships completed a voyage, and brought home their merchandise. Hence, it is 
inferred, the place with which they traded must have been distant from Judea. 

The vessels given by Hiram to Solomon, and tliose built by Jehoshaphat, to go to 
Tarshish, were all launched at Eziongeber, at the northern extremity of the eastern 
gulf of the Red Sea, now called the Gulf of Ahaba (2 Chron. xx. 36). The name of 
Tarshish was from one of the sons of Javan (Gen. -x. 4). 

P/iiit (Gen. X. 6), or Put (Nah. lii. g), was the third son of Ham ; and his descend- 
ants, sometimes called Libyans, are supposed to be the Mauritanians, or Moors of 
modern times. They served the Egyptians and Tyrians as soldiers (Jer. xlvi. 9 ; Ezek. 
.xxvii. 10, XXX. 5, .x.xxviii. 5). 

Pill. A district in Africa, thought by Bochart to be an island in the Nile, not far 
from Syene (Isa. Ixvi. 19). 

Sella (Isa. xliii. 3). A peninsular district of African Ethiopia, deriving its name 
from the eldest son of Cush (Gen. x. 7), who is supposed to have been the progenitor 
of the Ethiopians. It is called Seba by the Hebrews. 



APPENDIX. 453 

CITIES OF ETHIOPIA. 

Ethiopian is a name derived from the " Land of Ethiopia," the first settled countr)- 
before the flood. "The second river that went out of Eden, to water the garden, or 
earth, was Gihon ; the same that encompasseth the whole land, or country, of Ethiopia " 
(Gen. ii. 13). Here Adam and his posterity built their tents and tilled the ground 
(Gen. iii. 23, 24). 

The first city was Enoch, built before the flood, in the land of Xud, on the ea.s^ of 
Eden, — a country now called .Vrabia. Cain, the son of Adam, went out of Eden, and 
dwelt ill the land of Nod. We suppo.se, according to an ancient custom, he married 
his sister ; and she bare Enoch. And Cain built a city, and called the name of the city 
after the name of his son, Enoch (Gen. iv. 16, 17). We know there must have been 
more than Cain and his. son Enoch in the land of Nod, to build a city, but who were 
thcv .' . . . (Mai.com's Bii/e Dii/ioiia/y) 

The first great city described in ancient and sacred history was built by the Cush- 
ites, or Ethiopians. They surrounded it with walls, which, according to Rollin, were 
eighty-seven feet in thickness, three hundred and fifty feet in height, and four hundred 
and eighty furlongs in circumference. And even this stupendous work they shortly 
after eclipsed by another, of which Diodorus says, " Never did any city come up to the 
greatness and magnificence of this." 

It is a fact well attested by history, that the Ethiopians once bore sway, not only 
in all Africa, but over almost all ."Vsia; and it is said that even two continents could 
not afford field enough for the e.tpansion of their energies. 

"They found their w,ay into Europe, and built a city on the western coast of Spain, 
called by them Iberian Ethiopia." " And," says a distinguished writer, " wherever 
they went, they were rewarded for their wisdom." 

TiiK Towns OF Rahei.. .^Nimrod, the son of Cush, an Ethiopian, attempted to 
build the Tower of Habel (Gen. x. S-io, .\i. 4-9). One hundred and two years after 
the flood, in the land of Shinar — an e.xtensive and fertile plain, lying between Meso- 
jjotamia on the west and Persia on the east, and watered by the Euphrates, — mankind 
being all of one langu.age, one color, and one religion, — they agree to erect a tower of 
prodigious e.vtent and height. Their design was not to secure themselves against a 
second deluge, or they would have built their tower on a high mountain ; but to get 
themselves a famous character, and to prevent their dispersion by the erection of a 
monument which should be visible from a great distance. No quarries being found 
in that alluvial soil, they made bricks for stone, and used slime for mortar. Their 
haughty and rebellious attempt displeased the Lord; and after they had worked, it is 
said, twenty-two years, he confounded their langu.age. This effectually stopped the 
building, procured it the name of Babel, or Confusion, and obliged some of the off- 
spring of Noah to disperse themselves and replenish the world. The tower of B.abcl 
w.as in sight from the great city of Babylon. Nimrod was a hunter and monarch of 
vast ambition. When he rose to be king of Babylon he re-peopled Babel, which had 
been desolate since the confusion of tongues ; but did not dare to attempt the finishing 
of the tower. The Scriptures inform us, he became "mighty upon earth:" but the 
extent of his conquests is not known. (M.vlcom's Bible Dictionary.) 

The private houses, in most of the ancient cities, were simple in external appear- 
ance ; but exhibited, in the interior, all the splendor and elegance of refined luxury. 
The floors were of marble ; ahabaster and gilding were displayed on every side. In 
every great house there were .several fountains, playing in magnificent basins. The 
smallest house had three pipes, — one for the kitchen, another for the garden, and a 
third for washing. The same magnificence was displayed in the mosques, churches, 
and coffeehouses. The environs presented, at all seasons of the year, a pleasing ver- 
dure, and contained extensive series of gardens and villas. 



454 APPENDIX. 

The Great and Splendid City of Babylon. — This city was founded by 
Nimrod, about 2,247 years B.C., in tlie land of Shinar, or Chaldea, and made the capi- 
tal of his kingdom. It was probably an inconsiderable place, until it was enlarged and 
embellished by Semiramis; it then became the most magnificent city in the world, sur- 
passing even Nineveh in glory. The circumference of both these cities was the same ; 
but the walls which surrounded Babylon were twice as broad as the walls of Nineveh, 
and having a hundred brass gates. The city of Babylon stood on the river Euphrates, 
by which it was divided into two parts, eastern and western ; and these were connected 
by a cedar bridge of wonderful construction, uniting the two divisions. Quays of beau- 
tiful marble adorned the banks of the river ; and on one bank stood the magnificent 
Temple of Belus, and on the other the Queen's Palace. These two edifices were con- 
nected by a passage under the bed of the river. This city was at least forty-five miles 
m circumference ; and would, of course, include eight cities as large as London and its 
appendages. It was laid out in si.\ hundred and twenty-five squares, formed by the 
intersection of twenty-five streets at right angles. The walls, which were of brick, 
were three hundred and fifty feet high, and eighty-seven feet broad. A trench sur- 
rounded the city, the sides of which were lined with brick and waterproof cement. 
This city was famous for its hanging gardens, constructed by one of its kings, to please 
his queen. She was a Persian, and was desirous of seeing meadows on mountains, as 
in her own country. She prevailed on him to raise artificial gardens, adorned with 
meadows and trees. For this purpose, vaulted arches were raised from the ground, 
one above another, to an almost inconceivable height, and of a magnificence and strength 
suflicient to support the vast weight of the whole garden. Babylon was a great com- 
mercial city, and traded to all parts of the earth then known, in all kinds of merchan- 
dise ; and she likewise traded in slaves, and the souls of men. For her sins she has 
been blotted from existence, — even her location is a,.matter of supposition. Great 
was Babylon of old ; in merchandise did she trade, and in souls. For her sins she 
thus became blotted from the sight of men. 



THE ETHIOPIAN KINGS OF EGYPT. 

1. Males was the first king of Egypt. We have accounts of but one of his success- 
ors— Timans, during the first period, a space of more than two centuries. 

2. Shishak was king of Ethiopia, and doubtless of Egypt. After his death 

3. Zerah the son of Judah became king of Ethiopia, and made himself master of 
Egypt and Libya ; and intending to add Judea to his dominions made war upon Asa 
king of Tudea. His army consisted of a million of men, and three hundred chariots 
of war [1 Chron. xiv. 9). 

4. Sabachus, an Ethiopian, king of Ethiopia, being encouraged by an oracle, en- 
tered Egypt with a numerous army, and possessed himself of the country. He reigned 
with great clemency and justice. It is believed, that this Sabachus was the same with 
Solomon, whose aid was implored by Ilosea king of Israel, against Salmanaser king 
of Assyria. 

5. Sethoti reigned fourteen years. He is the same with Sabachus, or Savechus the 
son of Sabacan or Saul the Ethiopian who reigned so long over Egypt. 

6. Tharaca, an Ethiopian, joined Sethon, with an Ethiopian army to relieve Jeru- 
salem. After the death of Sethon, who had filled the Egyptian throne fourteen years, 
Tharaca ascended the throne and reigned eight years over Egypt. 

7. Scsach or Shishak was the king of Egypt to whom Jeroboam fled to avoid 



APPENDIX. 455 

death at the hands of king Solomon. Jeroboam was entertained till the death of 
Solomon, when he returned to Judca and was made king of Israel. (2 Chron. .\i. and 
xii.) 

This Scsach, in the fifth year of the reign of Rohoboam marched against Jeru- 
salem, because the Jews had transgressed against the Lord. He came with twelve 
hundred chariots of war, and sixty thousand horses. He had brought numberless 
multitudes of people, who were all Libyans, Troglodytes, and Ethiopians. He seized 
upon all the strongest cities of Judah, and advanced as far as Jerusalem. Then the 
king, and the princes of Israel, having humbled themselves, and implored the protection 
of the God of Israel, he told them, by his prophet Shemaiah, that, because they hum- 
bled themselves, he would not utterly destroy them, as they had deserved ; but that 
they should be the servants of Sesach ; in order that they might kiicnu the difference of 
his s,-nice, and the service of the kins^doms of the country. Sesach retired from Jeru- 
salem, after having plundered the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's 
house; he carried off everything with him, ««(/ even also the three hundred shields of 
gold which Solovton had made. 

The following are the kings of Egypt mentioned in Scripture by the common ap- 
pellation of Pharaoh : — 

8. Psammetichus. — As this prince owed his preservation to the lonians and 
Carians, he settled them in Egypt, from which all foreigners hitherto had been ex- 
cluded; and, bv assigning them sufficient lands and fixed revenues, he made them forget 
their native country. By his order, Egyptian children were put under their care to 
learn the Greek tongue ; and on this occasion, and by this means, the Egyptians began 
to have a correspondence with the Greeks ; and, from that era, the Egyptian history, 
which till tlicn had been intermixed with pompous fables, by the artifice of the priests, 
begins, according to Herodotus, to speak with greater truth and certainty. 

As soon as Psammetichus was settled on the throne, he engaged in a war against 
the king of Assyria, on account of the limits of the two empires. This war was of 
long continuance. Ever since Syria had been conquered by the Assyrians, Palestine, 
being the only country that separated the two kingdoms, was the subject of continual 
discord : as afterwards it was between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidie. They 
were perpetually contending for it, and it was alternately won by the stronger. Psam- 
metichus, seeing himself the peaceable possessor of all Egypt, and having restored the 
ancient form of government, thought it high time for him to look to his frontiers, and 
to secure them against the Assyrian, his neighbour, whose power increased daily. For 
this purpose he entered Palestine at the head of an army. 

Perhaps we are to refer to the beginning of this war, an incident related by 
Diodorus ; that the Egyptians, provoked to see the Greeks posted on the right wing 
by the king himself in preference to them, quitted the service, being upwards of two 
hundred thousand men, and retired into Ethiopia, where they met with an advantageous 
settlement. 

Be this as it will, Psammetichus entered Palestine, where his career was stopped 
by Azotus, one of the principal cities of the country, which gave him so much trouble, 
that he was forced to besiege it twenty-nine years before he could take it. This is the 
longest siege mentioned in ancient history. Psammetichus died in the 24th year of the 
reign of Josiah king of Judah; and was succeeded by his son Ncchoa or Necho — in 
Scriptures frequently called Pharaoh Necho. 

9. iVechao or Pharaoh-Necho reigned sixteen years king of Egypt, (2 Chron. xxxv. 
20,) whose expeditions are often mentioned in profane history. 

The Babylonians and Medes having destroyed Nineveh, and with it the empire of 
the .\ssvrians, were thereby become so formidable, that they drew upon themselves the 
jealousv of all their neighbours. Nechao, alarmed at the danger, advanced to the 
Euphrates, at the head of a powerful army, in order to check their progress. Josiah, 



456 



APPENDIX. 



king of Judah, so famous for liis uncommon piety, observing that he took his route 
through Judea, resolved to oppose his passage. With this view he raised all the forces 
of his kingdom, and posted himself in the valley of Megiddo (a city on this side of 
Jordan, belonging to the tribe of Manasseh, and called Magdolus by Herodotus). 
Nechao informed him by a herald, that his enterprise was not designed against him ; 
that he had other enemies in view, and that he had undertaken this war in the name of 
God, who was with him; that for this reason he advised Josiah not to concern himself 
with this war for fear it otherwise should turn to his disadvantage. However, Josiah 
was not moved by these reasons ; he was sensible that the bare march of so powerful 
an army through Judea would entirely ruin it. And besides, he feared that the victor, 
after the defeat of the Babylonians, would fall upon him and dispossess him of part of 
his dominions. He therefore marched to engage Nechao ; and was not only overthrown 
by him, but unfortunately received a wound of which he died at Jerusalem, whither he 
had ordered himself to be carried. 

Nechao, animated by this victory, continued his march and advanced towards the 
Euphrates. He defeated the Babylonians ; took Carchemish, a large city in that coun- 
try ; and securing to himself the possession of it by a strong garrison, returned to his 
own kingdom after having been absent three months. 

Being informed in his march homeward, that Jehoaz had caused himself to be pro- 
claimed king at Jerusalem, without first asking his consent, he commanded him to 
meet him at Riblah in Syria. The unhappy prince was no sooner arrived there than 
he was put in chains by Nechao's order, and sent prisoner to Egypt, where he died. 
From thence, pursuing his march, he came to Jerusalem, where he gave the sceptre to 
Eliakim (called by him Jehoiakim), another of Josiah's sons, in the room of his 
brother ; and imposed an annual tribute on the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and 
one talent of gold. This being done, he returned in triumph to Egypt. 

Herodotus, mentioning this king's expedition, and the victory gained by him at 
Magdolus, (as he calls it,) says that he afterwards took the city Cadytis, which he repre- 
sents as situated in the mountains of Palestine, and equal in extent to Sardis, the capi- 
tal at that time not only of Lydia, but of all Asia Minor. This description can suit 
only Jerusalem, which was situated in the manner above described, and was then the 
only city in those parts that could be compared to Sardis. It appears besides, from 
Scripture, that Nechao, after his victory, made himself master of this capital of Judea ; 
for he was there in person, when he gave the crown to Jehoiakim. The very name 
Cadytis, which in Hebrew, signifies the holy, points clearly to the city of Jerusalem, as 
is proved by the learned dean Prideaux. 

10. Psammis. — His reign was but of six years' duration, and history has left us 
nothing memorable concerning him, e.xcept that he made an e.xpedition into Ethi- 
opia. 

11. Apries. — In Scripture he is called Pharaoh-Hophra ; and, succeeding his father 
Psammis, reigned twenty-five years. 

During the first year of his reign, he was as happy as any of his predecessors. He 
carried his arms into Cyprus ; besieged the city of Sidon by sea and land ; took it, and 
made himself master of all Phoenicia and Palestine. 

So rapid a success elated his heart to a prodigious degree, and, as Herodotus 
informs us, swelled him with so much pride and infatuation, that he boasted it was not 
in the power of the gods themselves to dethrone him ; so great was the idea he had 
formed to himself of the firm establishment of his own power. It was with a view to 
these arrogant conceits, that Ezekiel put the vain and impious words following into his 
mouth : Aly river is mine tnuti, and I have viade it for myself. But the true God proved 
to him afterwards that he had a master, and that he was a mere man ; and he had 
threatened him long before, by his prophets, with all the calamities he was resolved to 
bring upon him, in order to punish him for his pride. 



APPENDIX. 45 7 

12. Amasis. — After the death of Apries, Amasis became peaceable possessor of 
Kgypt, and reigned over it forty years. He was, according to I'lato, a native of the 
city of Sais. 

As he was but of mean extr.iction, he met with no respect, anil was contemned by 
his subjects in the beginning of his reign. He was not insensible of this; but never- 
theless thought it his interest to subdue their tempers by an artful carriage, and to win 
their affection by gentleness and reason. He had a golden cistern, in which himself, 
and those persons who were admitted to his table, used to wash their feet ; he melted 
it down, and had it cast into a statue, and then exposed the new god to public worship. 
The people hastened in crowds to pay their adorations to the statue. The king, having 
assembled the people, informed them of the vile uses to which this statue had once 
been put, which nevertheless was now the object of their religious prostrations: the 
application was easy, and had the desired success; the people thenceforward paid the 
king all the respect that is due to majesty. 

He alwaj-s used to devote the whole morning to public affairs, in order to receive 
petitions, give audience, pronounce sentences, and hold his councils : the rest of the day 
was given to pleasure ; and as Amasis, in hours of diversion, was extremely gay, and 
seemed to carry his mirth beyond due bounds, his courtiers took the liberty to repre- 
sent to him the unsuitablencss of such a behaviour; when he answered that it was 
impossible for the mind to be always serious and intent u|iun business, as for a bow to 
continue always bent. 

It was this king who obliged the inhabitants of every town to enter their n.im^s in 
a book kept by the magistrates for that purpose, with their profession and manner of 
living. Solon inserted this custom among his laws. 

He built many magnificent temples, especially at Sais the place of his birth. 
1 lerodotus admired esjjecially a chapel there, formed of one single stone, and which was 
iwcnty-one cubits in front, fourteen in depth, and eight in height; its dimensions within 
were not cpiite so large ; it had been brought from Elephantina, and two thousand men 
were employed three years in conveving it along the Nile. 

Amasis h.id a great esteem for the Greeks. He granted them large privileges; 
and permitted such of them as were desirous of settling in Egypt to live in the city of 
Naucratis, so famous for its harbour. When the rebuilding of the temple of Delphi, 
which had been burnt, was debated on, and the cx|)ense was computed at three hundred 
talents, Amasis furnished the Delphians with a very considerable sum towards dis- 
charging their (piota, which was the fourth part of the whole charge. 

He made an alliance with the Cyrenians, and married a wife from among them. 

He is the only king of Egypt who contpiered the island of tjyprus, and made it 
Iributarv. Under his reign Pythagoras came into Egi,pt, being recommended to that 
monarch by the famous Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, who had contracted a friendship 
with Amasis, and will be mentioned hereafter. Pythagoras, during his .stay in Egypt, 
was initiated in all the mysteries of the country, and instructed by the priests in what- 
ever was most abstruse and important in their religion. It was here he imbibed his 
doctrine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls. 

In the expedition in which Cyrus concjuered so great a jiart of the world, Egypt 
doubtless was subdued, like the rest of the provinces; and Xenophon positively de- 
clares this in the beginning of his Cyrop^edia, or institution of th.at prince. Probably, 
after that the forty years of desolation, which had been foretold by the prophet, were 
expired, Egypt beginning gradually to recover itself, Amasis shook off the yoke, and 
recovered his liberty. 

Accordingly we find, that one of the first cares of Cambyses, the .son of Cyrus, 
alter he had ascended the throne, was to carry his arms into Egypt. On his arrival 
there, Amasis w.as just dead, and succeeded by his son Psammetus. 

13. Ramests Miamuri, according to Archbishop Usher, was the name of this king. 



458 APPENDIX. 

who is called Pharaoh in Scripture. He reigned sixty-six years, and oppressed the 
Israelites in a most grievous manner. He set over them taskmasters^ to afflict them with 
their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithon and Raanises. And 
the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigour, and they ?nade their lives 
bitter with hard bondage, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the 
field ; all their service wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. This king had 
two sons, Amenophis and Busiris. 

14. Amenophis, the eldest, succeeded him. He was the Pharaoh under whose 
reign the Israelites departed out o£ Egypt, and who was drowned in his passage 
through the Red Sea. Archbishop Usher says, that Amenophis left two sons, one 
called Sesothis, or Sesostris, and the other Arniais. The Greeks call him Belus, and 
his two sons, Egyptus and Danaus. 

15. Sesostris was not only one of the most powerful kings of Egypt, but one of the 
greatest conquerors that antiquity boasts of. He was at an advanced age sent by his 
father against the Arabians, in order that, by fighting with them, he might acquire mili- 
tary knowledge. Here the young prince learned to bear hunger and thirst, and sub- 
dued a nation which till then had never been conquered. The youth educated with 
him, attended him in all his campaigns. 

Accustomed by this conquest to martial toils he was next sent by his father to try 
his fortune westward. He invaded Libya, and subdued the greatest part of that vast 
continent. 

His army consisted of six hundred thousand foot, and twenty thousand horse, be- 
sides twenty thousand armed chariots. 

He invaded Ethiopia, and obliged the nations of it to furnish him annually with a 
certain quantity of ebony, ivory, and gold. 

He had fitted out a fleet of four hundred sail, and ordering it to sail to the Red 
Sea, made himself master of the isles and cities lying on the coast of that sea. After 
having spread desolation through the world for nine years, he returned, laden with the 
spoils of the vanquished nations. A hundred famous temples, raised as so many mon- 
uments of gratitude to the tutelar gods of all the cities, were the first, as well as the 
most illustrious testimonies of his victories. 

16. Pheron succeeded Sesostris in his kingdom, but not in his glory. He probably 
reigned fifty years. 

17. Proteus was son of Memphis, and according to Herodotus, must have suc- 
ceeded the first — since Proteus lived at the time of the siege of Troy, which, accord- 
ing to Usher, was taken An. IMun. 2820. 

18. Rhampsinitus who was richer than any of his predecessors, built a treasury. 
Till the reign of this king, there had been some shadow at least of justice and modera- 
tion in Egypt ; but, in the two following reigns, violence and cruelty usurped their place. 

19. 20. Cheops and Cephrenus, reigned in all one hundred and six years. Cheops 
reigned fifty years, and his brother Cephrenus fifty-six years after him. They kept the 
temples closed during the whole time of their long reign ; and forbid the offerings of 
sacrifice under the severest penalties. They oppressed their subjects. 

21. Mycerinus the son of Cheops, reigned but seven years. He opened the tem- 
ples ; restored the sacrifices ; and did all in his power to comfort his subjects, .and make 
them forget their past miseries. 

22. Asychis one of the kings of Egypt. He valued himself for having surpassed 
all his predecessors, by building a pyramid of brick, more magnificent, than any hither- 
to seen. 

23. Busiris. built the famous city of Thebes, and made it the se.at of his empire. 
This prince is not to be confounded with Busirus, so infamous for his cruelties. 

24. Osymandyas, raised many magnificent edifices, in which were exhibited sculp- 
tures and paintings of exquisite beauty. 



APPENDIX. 459 

25. Uchoretii, one of the successors of Osymandyas, built the city of NFemphis. 
This city was 150 furlongs, or more than seven leagues in circumference, and stood at 
the point of the Delta, in that part where the Nile divides itself into several branches 
or streams. A city so advantageously situated, and so strongly fortified, became soon 
the usual residence of the lOgyptian kings. 

26. Thelhmosis or Amosis, having c.\pelled the Sliejihcrd kings, reigned in Lower 
Egypt.' 



CHAPTHR Vlir. 

AFRICAN LANGUAGES. 



In the language of the Kafirs, for example, not only the cases but the numbers 
and genders of nouns are formed entirely by prefi.xcs, analogous to articles. The pre- 
fixes vary according to number, gender and case, while the nouns remain unaltered e.x- 
cept by a merely euphonic change of the initial letters. Thus, in Coptic, from sheri, 
a son, comes the plural tuii-s/uri, the sons; from sori, accusation, haii-sori, accusa- 
tions. Analogous to this we have in the Kafir ama marking the plural, as amakosah 
the plural of kosah, amahashe the plural of iliashc, iusaiia the plural of iisaiia. The 
Kafir has a great variety of similar prefixes ; they are equally numerous in the lan- 
guage of Kongo, in which, as in the Coptic and the Kafir, the genders, numbers, and 
cases of nouns are almost solely distinguished by similar prefixes. 

"The Kafir language is distinguished by one peculiarity which in\mcdiatcly strikes 
a student whose views of language have been formed upon the examples afforded by 
the infiectcd Languages of ancient and modern liurope. With the exception of a 
change of termination in the ablative case of the noun, and five changes of which the 
verb is susceptible in its principal tenses, the whole business of declension, conjug.> 
tion, &c., is carried on by prefixes, and by the changes which take place in the inithal 
letters or sylhables of words subjected to grammatical government."^ 

Resources are not yet in existence for instituting a general comparison of the 
languages of Africa. Many years will probably elapse before it will be possible to 
produce such an analysis of these languages, investigated in their grannnatical struc- 
ture, as it is desirable to possess, or even to compare them by extensive collections of 
well-arranged vocabularies, after the manner of Klaproth's Asia I'olyglotta. Suffi- 
cient data however are extant, and I trust that I have .adduced evidence to render it 
extremely probable that a principle of analogy in structure prevails extensively among 
the native idioms of .'\frica. They are probably allied, not in the manner or degree in 
which Semitic or Indo-Euro])eaii idioms resemble each other, but by strong analogies 
in their general principles of structure, which may be compared to those discoverable 
between the individual members of two other great classes of languages, by no means 
connected among themselves by what is called family relation. I allude to the mono- 
syllabic and the polysynthetic languages, the former prevalent in Eastern Asia, the 
latter throughout the vast regions of the New World. If we have sufficient evidence 
for constituting such a class of dialects under the title of African languages, we have 
likewise reason — and it is equal in degree — for associating in this class the language 
of the ancient Egyptians.^ 

That the written Ahyssiniait language, which we call Efhiofick, is a dialect of 
old CkaUean, an<l sister of Arabick and Hcbmu ; we know with certainty, not only 
from the great multitude of identical words, but (which is a far stronger proof) from 

' Rollin, vol. i. pp. 129-147. ^ Kafir Grammar, p. 3. ■> Prichard, vol. ii. pp. 216, 217. 



460 



APPENDIX. 



the similar grammatical arrangement of the several idioms : we know at the same time, 
that it is written like all the Indian characters, from the left hand to the right, and that 
the vowels are annexed, as in Devanagari, to the consonants; with which they form a 
syllabick system extremely clear and convenient, but disposed in a less artificial order 
than the system of letters now exhibited in the Sanscrit grammars; whence it mav 
justly be inferred, that the order contrived by Panini or his disciples is comparatively 
modern; and I have no doubt, from a cursory examination of many old inscriptions on 
pillars and in caves, which have obligingly been sent to me from all parts of India, 
that the Nagari and Etiiiopean letters had at first a similar form. It has long been my 
opinion, tliat tlie Abyssinians of the Arabian stock, having no symbols of their own to 
represent articulate sounds, borrowed those of the black pagans, whom the Greeks call 
Troglodytes, from their primeval habitations in natural caverns, or in moimtaiiis exca- 
vated by their own labour : they were probably the first inhabitants of Aj'riea, where 
they became in time the builders of magnificent cities, the founders of seminaries for 
the advancement of science and philosophy, and the inventors (if thev were not rather 
the importers) of symbolical characters. I believe on the whole, that the Ethiops of 
Merof were the same people with the first Egyptians, and consequently, as it might 
easily be shown, with the original Hindus. To the ardent and intrepid Mr. Bruce, 
whose travels are to my taste, uniformally agreeable and satisfactory, though he thifiks 
very differently from me on the language and genius of the Arabs, we are indebted for 
more important, and, I believe, more accurate information concerning the nations 
established near the A'ile, from its fountains to its mouths, than all Europe united could 
before have supplied ; but, since he has not been at the pains to compare the seven 
languages, of which he has exhibited a specimen, and since I have not leisure to make 
the comparison, I must be satisfied with observing, on his authority, that the dialects 
of the Gafots and the Galias, the Ago-urs of both races, and the Fa/asiias, who must 
originally have used a Chaldean idiom, were never preserved in writing, and the 
Amharick only in modern times : they must, therefore, have been for ages in fluctua- 
tion, and can lead, perhaps, to no certain conclusion as to the origin of the several 
tribes who anciently spoke them. It is very remarkable, as Mr. Bruce and Mr. Bry- 
ant have proved, that the Greeks gave the appellation of Indians both to the southern 
nations of A/rick and to the people, among whom we now live ; nor is it less observ- 
able, that, according to Ephorus, quoted by Strabo, they called all the southern 
nations in the world Ethiopians, thus using Indian and Ethiop as convertible terms : 
but we must leave the gymnosophists of Ethiopia, who seemed to have professed the 
doctrines of BuDDH.\, and enter the great Indian ocean, of which their Asiatiek and 
African brethren were probably the first navigators.' 



SHERBRO MISSION-DISTRICT, WESTERN AFRIC.\. 

Western Africa is one of the most difficult mission-fields in the entire heathen 
world. The low condition of the people, civilly, socially, and religiously, and the 
deadlv climate to foreigners, make it indeed a hard field to cultivate. I am fully pre- 
pared to indorse what Rev. F. Fletcher, in charge of Wesleyan District, Gold Coast, 
wrote a few months ago in the following language: "The Lord's work in western 
Africa is as wonderful as it is deadly. In the last forty years more than 120 mission- 
aries have fallen victims to that climate ; but to-day the converts to Christianity num- 
ber at least 30,000, many of whom are true Christians. In this district we have 6,ooa 

* Asmtic Researcties, vol. iii. pp. 4, 5. 



APPENDIX. 461 

ohurch-members ; and thongli they are poor, last year they gave over 5,000 dollars for 
evangelistic and educational work. 

" Shcrliro Mission now has four stations and chapels and over forty appointments, 
112 church-inembers, 164 seekers of religion, 75 acres of clear land, with carpenter, 
blacksmith, and tailor shops, in and upon which, twenty-five boys arc taught to labor, 
and where eleven girls are taught to do all ordinary house work and sewing, with its 
lour day and Sunday-schools, 212 in the former and more than that number in the lat- 
ter, and with an intluencc for good that now reaches the whole Sherbro tribe, embra- 
cing a country at least fifty miles square and containing about 15,000 people. The seed 
sown is taking deep root there, and the harvest is rapidly ripening, when thousands of 
souls will be garnered for heaven. Surely we ought to thank God for past success and 
resolve to do much more for that needy country in the future. 

" We now have Revs. Gomer, Wilberforce, Kvans, and their wives, all excellent mis- 
sionaries, from America; then Revs. Sawyer, Hero. Pratt, and their wives, Mrs. Lucy 
Caulker, and other native laborers, all of whom are doing us good service. With 
these si.t ordained ministers, and twice that number of teachers and helpers, who are 
devoting all their time to the mission, the work is going forward gloriously. Still, 
there should be new stations opened and more laborers sent out immediately." ' 



|3art 131. 
SLAVERY IN THE COLONIES. 



CHAPTER XV. 

CONDITION OF SLAVES IN M.\SSACH USETTS. 

TllK following incmor.andum in Judge Sewall's letter-book was called forth by 
Samuel Smith, murderer of his Negro slave at Sandwich. It illustrates the deplorable 
condition of servants at that time in Massachusetts, and shows Judge Sewall to have 
been a man of great humanity. 

"The poorest Boys and Girls in this Province, -such as are of the lowest Condition; 
whether they be English, or Indians, or Ethiopians: They have the same Right to 
Religion and Life, that the Richest Heirs h.ave. 

" .'Vnd they who go r.bout to dejirive them of this Rigl.t, they attempt the bom- 
barding of HEAVEN, and the Shells they throw, will fall down upon their own heads. 

" Mr Justice Davenport, Sir, upon your desire, I have sent you these Quotations, 

.and my o-,on Sentiments. I pray GOD, the Giver and Guardian of Life, to give his 

gracious Direction to you, and the other Justices; and take leave, who am your 

brother and most humble servant, 

" Samuel Sewall. 

"Boston, July 20, 1719. 

" I inclosed also the selling of Joseph, and my E.xtract out of the Athenian Oracle. 
" To Addington Davenport, Esq., etc., going to Judge Sam'l. Smith of Sandwitch, 
for killing his Negro." ' 

* Twenty -fifth Annual Report, United Brethren, iSSi. 

* Slavery in ALiss., pp. 96, 97. 



462 APPENDIX. 

Petition of Slaves in Boston. 

On the ^3d of June, 1773, the following petition was presented to the General Court 
of Massachusetts, which was read, and referred to the next session: — 

PETITION OF SLAVES IN BOSTON. 

Pruvin'ce of Massachusetts Bay. 

To His Excellency, Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., Gaz'ernor — 

" To the Honorable, His Majesty's Council, and to the Honorable House of Rep- 
resentatives, in general court assembled at Boston, the 6th day of January, 1773: — 
The humble petition of many slaves living in the town of Boston, and other towns in 
the province, is this, namely ; — 

That Your E.\cellency and Honors, and tlie Honorable the Representatives, would 
be pleased to take their unhappy state and condition under your wise and just con- 
sideration. ■ 

We desire to bless God, who loves mankind, who sent his Son to die for their sal- 
vation, and who is no respecter of persons, that he hath lately put it into the hearts of 
multitudes, on l)oth sides of the water, to bear our burthens, some of whom are men 
of great note and influence, who have pleaded our cause with arguments, which we 
hope will have their weight with this Honorable Court. 

We presume not to dictate to Your E.xcellency and Honors, being willing to rest 
our c'l-use on your humanity and justice, yet would beg leave to say a word or two on 
the subject. 

Although some of the negroes are vicious, (who, doubtless, may be punished and 
restrained by the same laws which are m force against others of the King's subjects,) there 
are many others of a quite different character, and who, if made free, would soon be 
able, as well as willing, to bear a part in the public charges. Many of them, of good 
natural jjarts, are discreet, sober, honest and industrious; and may it not be said of 
many, that they are virtuous and religious, although their condition is in itself so un- 
friendly to religion, and every moral virtue, except /'iitience ? How many of that num- 
ber have there been and now are, in this province, who had every day of their lives 
embittered with this most intolerable reflection, that, let their behavior be what it will, 
neither they nor their children, to all generations, shall ever be able to do or to possess 
and enjoy any thing — no, not even li/'e itself — but in a manner as the beasts that 
perish ! 

We have no property! we have no wives! we have no children! we have no city! 
no country ! IJut we have a Father in heaven, and we are determined, as far as his 
grace shall enable us, and as far as our degraded condition and contemptuous life will 
admit, to keep all his commandments; especially will we be obedient to our masters, 
so long as God, in his sovereign providence, shall suffer its to be holden m bondage. 

It would be impudent, if not presumptuous, in us to suggest to Your E.xcellency 
and Honors, any law or laws proper to be made in relation to our unhappy state, which 
although our greatest unhappiness, is not ouv fault , and this gives us great encourage- 
ment to pray and hope for such relief as is consistent with your wisdom, justice and 
goodness. 

We think ourselves very ha])pv, that we may thus address the great and general 
court of this province, which great and good court is to us the best judge, under God. 
of what is wise, just and good. 

We humbly beg leave to add but this one thing more : we pray for such relief only, 
which by no possibility can ever be productive of the least wrong or injury to our 
masters, but to us will be as life from the dead.' 

^ Nell, pp. 39-41. 



APPENDIX. 46J 



CHAPTER XII I. 

THE COLONY OF NEW YORK. 

1693, August 2ist. — All Iiulinns, Negroes, and otlicrs not "listed in tlie militia," 
arc ordered to work on the fortification for repairing the same, to be under the com- 
mand of the captains of the wards they inhabit. And /^loo to be raised for the fortifi- 
cations. 

1722, February 20th. — A law passed by the common council of New Vork, "re- 
straining slaves, negroes, and Indians from gaming with moneys." If found gaming 
with any sort of money, " copper pennies, copper halfpence, or copper farthings," they 
shall be publickly whipped at the publick whipping-post of this city, at the di^cretion 
of the mayor, recorder, and aldermen, or any one of them, unless the owner pay to the 
church-wardens for the poor, 3s. 

1731, November iSth. — If more than three negro, mulatto, or Indian slaves assem- 
ble on .Sunday and play or make noise, (or at any other time at any place from their 
masters service,) they are to be publickly whipped fifteen laslics at the publitk whip- 
ping-post. 



NEW YORK. 



Negro sl.avery, a favorite measure with England, was rapidly extending its bane- 
ful influence in the colonies. The American Register, of I76(), gives the number of 
negroes brought in slavery from the coast of .'\frica, between Cape Ulanco and the river 
Congo, by different nations in one year, thus: Great Britain, 53.100; IJritish Ameri- 
cans, 6,300; France, 23,520; Holland, 11,300; Portugal, 1,700; Denmark, 1,200; in all, 
104,(00, bought by barter for European and Indian manufacturers, — ^I5stcrling being 
the average price given for each negro. Thus we see that more than one-half of the 
wretches who were kidnapped, or torn by force from their homes by the agents of 
European merchants (for such those who supply the market must be considered), were 
sacrificed to the cupidity of the merchants of Great Britain : the traffic encouraged by 
the government at the same time th.it the boast is sounded through the world, that the 
moment a slave touches the sacred soil, governed by those who encourage the slave- 
makers, and inhabited by those who revel in the profits derived from murder, he is free- 
Somerset, the negro, is liberated by the court of king's bench, in 1772, and the world is 
tilled with the fame of English justice and humanity! James Grahame tells us that 
Somerset's case was not the first in which the judges of Great Britain counteracted in 
one or two c.ises the practical inhumanity of the government and the people : he s.ays. 
that in 1762, his grandfather, Thomas Grahame, judge of the admiralty court of Glas- 
gow, liberated a negro slave imported into Scotland. 

It was in vain that thg colonists of America protested against the practice of slave 
dealing. The governors appointed by England were instructed to encounige it; and 
when the assemblies enacted laws to prohibit the inhuman traffic, they were annulled 
by the vetoes of the governors. With such encouragement, the reckless and avari- 
cious among the colonists engaged in the trade; and the slaves were purchased when 
brought to the colonies by those who were blind to the evil, or preferred present ease 
or profit to all future good. I'aley, the moralist, thought the American Revolution w.-is 
designed by I'rovidence, to put .an end to the slave-trade, and to show that a nation 
encouraging it was not fit to be intrusted with the government of extensive colonies. 
But the planter of the Southern States have discovered, since made free bv that rcvo- 



464 APPENDIX. 

lution, that slavery is no evil; and better moralists than Paley, that the increase of 
slaves, and their extension over new regions, is the duty of every good democrat. The 
men who lived in 1773, to whom America owes her liberty, did not think so. 

Although resistance to the English policy of increasing the number of negro slaves 
in America agitated many minds in the colonies, opposition to the system of taxation 
was the principal source of action; and this opposition now centered in a determination 
to baffle the designs of Great Britain in respect to the duties on tea. Seventeen mil- 
lions of pounds of tea were now accumulated in the warehouses of the East-India 
Company. The government was determined, for reasons I have before given, to assist 
this mercantile company, as well as the African merchants, at the expense of the colo- 
nists of America. The East-India Company were now authorized to export their tea 
free of all duty. Thus the venders being enabled to offer it cheaper than hitherto to 
the colonists, it was expected that it would find a welcome market. Lut the Americans 
saw the ultimate intent of the whole scheme, and their disgust towards the mother 
country was proportionably increased. 



INDEX. 



Abuott, Granville S., verses by, in. 
Adams, Abigail, views on slavery, 227. 
Adams, John, views on slavery, 203 ; letter 

to Jonathan Sewall on emancipation, 

307. 
Adams, Samuel, urges the consideration of 

the memorial o£ Massachusetts Negroes, 

234- 

Adgai, see Crowther. 

Africa, described, 14 ; Negro tribes, 24, 25 ; 
Negro kingdoms, 26, 2S, 31 ; natives en- 
gage in the slave-trade, 27 ; laws, 30, 56, 
57; religion, 30, S1-S4, Sg, 90; war be- 
tween the different tribes, 35-39; war 
with England, 41-43 ; patriarchal govern- 
ment, 50, 54, 55; villages described, 51, 
52; architecture, 51-53; women reign in, 
55, 56; marriage, 57, 5S ; polygamy, 58; 
status of the natives, 5S, 59; warfare, 
61, 62; agriculture, 62, 63; mechanic 
arts, 63-65 ; languages, 66-70, 90, 459 ; 
literature, 75-So; colony founded at 
Sierra Leone, 86, 87 ; and Liberia, 95, 
97 ; first emigrants to, 97 ; republican 
government established, 100; first con- 
stitution abolishing slavery in Liberia, 
103-105; weaker tribes chief source of 
slavery, 109, 120; early Christianity in, 
III; earliest commerce for slaves be- 
tween America and, 115; slaves from 
Angola, 134; shipload of slaves from 
Sierra Leone sold at Hispaniola, 13S; 
number of Negroes stolen from annually, 
237 ; slaves from, sold at Barbadoes, 
259; cities of, described, 450; number 
of slaves brought from, 463. Sec Ne- 
groes. 

African Company, their charter abolished, 
41 : see Royal .\fricaii Company. 



Akw.isi Osai, king of Ashantee, invades 
Uahomcy, 35 ; his defeat and death, 36. 

Alexander, James, volunteers to prosecute 
the Negroes in New York, 151, 1 58, 166. 

Alricks, I'ctcr, resident of New York 1657, 
250. 

Amasis, king of Egypt, 457. 

Amenophis, king of Egypt, 45S. 

America, introduction of Negro slaves,! 16; 
colonies declare independence, 412; 
slavery in, 461 ; slaves imported to 
Kritish America, 463. 

American Colonisation Society locate a 
colony at Monrovia, 97. 

American Revolution, service of Negroes 
in the army of the, 324, 334, 337, 342, 
353' 3''- ' sl.avery during the, 402. 

Ames, Edward B., remarks in favor of the 
government of Liberia, 99. 

Angola, Africa, slaves imported from, 134. 

Anne, cpiecn of England, encourages the 
slave-trade, 140. 

Anti-slavery societies, memorials to Con- 
gress, 437 ; convention held at Phila- 
delphia, 43S. 

.Vpoko, Osai, king of .Ashantee, 36. 

Appleton, Nathaniel, defends the doctrine 
of freedom for all, 304 ; author of " Con- 
sideration on Slavery," 21S. 

.\ pries, king of Egypt, 456. 

."Vrgall, Samuel, engaged in the slave- 
trade, 116, 117. 

Ashantee Empire, described, 34 ; wars of, 
35, 37-39; revolt in, 36; troubles with 
England, 41, 42; massacre of women, 
42 ; government, 44. 

.-Vsia, idols with Negro features in, 17; 
traces of the race, iS. 

.\sychis, king of Egypt, 45S. 

465 



466 



INDEX. 



Attucks, Ciispus, advertised as a runaway 
slave, 330; figures in tlie Boston Massa- 
cre, 330; his death and funeral, 331; 
letter to Gov. Hutchinson, 332. 

Aviia, tribe in Africa, 51. 

Aviro, Alfonso de, discovers Benin in 
Africa, 26. 

Babel, the tower of, built by an Ethio- 
pian, 453. 

Babylon, description of, 454. 

Bancroft, George, views on slavery, 206. 

Banneker, Benjamin, astronomer and phi- 
losopher, 3S6; farmer and inventor, 3S7 ; 
mathematician, 3S8 ; his first calcula- 
tion of an eclipse, 389; letter to George 
Ellicott, 389; character of, 390; his 
business transactions, 391 ; verses ad- 
dressed to, 392 ; letter to Mrs. Mason, 
392; his first almanac, 393; letter to 
Thomas Jefferson, 394; accompanies 
commissioners to run the lines of Dis- 
trict of Columbia, 397 ; his habits of 
studving the heavenly bodies, 397 ; his 
death, 398. 

Baptist missionaries in Liberia, loi. 

Barbadoes, Negro slaves exchanged for 
Indians, 174; a slave-market for New- 
England traders, 181; Rhode Island 
supplied with slaves from, 269. 

Barrere, Peter, treatise on the color of 
the skin, 19. 

Barton, Col. William, captures Gen. Pres- 
cott, 366. 

Bates, John, a slave-trader, 269. 

Belknap, Jeremy, remarks on the slave- 
trials in Massachusetts, 232. 

Benin, a kingdom in Africa, supplies 
America with slaves, 26: discovered by 
the Portuguese and colonized, 26; the 
king contracts to Christianize his sub- 
jects for a white wife, 27 ; the kingdom 
divided, and slave-trade suppressed, 28. 

Berkeley, Sir William, opposed to educa- 
tion and ])rinting, 132. 

Bermuda Islands, slaves placed on War- 
wick's plantation, llS, 119; Pequod In- 
dians exchanged for Negroes at, 173. 
Bernard, John, governor of the Bermu- 
das, 118. 
Beverley, Robert, correction of his His- 
tory of Virginia, 116. 
Bill, Jacob, a slave-trader, 269. 



Billing, Joseph, sued by his slave Amos 

Newport, 229. 
Blumenbach, Jean Frederic, opinion in re- 
gard to the color of the skin, 19. 
Blyden, Edward W., defines the term "Ne- 
gro," 12; president of Liberia College, 
102. 
Board of Trade, circular to the governors 
of the English colonies, relative to Negro 
slaves, 267 ; reply of CIov. Cranston of 
Rhode Island, 269. 
Bolzius, Henry, favors the introduction of 

slavery into Georgia, 321. 
Boombo, a Negro chief of Liberia, io5. 
Borden, Cijff, a Negro slave in Massachu- 
setts, sued for trespass and ordered to 
be sold to satisfy judgment, 278. 
Boston, a slave-trader from, 181 ; Negro 
prohibited from employment in manu- 
facturing hoops, 196; number of slaves 
in, 205; instructs the representatives to 
vote against the slave-trade, 221 ; Ne- 
groes charged with firing the town, 226; 
articles for the regulation of Negroes 
passed, 226 ; massacre in, 1770, 330 ; Ne- 
groes on Castle Island, 376, 378. 
Bowditch, Thomas Edward, commissioner 

to treat with the Ashantees, 39. 
Bradley, Richard, attorney-general of New 

York, prosecutes the Negroes, 166. 
Bradstreet, Ann, frees her slave, 207. 
Brazil, slaves sold to the Dutch, 136. 
Brewster, Capt. Edward, banished by 

Capt. Argall, 117. 
Brewster, Thomas, a slave-trader, 269. 
Bristol County, Mass., a slave ordered to 
be sold, to satisfy judgment against him 
for trespass, 278. 
British army, Negroes in the, 87. 
Brown, John, reproved by Virginia com- 
mittee of 1775 for purchasing slaves, 328. 
Brown, Joseph, effect of climate on man, 

46. 
Bruce, James, discovers the rums of the 

citv of Meroe, 6. 
Bunker Hill, Negroes in the battle of, 

363- 

Burgess, Ebenezer, missionary to Mon- 
rovia, 97. 

Burton, Mary, testifies in the Negro plot 
at New York, 1741, 147. '4^, 'S'^- 'S^. 
160, 162-164, 167, 16S; recompensed by 
the government, 170. 



INDEX. 



467 



liusiiis, king of Egypt, 45S. 
liutler, Nathaniel, commissioner for Vir- 
ginia Company, iiS. 

Cade, EuZAnETH, a witness in the Sonicr- 
sctt case, 205. 

Calanee, image of KucUlha at, 17. 

C alc'well, Jonas, killed at the Boston Mas- 
sacre, 331. 

Campbell, Sir Neill, determines the war 
with Ashantces, 43. 

Canaan, the curse of, 444. 

Canada, expedition from New York 
against, 143. 

Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, 6. 

Carey, Lot, vice-agent of Liberia, loi. 

Carey, Peggy, implicated with Negro plot 
in New York, 1741, 147; trial, 152; found 
guilty, 152; her evidence, 153; sentenced 
to be hanged, 15S. 

Carr, Patrick, wounded at the Boston 
Massacre, 331. 

Carter, Edwin, a slave-trader, 269. 

Carthage, description of, 452. 

Castle Island, Boston, Negroes sent to 
the barracks at, 376 ; list of the same, 
37S. 

Ccpharenus, king of Egj'pt, 45S. 

Ceylon, image of Buddha at, 17. 

Chaillu, Paul B. Du, description of the 
Obongos, 46; of the villages of ALandji 
and Ishogo, 51, 52. 

Chambers, John, vohmteers to prosecute 
the Negroes in New York, 151, 158, 
166. 

Charles V., grants a patent to import Ne- 
groes to America, 115. 

Charleston, S.C., slave-market at, 299 ; 
Negroes from, recaptured, 376; list of, 
37S ; claimed by owners, 379. 

Charlestown, Mass., Negro slaves executed 
at, in 1755, 226. 

Chastellux, Marquis de, describes the 
bravery of Col. Greene's Negro regi- 
ment at the battle of Uhode Island, 
368. 

Cheops, king of Egypt, 45S. 

Chibbu, Kudjoh, captured by the Eng- 
lish, 42. 

Chisholm, Major J., services in .'\shantee 
mentioned, 41, 42. 

Christy, David, describes the colony of 
Liberia, 107. 



Cintra, Picdro de, discoverer of .Sierra 
l^one, 85. 

Clinton, Sir Henry, proclam.ation concern- 
ing fugitive Negroes, 1779, 357. 

Codman, John, poisoned by his slave, 226. 

Coleman, Elihu, author of "Testimony 
against making Slaves of Men," 21S. 

Coney Island, N.Y., slave captured at, 

343- 

Congo Empire, .Shinga queen of, 55. 

Congress, see United-States Congress. 

Connecticut, slavery in, 252-261 ; Negro 
slaves introduced, 252 ; number of Ne- 
groes in 16S0, 253; purchase and treat- 
ment of slaves and free persons, 253 ; 
persons manumitting slaves, to main- 
tain them, 254 ; commerce with slaves 
prohibited, 255; punishment of insub- 
ordin.ite slaves, 256 ; social conduct 
regulated, 257; punished for using pro- 
fane language, 25S ; number of slaves 
in 1730, 259; Indian slaves prohibited, 
259; Indian and Negro slavery legalized, 
259 ; limited rights of free Negroes, 259; 
Negro population in 1762, 260; impor- 
tation of slaves prohibited, 261 ; num- 
ber of slaves in 1715,325; enlistment 
of Negroes prohibited, 343; enlisted, 
345; a Colored company recruited by 
David Humphreys, 361 ; slave popula- 
tion in 1790, 436. 

Continental army, condition of the, 334 ; 
Negroes in the, 337 ; Negro regiment 
raised for the, 342 ; number of men su])- 
plied to the, 353; return of Negroes in 
177S, 362. 

Continental Congress, prohibits the im- 
portation of Negroes, 325; debate on the 
discharge of Negroes from the army, 
335 ; action on the enlistment of Ne- 
groes, 355 ; resolution to establish courts 
to decide cases of captured slaves, 370; 
action of the, relative to Negroes cap- 
tured at sea, 373 ; discussion on the 
Western territory, 415,416; last meet- 
ing, 416. 

Cooke, Nicholas, governor of Rhode 
Island, letters to Washington on the en- 
listment of Negroes, 346, 349. 

Cornw.allis, Lord, proclamation offering 
protection to fugitive Negroes, 35S. 

Cox, Melville B , missionary to Monrovia, 
9S. 



468 



INDEX. 



Cranston, Samnel, letter to the board of 
trade, relative to Negro slaves in Rhode 
Island, 2C9. 

Croker, John, testimony in the Negro 
plot at New York, 16S. 

Crowther, Negro sold into slavery, 32 ; set 
at liberty by the English, 33; fitted for 
the ministry, returns to Africa as a mis- 
sionary, 33. 

Cuffe, John, sketch of, 202. 

Cuffe, Paul, a distinguished Negro, 202. 

Cash, ancestor of the Negro race, 10 ; 
meaning of the term, 13. 

Gushing, Nathan, his opinion, 1783, rela- 
tive to the South-Carolina Negroes, 
38.. 

Cuvier, Baron, varieties of the human 
form, 3. 

Cyrene, Africa, mentioned, 5; described, 
452. 

Dahomey, a Negro kingdom of Africa, 
described, 28; women serve in the 
army, 29; laws, 30; invaded by King 
Akwasi, 35. 

Dalton, Richard, his slave reads Greek, 
202. 

Davis, Hugh, a white servant, flogged in 
Virginia, for consorting with a Negro 
woman, 121. 

Deane, Thomas, mentioned, 196. 

Delaware, slavery in, 249-251 ; settled by 
Danes and Swedes, 249; slaveiy not 
allowed by the Swedes, 249; conveyed 
to William Penn, 249; granted a separ- 
ate government, 249; slavery introduced, 
249; first legislation on slavery, 250; 
law for the regulation of servants, 250; 
act restraining manumission of slaves, 
250; number of slaves in 1715, 325; 
slave population in 1790, 436. 

Denmark, engaged in the slave-trade, 463. 

Denny, Thomas, representative of Leices- 
ter, Mass., instructed to vote against 
slavery, 225. 

Derham, James, a Negro physician of New 
Orleans, 400. 

Desbrosses, Elias, testimony in the Negro 
plot in New York, 1741, 165. 

"Desire," ship built for the slave-trade, 
174. 

Dodge, Caleb, of Beverly, Mass., sued by 
his slave, 231. 



Dorsey, Charles W., character of Banne- 
ker, the Negro astronomer, 390. 

Duchet, Sir Lionel, engaged in the slave- 
trade, 13S. 

Dummer, William, proclamation against 
Negroes of Boston, 226. 

Dunmore, Lord, proclamation in regard to 
fugitive Negroes, 336; condemned by 
the Virginia convention, 341 ; his failure 
to enlist Negroes, 342. 

Dupuis, M., appointed English consul to 
the court of Ashantee, 40. 

Dutch man-of-war lands the first Negroes 
in Virginia, iiS; engage in the slave- 
trade, 124; import slaves to New Neth- 
erlands, 135; encourage the trade, 136; 
settlement on the Delaware, 312. 

E.'\RL, John, his connection with the Ne- 
gro plot at New York, 163. 

East Greenwich, R. L, bridge built at, by 
Negro impost-tax, 275. 

Egmont, Earl of, opposed to slavery in 
Georgia, 319. 

Eg}pt, first settlers of, 6, 10; Negro and 
Mulatto races in, 14; slavery in, 17; 
Negro civilization imitated by, 22; the 
Ethiopian kings of, 454. 

Elizabeth, Queen, of England, encourages 
the slave-trade, 138. 

Elizabeth, N.J., police regulations, 2S6. 

England, suppresses the slave-trade, 28, 31 ; 
sends agricultural implements, machine- 
ry, and missionaries to Africa, 32; con- 
duct in the Ashantee war, 38, 41, 42; 
treaty with Ashantee, 42 ; founds a col- 
ony in Sierra Leone, 86; all slaves de- 
clared free on reaching British soil, 86; 
declares slave-trade piracy, 87 ; estab- 
lishes a mission at Sierra Leone, 89 ; 
women sent to Virginia, 119; laws 
relating to slavery, 125; sanctions 
the slave-trade, 13S-140, 463; courts 
decide in 1677 that a Negro slave is 
property, 190; slavery recognized in, 
203 ; agrees to furnish Negroes to the 
West Indies, 236; treaty with United 
States, 3S2. 

Enoch, description of the city of, 453. 

Ethiopia, war with Caesar, 6; natives 
same race as Egyptians, 6; meaning of, 
13; cities of, described, 453; kings rule 
Egypt. 454- 



INDEX. 



469 



Fairfax, Va., meeting at, in 1774, pass res- 
olutions against slavery, 327. 

" Fanny," brig, arrives at Norfolk, Va., 
with slaves, 32S. 

Federal Constitution, proceedings of con- 
vention to frame the, 417. 

Ferguson, Dr., describes character of the 
inhabitants of Sierra Leone, (^-93. 

Folgcr, ICIisha, captain of ship "Friend- 
ship," sued for recovery of a slave, 

-3'- 
Forbes, Archibald, mentions Africans nine 

feet in height, 59. 
Fo.\, George, views concerning slaves, 

313- 

France engaged in the slave-trade, 463. 

Franklin, Kenjamin, letter to Dean Wood- 
ward on the abolition of slavery, 327 ; 
address to the public on the abolition of 
slavery, 431. 

Friends, see Quakers. 

Fuller, Thomas, a Negro mathematician, 
39y- 

Gage, Thomas, refuses to sign the bill to 
prevent the importation of Negroes into 
Massachusett.s, 235, 237. 

Gates, Gen. Horatio, his order not to en- 
list Negroes, 334. 

George III. in 1751 repeals the act declar- 
ing slaves real estate, 125. 

Georgia, slavery in, 316-323; colony of, 
established, 316; slavery prohibited in, 
316, 317 ; discussion in regard to the ad- 
mission of slavery, 318-322 ; clandestine 
importation of Negroes, 320 ; slavery es- 
tablished, 322; history of slavery, 322 ; 
number of slaves in 171 5, 325; importa- 
tion of slaves prohibited, 440; slave 
population in 1790, 436. 

Germantown, I'enn., memorial of Quakers 
against slavery in 16SS, 313. 

Glasgow, Scotland, a slave liberated in 
1762, 463. 

Goddard, Benjamin, protests against en- 
listing Negroes in Grafton, .Mass., 

35^- 

Godfrey family of South Carolina, killed 
by a Negro mob, 299. 

Gordon, William, letter on the emancipa- 
tion of slaves, 402 ; deposed as chaplain 
of the legislature of Massachusetts, 
409. 



Grafton, Mass., protest in 1778 against the 
enlistment of Negroes, 352. 

Grahame, Judge Thomas, liberates Negro 
slave in Gla.sgow, .Scotland, 463. 

Gray, Samuel, killed at the Boston Massa- 
cre, 331. 

Greece, Negro civilization imitated by, 

Greene, Col. Christopher, commands a 
Negro regiment in 177S at battle of 
Rhode Island, 368; his death, 369. 

Greene, Gen. Nalhan.ael, letters to Wash- 
ington on the raising of a Negro regi- 
ment, 342 ; on the enlistment of Negroes, 
the British army, 359 ; at battle of Rhode 
Island, 368. 

Greenleaf, Richard, sued by his slave, 204, 

23'- 

Guerard, Benjamin, governor of South 
Carolina, letter to Gov. Hancock rela- 
tive to slaves recaptured from the Brit- 
ish, 3S0. 

Guyot, .-Vrnold IT., opinion on the diversity 
of the human race, 20. 

IlAi;r.RsiiAM, Jamks, favors slavery in 
Georgia, 318, 321. 

Ham, the progenitor of the Negro race, 
8 ; family of, 9, 1 1 ; founder of the Baby- 
lonian empire, 9. 

Hamilton, Alexander, letter to John Jay 
on the enlistment of Negroes, 354 : opin- 
ion in regard to sl.ives captured by the 
British, 381. 

Hamilton, Dr., his connection with the 
Negro plot at New York, iGo. 

Hancock, John, letter on the condition of 
the South-Carolina .\cgroes recaptured 
from the British, 378. 

" Hannibal," sloop, Negroes captured 
from, 372. 

Harcourt, Col. William, captures Gen. 
Charles Lee, 366. 

Harper, , one of the founders of the 

colony at Cape I'almas, Liberia, 95. 

Harris, Rev. .Samuel, describes bravery of 
Negro regiment at battle of Rhode Is- 
land, 369. 

Hawkins, Sir John, a sl.avetrader, 13S. 

" Hazard," armed vessel, recaptures Ne- 
groes, 376. 

Hendrick, C.-esar, a slave, sues for his 
freedom, 204, 231. 



470 



INDEX. 



Hessian officer, letter on the employment 
of Negroes in the army, 343. 

Ilillgroue, Nicholas, engaged in the slave- 
trade, 269. 

Hispaniola, slaves from Sierra Leone sold 
at, 13S. 

Hobby, Mr., Negro in the army claimed by, 

384. 
Hogg, Robert, a merchant of New York, 

robbed by Negroes, 145. 
Holbrook, Felix, petition of, for freedom, 

Holland, growth of slavery in New Neth- 
erlands, 134 ; children of manumitted 
Negroes held as slaves to serve the gov- 
ernment of, 135 ; slaves exchanged for 
tobacco, 136; engaged in the slave- 
trade, 463. 

Holt, Lord, his opinion that slavery was 
unknown to English law, 203. 

Hopkins, John H., views of slavery, 7, S. 

Hopkins, Samuel, necessity of employing 
the Negroes in the American army, 33S. 

Horsmanden, Daniel, one of the judges in 
the trial of the Negro plot at New York, 
1741, 148. 

Hotham, Sir Charles, testimony in regard 
to the abolishment of slavery in Liberia, 
105, 106. 

Hughson, John, his tavern at New York a 
resort for Negroes, 147 ; his connection 
with the Negro plot, 147 ; trial, 1 52, 1 57 ; 
sentenced to be hanged, 15S; executed, 
161. 

Hughson, Sarah, her connection with the 
New York Negro plot, 152; trial, 157; 
respited, 164; testimony, 165, 166, 16S. 

Human race, the unity of, 443. 

Humphreys, David, recruits a company of 
colored infantry in Connecticut, 361. 

Hutchinson, a commissioner to treat with 
king of Ashantee, 39. 

Hutchinson, Gov. Thomas, refuses to sign 
bill to prevent the importation of slaves 
from Africa, 223. 

Indi.\ns, taxable, 122, 123; not treated as 
slaves, 123; declared slaves, 124, 125; 
denied the right to appear as witne.sses, 
129; act to baptize, 141; proclamation 
against the harboring, 141; alarmed on 
seeing a Negro, 173; exchanged for Ne- 
groes, 173; sent to Bermudas, 173; 



held in perpetual bondage, 178; mar 
riage with Negroes, 180; introduction of, 
as slaves, prohibited in iVIassachusetts, 
186; importation of, prohibited, 259, 
311, 314; slavery of, legalized, 259. 
Ishogo villages in Africa described, 52. 

Jacksonburgh, S. C, Negro insurrection 
at, 299. 

Jamaica, slaves from, sold in Virginia, 328. 

James, Gov., commissioner to treat with 
king of Ashantee, 39. 

James City, Va., buildings destroyed, 126. 

Jameson, David, volunteers to prosecute 
the negroes in New York, 151. 

Japan, negro idols in, 17. 

Jefferson, Thomas, author of instructions 
to the Virginia delegation in Congress, 
1774, on the abolition of slavery, 328; 
letters to Dr. Gordon relative to the treat- 
ment of Negroes in Cornwallis's army, 
35S ; to Dcnjaniin Banneker, 396; his 
recommendation in regard to slavery in 
the Western Territory, 416. 

Jeffries, John P., declares there are no reli- 
able data of the Negro race, 15. 

Johnson, David, accused of conspiracy in 
New York, 163. 

Jones, William, his genealogy of Noah, 
II. 

Joseph, the selling of, a memorial by Sam- 
uel Sewall, 210; answered by John 
Saffin, 214. 

Josselyn, John, describes attempt to breed 
slaves in Massachusetts, 174. 

Kane, William, accused of conspiracy in 
New York, 162; testimony of, in the 
Negro plot, 162-164, 168. 

Kench, Thomas, letters to the General 
Assembly of Massachusetts on the en- 
listment of Negroes, 350, 351. 

Kendall, Capt. Miles, deputy governor of 
Virginia, receives Negro slaves in e.x- 
change for supplies, iiS; dispossessed 
of the same, returns to England to seek 
equity, 118; portion of the Negroes al- 
lotted to him, iiS; none of which he 
receives, 119. 

Kentucky, admitted into the Union, 437 ; 
constitution revised, 441. 

Keyser, Elizur, emancipates his slave, 
207. 



INDEX. 



471 



Knowls, John, confines James Sommcrsett 

on board his ship " Mary and Ann," 

205. 
Knox, Thomas, South Carolina, recaptured 

slaves delivered to, 377. 
Kudjoli Osai, king of Ashantee, 36. 
Kwamina Osai, succeeds his father Kud- 

joh as king of Ashantee, 36. 

" I.ADY GA<;K,"a prize-ship with Negroes, 

Luing, Capt., his services in Ashantee, 

Latrobe, J. II. 1!., one of the founders of 
the colony at Cajjc I'almas, Liberia, 

95- 

Laurens, Henry, letter to Washington on 
arming of the Negroes of South Caro- 
lina, 353. 

Laurens, John, endeavors to raise Negro 
troops in South Carolina, 356; sails for 
France, 359; letters to Washington on 
his return, urging the enlistment of Ne- 
groes, 3G0. 

Lawrence, Major Samuel, commands a 
company of Negro soldiers, 366. 

Lechmerc, Richard, sued by his slave, 
;30. 

Lee, Gen. Charles, captured by the Brit- 
ish, 366. 

Leicester, Mass., representative of, in- 
structed to vote against slavery, 
225. 

Liberia, founded by Colored people from 
Maryland, 95; population, 95, 97, 102; 
refuge for Colored people, 96; native 
tribes, 97, 9S ; Christian mission founded, 
9S ; government, 99; a republic, 100; 
school and college established, 100; 
churches, lot ; trade, 103 ; first consti- 
tution, 103; slavery and slave-trade 
abolished, 104; treaty with England in 
regard to slavery, 104 ; testimony of offi- 
cers of the Royal Navy in regard to the 
slave-trade at, 105; revolt in, subdued, 
106, 107. 

Lincoln, Gen. Benjamin, letter to Gov. 
Rutledge of South Carolina, on the en- 
listment of Negroes, 359. 

Livingstone, David, describes African 
wars, 50, 51 ; status of the Africans, 58, 
59; skilful in the mechanic arts, 63, 
64. 



Locke, John, constitution prepared by, 
adopted in North Carolina, 302 ; local 
governments of the South organized on 
his plan, 414. 

Lodge, .Abraham, volunteers to prosecute 
the Negroes in New York, 151. 

Lodge, Sir Thomas, a slave-trader, 138. 

Lowell, John, sues for the freedom of a 
slave in Newburyport, Mass., 231. 

Lybia, .■\frica, description of, 452. 

MacBrair, R. M., au'hor of a Mandingo 
grammar, 70. 

McCarthy, Charles, appointed governor- 
general of Western Africa, 41 ; war 
with the Ashantccs, 41 ; his defeat and 
death, 42. 

Madison, James, letter to Joseph Jones, 
on the arming of the Negroes. 359. 

Mahoney, Lieut., his description of a Ne- 
gro idol at Calanee, 17. 

Mandji, a village in Africa described, 

5'- 
Mankind, unitv of, i, 7, loS, 443 ; varieties 

of, 3- 

Mansfield, Lord, decision in the case of 
the Negro Sommcrsett, 85, 205. 

Marlow, John, affidavit in the Sommcrsett 
case, 206. 

Maryland, appropriates money for the 
colony at Cape Palmas, 96; slaves pur- 
chased to evade tax, 1 28; slavery in, 
23S-248; under the laws of Virgini.1, 
23S; firs^ legislation on slaverv', 238; 
population of, 23S ; slavery established 
by statute, 240 ; .Xct passed encour- 
aging the importation of Negroes and 
slaves, 241 ; impost on Negroes, slaves, 
and white persons imported into, 241 ; 
duties on rum and wine, 243; treatment 
of slaves and papists, 243; convicts im- 
ported into, 243 ; convict trade con- 
demned, 244 ; defended, 244 ; slave-code, 
246; rights of slaves, 246; law against 
itianumission of slaves. 246; Negro po|v 
ulation, 246, 247 ; white |H>pulation, 
247 ; increase of slavery, 247 ; number 
of slaves in 1715, 325; Negroes enlist in 
the army, 352 ; slave population in 1790, 

436- 
Maryland Colonization Society, found 
colonv of Negroes at Cape Palmas, Li- 
beria, 95. 



47- 



INDEX. 



Mason, George, author of the Virginia 
resolutions of 1774 against slavery, 

3=7- 

Mason, Susanna, addresses a poetical let- 
ter to Benjamin Banneker, 392. 

Massachusetts, slavery in, 172-237; earli- 
est mention of the Negro in, 173; 
Moore's history of slavery in, 173; Pe- 
quod War the cause of slavery, 173; 
slaves imported to, 174; ship "Desire " 
arrives with slaves, 174, 176; slavery 
established, 175; first statute establish- 
ing slavery, 177; made hereditary, 179; 
kidnapped Negroes, 180, 1S2; number 
of slaves, 183, 1S4 ; tax on slaves, 1S5; 
Negro population, 185 ; introduction of 
Indian slaves prohibited, 1S6; Negroes 
rated with cattle, 187, iSS, 196; denied 
baptism, 1S9 ; Act in relation to marriage 
of Negro slaves, igi, 192 ; slave-mar- 
riage ceremony, 192; condition of free 
Negro, 194, 196; Act to abolish slavery, 
204 ; slave awarded a verdict against his 
master, 204; emancipation of slaves, 
205; legislation favoring the importa- 
tion of white servants, and prohibiting 
the clandestine bringing-in of Negroes, 
208; importation of Negroes not as 
profitable as white servants, 20S, 209; 
prohibitory legislation against slavery, 
220; proclamation against Negroes, 226 ; 
.slaves executed, 226; transported and 
exchanged for small Negroes, 226; 
slaves sue for freedom, 228-232 ; Ne- 

, grpes petition for freedom, 233; bill 
passed for the suppression of the slave- 
trade, 234, 235; vetoed by Gov. Gage, 
235; number of slaves in, 325, emanci- 
pation of slaves, 329; enlistment of 

.iNegroes and emancipation of slaves 
prohibited, 329, enlistment of Negroes 
opposed, 334, 351 ; mode of enlisting 
Negroes, 352 ; Negroes serve with white 
troops, 352 ; number of men furnished 
to the army, 353; act relative to cap- 
tured Negroes, 370 ; sale of captured 
Negroes prohibited, 371 ; armed vessels 
from, recapture Negroes, 376; act rela- 
tive to prisoners of war, 379; slaves 
petition for freedom, 404; act against 
slavery, 405; extinction of slavery, 429, 
lawsuits brought by slaves, 430; condi- 
tion of slaves, 461. 



Maverick, Samuel, attempts to breed 
slaves in Massachusetts, 174. 

Maverick, Samuel, mortally wounded at 
the Boston Massacre, 331. 

Mede, Joseph, his statement in regard to 
Ham corrected, 10. 

Medford, Mass., representative of, in- 
structed to vote against slavery, 
225. 

Melville, John, his sermon on Simon men- 
tioned, 6. 

Menes, first king of Egypt, 454. 

Meroe, Egypt, capital of African Ethiopia 
and chief city of the Negroes, 6. 

Methodist Episcopal Church, establishes 
a mission in. Liberia, 98, 100. 

Methodist Missionary Society appropriate 
money for the mission at Monrovia, 
98. 

MifHin, Warner, presents a memorial to 
Congress in 1792 for the abolition of 
slavery, 437. 

Mills, James, missionary to Monrovia, 97 ; 
death, 97. 

Missah Kwanta, son of the king of Ashan- 
tee, sent to England as a hostage, 
43- 

Mississippi, slavery in Territory of, prohib- 
ited, 1797, 440. 

Monroe, James, town of Monro\'ia named 
m honor of, 97. 

Monrovia, Africa, founded, 97 ; popula- 
tion, 97; Christian mission established, 
98, 99. 

Moore, George H., his history of slavery 
in Massachusetts commended, 173; 
mentioned, iSo, 183 ; remarks on the 
bill to prohibit the miportation of slaves 
from Africa, 224. 

Morton, .Samuel G., the sphinx a shrine of 
the Negro, 17. 

Murphy, Edward, accused of conspiracy 
in New York, 163. 

Murray, Joseph, volunteers to prosecute 
the Negroes in New York, 151, 15S, 
166. 

Mycerinus, king of Egypt, 4 58. 

" N.\UTll,us," ship arrives at Sierra Leone 

with colony of Negroes, 86. 
Nechao, knig of Egypt, 455. 
Negro plot in New York City, 1741, 143- 

170. 



INDEX. 



47: 



Negroes, members of the human family, 
I, 5; (lesceiulants of Ham, 3, 8; repre- 
sented in pictures of the crucifixion of 
Christ, 5 ; an Ethiopian eunuch becomes 
a Christian, 6; same race as Egyptian, 
6; Cush an ancestor, 10; use of the 
term "Negro," 12, 13; antiquity of the 
race, 14-19; early military service, 15; 
figured in a Theban tomb, 15, 16; politi- 
cal and social condition, 16; the Sphinx 
a shrine of, 17; idols, 17, 18; origin of 
color and hair, 19-21 ; primitive civilisa- 
tion, 22; decline, 24; kingdoms, 26, 28, 
31; engage in the slave-trade, 27; wo- 
men in tlie army, 29; laws, religion, 30; 
different tribes at war, 30-40 ; war with 
England, 41-43; the Negro type, 45-4S ; 
physical and mental character affected 
by climate, 46, 47, 385, 448 ; longevity, 
46; slaves the lower class, 47; habits, 
48; susceptible to Christianity, 48; 
idiosyncrasies of the, 50; patriarchal 
government, 50, 54 ; villages, 51, 52 ; 
l>ursiiits, 51; architecture, 51, 53; 

Awomen as rulers, 55, 56; priests, 55; 
laws, 56, 57; marriage, 57, 58;'vstatus, 
58, 59; nine feet in height, 59; beauty 
of the, 60, 6r ; warfare, 61, 62; agricid- 
ture, 62, 63 ; mechanic arts, 63-65 ; lan- 
guages, 66-70, 90; literature, 75-80; 
religion, 81-S4, 89, 90; free, leave 
for England, 86 ; colony of, at Sierra 
Leone, 86; serve in the British army, 
87; their condition in America, 96; 
found colony at Liberia, 95 ; first im- 
portance of, 109; military abilities, 
1 10; early Christianity, in; earliest im- 
portation to America, 115; in Virginia, 
116, 118; number of, in Virginia, 119, 
120; prohibition against, 121; tax on 
female, 122, 123; law of Virginia de- 
clares them slaves, 123, 124; repeal of 
the Act declaring them real estate, 125; 
duty on slaves in Virginia, 126-12S; 
traffic encouraged in Virginia, 12S; no 
political or military rights in Virginia, 
128, 129; denied the right to appear as 
witnesses, 129; revolt of free, in Virginia, 
130; pay taxes, 131 ; in the military ser- 
vice, 131 ; intermarriage of, prohibited, 
131 ; denied education, 132; children of 
maiiumitled, made slaves, 135, 136; not 
allowed to hold real estate in New York, 



142 : earliest mention of, in Massachu- 
setts, 173; held in perpetual bondage, 
17S ; condition of free, in Massachusetts, 
194, 196; importation of, not so profita- 
ble as white servants, 20S ; Act encour- 
aging the importation of, into Maryland, 
241 ; condition of free, in Maryland, 
247 ; limited rights of free, 259, 308, 
315; prohibited the use of the streets in 
Rhode Island, 264 ; military employ- 
ment of, 324 ; excluded fron> the Conti- 
nental Army, 335; allowed to re-enlist, 
337 ; in Virginia join the British army, 
339; cautioned against joining the lat- 
ter, 340 ; serve in the army with white 
troops in Massachusetts, 352 ; efforts to 
enlist in South Carolina, 355 ; company 
of, enlisted in Connecticut, 361 ; return 
of, in the army, 177S, 362 ; as soldiers, 
1775-'7S3, 363; at the battle of Bunker 
Hill, 363; at battle of Rhode Island, 
368 ; valor of, 369 ; sale of two captured, 
l)rohibited in Massachusetts, 371 ; dis- 
posal of rccajnured, 374, 376 ; education 
of, jirohibited, 3S5. 

Newbnryport, Mass., a slave sues for free- 
dom, 231. 

New England Negroes leave for England, 
86; engaged in the slave-trade, 174, 180; 
see Massachusetts. 

New Hampshire, Massachusetts exercises 
authority over, 309; slavery in, 309-311 ; 
Negro slave emancipated, 309; instruc- 
tion against importation of slaves, 309 ; 
conduct of servants regulated, 319; ill 
treatment of slaves, 311 ; importation of 
Indian serv.ints prohibited, 31 1; ill 
treatment of servants and slaves pro- 
hibited, 311 ; duration of .slaves in, 311 ; 
number of slaves in, 325 ; slave popula- 
tion in 1790, 436. 

New Jersey, slavery in, 2S2-2SS; Act in 
regard to slaves, 2S2 j the colony divided, 
with separate governments, 2S3; enter- 
taining of fugitive servants, or trading 
with Negroes, prohibited, 2S3 ; Negroes 
and other slaves allowed trial by a jury, 
283; publicity in judicial proceedings, 
2S5; rights of government of, surren- 
dered to the queen, 2S5; conduct of 
slaves regulated, 2S5 : impost - ta.x on 
iniported Negroes, 2S6, 2S7 ; trials of 
slaves regulated, 286; security required 



474 



INDEX. 



for manumitted slaves, 2S7 ; slaves pro- 
hibited from joining the militia, 2SS; 
population, 173S-45, 2SS; number of 
slaves in, 325; slave population in 1790, 

436. 

New Netherlands, see New York. 

Newport, Amos, a slave, sues for his free- 
dom, 229. 

Newport, R.I., Negroes and Indians pro- 
hibited the use of the streets, 264; 
Negro slaves arrive, 269; part of them 
sold, 269 ; vessels fitted out for the slave- 
trade, 269; streets repaired from the 
impost-tax on Negroes, 273, 275. 

New York, slavery in, 134-171; slaves 
imported from Brazil, 146; laws rela- 
tive to slavery, 139; slaves the property 
of West-India Company, 139; supply of 
slaves, 140; Act for regulating slaves, 
140; Act to baptize slaves, 141 ; expedi- 
tion against Canada, 143; governor of, 
claims jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, 
312; number of slaves in, 325; Act for 
raising Negro troops, 352 ; Negro sol- 
diers promised freedom, 411; slave 
population in 1790, 436; bill for the 
gradual extinction of slavery, 440; laws 
in regard to slaves, 463. 

New-York City, settled by the Dutch, 
134; growth of slavery under the Mol 
land government, 134; children of 
manumitted Negroes made slaves, 135, 
136; slaves imported from Brazil, 136; 
captured by the English, 138; laws on 
slaver)', 139; identical with Massachu- 
setts, 139; Gov. Dongan arrives, 139; 
General Assembly meet, 139; procla- 
mation against the harboring of slaves, 
141 ; slaves forbidden the streets after 
nightfall, 141; slave -market erected, 
142; Negro riot, 143; Negro plot, 144- 
171 ; house of Robert Hogg robbed, 
145; population, 145; fire at Fort 
George, 145; fires in, 146, crew of 
Spanish vessel adjudged slaves, 146; 
charged with firing houses, 146, house 
of John Hughson, resort for Negroes, 
147; act against entertaining slaves, 
148; council meet, request governor to 
offer reward for incendiaries, 149 ; 
Negroes deny all knowledge of the 
fires and plot, 149 ; Supreme Court con- 
vened, 149; trial of Negroes, 149; Ne- 



groes hanged, 154; fast observed in, 
154; Negroes arrested, 155; chained to 
a stake, and burned, 157 ; proclamation 
granting freedom to conspirators who 
would confess, 159; Spanish Negroes 
sentenced to be hung, 161 ; Hughson 
executed, 161 ; Negroes hanged, iCi, 
169; thanksgiving, 169; Rev. John 
Ury executed, 169; arrests for con- 
spiracy, 170; first session of Congress 
held at, in 1789, 426. 

Nicoll, Benjamin, volunteers to prosecute 
the Negroes in New York, 151. 

Nineveh, the city of, founded, 910. 

Noddle's Island, Mass., slaves on, 176. 

Non-Importation Act passed by Congress, 

3^5- 

Norfolk, Va., arrival of slaves at, 328. 

North Carolina, slaves purch.ased in, to 
evade the tax, 128 ; slavery in, 302-308; 
situation of, favorable to the slave-trade, 
302 ; the Locke Constitution adopted, 
302; William Sayle commissioned 
governor, 303; Negro slaves eligible to 
membership in the church, 304; Church 
of England established in, 304; rights 
of Negroes controlled by their masters, 
304; act respecting conspiracies, 305; 
form of trying Negroes, 307 ; ill treat- 
ment of Negroes, 307 ; emancipation of 
slaves jirohibited, 307 ; limited rights of 
free Negroes, 30S ; number of slaves in, 
325; slave |)opulation in 1790, 436. 

Nott, John C, antiquity of the Negro, 15; 
his social condition, 16. 

Oates, Titus, his connection with the 
Popish plot, 144. 

Obongos of Africa described, 46. 

Ockote, Osai, king of Ashantee, his war 
with the English, 43. 

Oglethorpe, John, first governor of Geor- 
gia, opposed to slavery, 316. 

Ophir, Africa, description of, 452. 

Opoko, Osai, king of Ashantee, 35. 

OsvTnandyas, king of Egypt, 458. 

Otis, James, speech in favor of freedom to 
the Negroes, 203. 

Parsons, Theophilus, his opinion on the 
existence of slavery in Massachusetts, 
179, 180; decision in the case of Win- 
chendon vs. Hatfield, 232. 



INDEX. 



475 



Pastorius, Francis Daniel, his memorial 
against slavery, i6<S8, 313. 

Payne, John, missionary bishop of Africa, 
100. 

Pendleton,. Edninnd, letter to Richard 
Lee on the slaves of Virginia joining 
the Hritish army, 339. 

Penn, William, Delaware conveyed to, 
249; grants the privilege of separate 
government, 249; introduces bill for 
the regulation of servants, 314; op- 
posed to slavery, 314. 

Pennsylvania, slavery in, 312-315; govern- 
ment organized, 312 ; Swedes and Dutch 
settlement, 312; governor of New York 
claims jurisdiction over, 312; first laws 
of, 312; memorial against slavery, 313; 
Penn presents bill for the better regu- 
lation of servants, 314; tax on imiiorted 
slaves, 314; importation of Negroes 
and Indians prohibited, 314; petition 
for the freedom of slaves denied, 314; 
rights of the Negroes, 315; tax on Ne- 
groes and Mulatto slaves, 315; fears for 
the conduct of the slaves, 315; number 
of slaves in, 325; slave population in 
1790, 436. 

Pennsylvania Society for promoting the 
abolition of slavery, address of the, 
1789,431. 

Pequod Indians captured in war exchanged 
for Negroes, 173; as slaves, 177. 

Peters, John, married to Phillis Wheatley, 
200. 

Peters, PhiUis, see Wheatley, Phillis. 

Phcron, king of Egypt, 45.S. 

Philadelphia, Federal Convention meet at, 
417 ; Anti-slavery Convention held at, 
43S ; see Pennsylvania. 

Phut, Africa, description of, 452. 

Pickering, Timothy, representative of 
Salem, Mass., instructed to vote against 
the importation of slaves, 220. 

Pinny, J. B., missionary to Liberia, 
too. 

Pitcairn, John, killed at Pmnker Mill by a 
Negro soldier, 364. 

Plant, Matthias, missionary of the Propa- 
gation .Society in Mass., 189. 

Po, Fernando, locates Portuguese colony 
in /Vfrica, 26. 

Poor, Salem, a Negro soldier, his bravery 
at Bunker Hill, 365. 



Popish plot in F,ngland concocted by 

Titus Gates, 144. 
Portugal, engages in the slave-trade, 26, 

31, 463 ; locates colony at Benin, Africa, 

26, 27. 
Prescott, Richard, captured by Lieut.-Col. 

Barton, 366. 
Presbyterian Board of Missions establish 

missions in Liberia, 100. 
Price, Arthur, arrested for theft in New 

York, 152 ; testimony in the Negro plot, 

152,154. 
Prichard, John C, varieties of the human 

race, 4. 
Prince, a Negro, assists in the capture of 

Gen. Prescott, 367. 
Protestant Episcopal Church establishes 

fir.st mission at .Sierra Leone, 89 ; in Li- 
beria, 100. 
Proteus, king of Egypt, 458. 
Psammetichus, king of Egypt, 455. 
I'sammis, king of Egypt, 456. 
Pul, Africa, description of, 452. 

QtrAKl-:RS, opposed to slavery, 21S ; me- 
morial of, against slavery in Pennsyl- 
vania, 313; the friends of the Negroes, 
315; memorial to Congress relative to 
slavery, 439. 

Ramkses, Mi.\mun', king of Egypt, 458. 

Raffles, T. Stanford, his researches on the 
Negro race, 19. 

Rcade, W. Winwood, describes patriarchal 
government of Africa, 55 ; beauty of the 
Negro, 60, 61 ; people of Sierra Leone, 
87. 

Revere, Paul, Negroes placed in his charge 
at Castle Island, M.iss., 377. 

Rhampsinitus, king of Egj'pt, 458. 

Rhode Island, slavery in, 262-281 ; colo- 
nial government, 262; Act of 1652 to 
abolish slavery not enforced, 262 ; Ne- 
groes and Indians prohibited the use of 
the streets, 264 ; impost-tax on slaves, 
265; entertainment of slaves prohibited, 
26O ; Negro slaves sold in, 269 ; supply 
of Negroes from Barbadoes, 269 ; ves- 
sels fitted out for the slave-trade, 269 ; 
value of Negro slaves, 269; list of 
militiamen, including white and black 
servants, 270 ; clandestine importations 
and exportations of passengers, Negroes, 



4/6 



INDEX. 



or Indian slaves prohibited, 271 ; mas- 
ters of vessels required to report the 

. names and number of passengers, 272, 
274; penalties for violating the impost 
tax law on slaves, 272 ; portion of the 
impost-tax on imported Negroes appro- 
priated to repair streets of Newport, 
273 ; disposition of the money raised 
by impost-tax, 275 ; slaves imported into, 
276 ; impost-tax repealed, 277 ; manu- 
mission of aged and helpless slaves 
regulated, 277 ; Negro slaves rated as 
chattel property, 27S ; masters of ves- 
sels prohibited from carrying slaves out 
of, 27S ; importation of Negroes prohib- 
ited, 2S0; population from 1730-1774, 
2S1 ; number of slaves in, 325; act 
emancipating slaves on joining the 
army, 347 ; protest against the enlist- 
ment of slaves, 348 ; Negro troops en- 
gaged in the battle of, 36S ; slave popu- 
lation in 1790, 436. 

Ricketts, Capt., services in the Ashantee 
war, 42. 

Roberts, J. J., president of Liberia, proc- 
lamation regarding passports, 106. 

Rockwell, Charles, describes Liberia, 96. 

Roman Catholics denied the right to ap- 
pear as witnesses in Virginia, 129', 
treatment of, in Maryland, 243; de- 
nounced by Oates, 144; suspected in 
New York, 160, 162, 1(34, 167. 

Rome, Negro civilization imitated by, 22. 

Rommes, John, charged with burglary at 
New York, 148; accused of being in 
the Negro plot, 153. 

Royal African Company, charter abol- 
ished, 41 ; ordered to send supply of 
slaves to New York, 140 ; has sole right 
to trade on the coast of Africa, 316. 

Royall, Jacob, imports Negro slaves into 
Rhode Island, 276. 

Ruflm, Robert, a slave of, declared free 
for revealing plot of free Negroes in 
Virginia, 130. 

Rush, Benjamin, his opinion «f James 
Derham the Negro physician, 401. 

Ryase, Andrew, accused of conspiracy in 
New York, 163. 

Sabachus, king of Ethiopia, 454. 
Saffin, John, reply to Judge Sewall's tract, 
"The Selling of Joseph," 214. 



St. George's Bay Company organized, 86; 
succeeded by the Sierra Leone Com- 
pany, 86. 

Salem, Mass., representative of, instructed 
to vote against the importation of slaves, 
220, 224 ; Negro conspiracy, 227 ; slaves 
sent to, 269, 376; petition of slaves in, 
462 ; Negroes captured at sea adver- 
tised for sale, 372. 

Salem, Peter, a Negro soldier, his bravery 
at Bunker Hill, 364. 

Salisbury, Samuel Webster, author of an 
address on slaver\', 1769, 21S. 

Saltonstall, Richard, petitions the General 
Court of Massachusetts against stealing 
Negroes for slaves, 181. 

Sandwich, Mass., representative of, in- 
structed to vote against slavery, 225. 

Sargent, Nathaniel P., opinion, 1783, rela- 
tive to South-Carolina Negroes, 381. 

Savage, Samuel P., letter, 1783, in regard 
to South-Carolina Negroes, 377. 

Sayle, William, commissioned governor of 
North Carolina, 302. 

.Schultz, John, testimony in the Negro plot 
at New York, 1741, 163. 

Scotland, a Negro slave liberated in 1762, 

463- 

Scott, Bishop, letter on the government of 
Liberia, 99. 

" Seaflower," ship, arrives at Newport, R.I., 
from Africa, with slaves, 269. 

.Seba, Africa, description of, 452. 

.Sesach, king of Egypt, 454. 

Sesostris, king of Egypt, 458. 

Sethon, king of Egypt, 454. 

Sewall, Jonathan, letter to John Adams 
on the emancipation of slaves, 207. 

Sewall, Joseph, sermon on the tires in 
Boston, 1723, 226. 

Sewall, Samuel, protests against rating 
Negroes with cattle, 187 ; his hatred of 
slavery, 210; publishes his tract "The 
Selling of Joseph," 210; father of the 
anti-slaverv movement in Massachusetts, 
217; letter to Addington Davenport on 
the murder of Smith's slave, 1719, 461. 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, in favor of introdu- 
cing slavery into Georgia, 322. 

Sharp, Granville, one of the founders of 
Sierra Leone colony, 86. 

Sherbro, mission-district, Western Africa, 
described, 460. 



INDEX. 



477 



Shinga, queen of Congo, 55. 

Shishak, king of Ethiopia, 454. 

Shodcke, king of Voruba, Africa, 31. 

Siam, negro idols in, 17. 

Sicana, chief of the Kaffir tribe, a Chris- 
tian and a poet, So. 

Sierra Leone, sends colony to Voruba, 
Africa, 32; discovered, 85; Negro colony 
founded, 86, 8/ ; attacked by French 
squadron, 87 ; England takes possession 
of, 87 ; population, 88, 90 ; trade, 88 ; 
Christian missions at, 89, 90 ; languages 
of colony, 90; character of the inhabit- 
ants described by Gov. Ferguson, 90- 
93; slaves from, sold at Hispaniola, 13S. 

Sierra Leone Company, organized, 86; 
objects of, 87. 

Simon, a negro, bears the cross of Jesus, 5. 

Slavery, Hopkins's Bible views of, 7, 8; 
in Egypt, 17; in Africa, 25-27; Lord 
Manfield's decision in the Sonnuersett 
case, 85 ; colonization, the solution of, 
97 ; abolished in Liberia, 104, 105 ; 
weaker tribes of Africa, chief source of, 
109; introduced in Virginia, 115, 116, 
iiS; made legal in Virginia, 123, 124; 
growth of, in Virginia, 133; growth in 
New York, 134 ; sanctioned by the Eng- 
lish, 13S, New-York laws, 139; made 
legal in New York, 140; in Massachu- 
setts, 172-237; established, 175, 179; 
first statute establishing, in United 
States, 177 ; sanctioned by the church 
and courts, 178 ; made hereditary in 
Massachusetts, 179 ; growth of, in 
Massachusetts, 183; recognized in Eng- 
land, 203; act to abolish in Massachu- 
setts 204; prohibitory legislation against, 
220-225 ; 'i'"'*' legislation in ALirylaud, 
23S ; established by statute, 240; in- 
creased in Maryland, 247 ; introduced 
in Delaware, 249 ; first legislation on, 
250 ; Indian and Negro, legalized in 
Connecticut, 259; in New Jersey, 282 ; 
established in South Carolina, 289 ; per- 
petual, 290, 291 ; in New Hampshire, 
309; memorial against, in Pennsylvania, 
313; prohibited in Georgia, 316; Gov. 
Oglethorpe's opinion on,3l6; discussion 
on the admission of, in Georgia, 31S- 
322; established in Georgia, 322 ; Wash- 
ington prevents resolutions against, 327; 
legislation against, demanded, 403 ; act 



against, in Massachusetts, 405 ; progress 
of, during the Revolution, 411; as a po- 
litical and legal problem, 412; recog- 
nized under the new government of 
L'nited States, 414; attempted legisla- 
tion against, 415; advocated by the 
Southern States, 418; speeches delivered 
in the convention at Philadelphia on, 
420; in the Federal Congress, 427 ; ex- 
tinction of, in Massachusetts, 429 ; 
Franklin's address for the abolition of, 
431 ; memorials to Congress for the 
abolition of, 432, 437 ; bill for the gradu- 
al extinction of, in New York, 440; 
firmly established, 441. 
Slaves, social condition of white and black, 
i6j/thc lower class of negroes, 47 ; Lord 
Mansfield's decision in the Sommersett 
case, 85, 86; declared free on reaching 
British soil, 86 ; introduced in America, 
115; first introduced in Virginia, 116, 
118; on Somer Islands, 118; number of, 
in Virginia, 119, 120, 132, 133; prohibi- 
tion against, 12! ^^pecial ta.\ on female, 
122, 123; sold for tobacco, 122 ; laws of 
Virginia in regard to, 123-125 ; act re- 
pealed declaring them real estate, 125; 
duty on, 126, 127; purch.ased in Mary- 
land and Carolina to evade the ta.\, 12S ; 
ta.\ on sales of, in Virginia, 1 28 ; reduced, 
128; repealed, 12S; revived, 128; traffic 
in, encouraged in Virginia, 128; no po- 
litical or military rights, 128, 129; laws 
in Virginia, 129, 130; value fi.xed on, 
when executed, 129; laws of Virginia 
in regard to freedom of, 130; presented 
to clergymen, 131 ; prohibition against 
instructing, 132; denied education, 132; 
introduced in New York, 134 ; West 
India Company trade in, 135; manumit- 
ted in New York, 135; children of the 
latter held as, 135; imported from Bra- 
zil to New York, 136; exchanged for 
tobacco, 136; intermarry in New York, 
137 ; New York to have constant supply, 
140; Act to regulate, 140, 141 j Act to 
baptize, 140; against the harboring of, 
141, 14S; forbidden the streets in New 
York, 141 ; Negro riot, 143 ; Negro plot, 
144-171 ; executed, 154, 161 ; burned, 
157 ; Negroes exchanged for Indians, 
173; Indians sent to Bermudas, 173; 
imported from Barbadoes to Massachu- 



478 



INDEX. 



setts, 174; ship "Desire" arrives with, 
174, 176; attempt to breed, in Massa- 
chuse^tts, 174; sold in Massachusetts, 
175 ;' issue of female, the property of 
their master, 180; marriage of, 180, 191, 
192 ; sold at Barbadoes and West Indies, 
181 ; number in Massachusetts, 183, 184 ; 
tax on, 185; rated as cattle, 1S7, 1S8, 
196 ; denied baptism, 189 ; marriage- 
ceremony, 192 ; verdict awarded to a 
slave in Massachusetts, 204; number in 
Boston, 205 ; emancipated, 206 ; exe- 
cuted in Massachusetts, 226 ; transported 
and exchanged for small negroes, 226; 
sue for freedom in Massachusetts, 228- 
232 ; emancipated by England, 231 ; 
slave-code of Maryland, 246 ; laws 
against manumission of, 246, 250; intro- 
duced in Connecticut, 252 ; purchase 
and treatment of, 253; persons manu- 
mitting to maintain them, 254; com- 
merce with, prohibited, 255; importa- 
tion of, prohibited, 259, 261 ; impost-tax 
on, in Rhode Island, 265 ; entertainment 
of, prohibited, 266 ; letter of the board 
of trade relative to, 267 ; Rhode Island 
supplied with, from Barbadoes, 269 ; 
slaves sold in Rhode Island, 269 ; value 
of, 269 ; clandestine importation and ex- 
portation of, prohibited, 271; Act relative 
to freeing Mulatto and Negro, in Rhode 
Island, 277 ; rated as chattel property, 
278; masters of vessels prohibited from 
carrying Negro out of Rhode Island, 
280; importation of, prohibited, 280; 
allowed trial by jury, in New Jei'sey, 283 ; 
impost-tax on, 286, 287 ; prohibited 
from joining militia, 2SS ; regarded as 
chattel property in South Carolina, 292 ; 
branded, 294 ; life of, regarded as of 
little consequence, 296 ; education of, 
prohibited, 298, 300; overworking of, 
prohibited, 298 ; insurrection, 299 ; en- 
listment of, 300; masters compensated 
for the loss of, 301 ; rights of, controlled 
by the master in North Carolina, 304 ; 
emancipation of, prohibited, 307 ; New 
Hampshire opposed to the importation 
of, 309 ; ill treatment of, prohibited, 311; 
duration of, in New Hampshire, 311; 
tax on, imported into Pennsylvania, 314, 
315; petition for freedom of, denied, 
314; number of slaves in the colonies. 



1715 and 1775, 325; arrival of, at Vir- 
ginia, from Jamaica, 328; severe treat- 
ment of, modified, 329 ; the Boston Mas- 
sacre, 330; in the Continental army, 333, 
335 ; excluded from the army, 335 ; al- 
lowed to re-enlist, 337 ; Lord Dunmore's 
proclamation freeing, 336 ; join the 
British army, 339 ; prohibited from en- 
listing in Connecticut, 343 ; Rhode 
Island emancipates, on joining the army, 
347 ; protest against the same, 348 ; mas- 
ters of enlisted, recompensed, 349 ; 
serve in the army with white troops, 
352; Act to enlist, in New York, 352; 
efforts to enlist, in South Carolina, 357 ; 
treatment of, by Cornwallis, 358 ; ex- 
changed for merchandise, 358 ; disposal 
of recaptured, 374, 376, 379 ; recaptured, 
sent to Boston, 376 ; list of recaptured, 
377 ; held as personal property, 381, 
3S4 ; education of, prohibited, 385 ; sale 
of, advertised, 403, 408 ; in Massachusetts 
petition for freedom, 404 ; rights of, lim- 
ited in Virginia, 409; who served in the 
army emancipnted, 410 ; promised their 
freedom in New York, 41 1; impost-tax 
on, introduced in Federal Congress, 427 , 
lawsuits instituted by, in Massachusetts, 
430; number of, in United States, 1790, 
436 ; law for the return of fugitive, 43S ; 
introduction of, prohibited into the Mis- 
sissippi Territory, 440; importation of, 
prohibited in Georgia, 440 ; condition of, 
in Massachusetts, 461 ; petition of, in 
Boston, 462 ; Massachusetts laws in 
regard to, 463. 
Slave-trade, commenced at Benin, Africa, 
26 ; natives of Africa engage in, 27 ; sup- 
pressed by England, 28, 31 ; at Yoruba, 
Africa, 31 ; declared piracy by England, 
87; abolished in Liberia, 104, 105; ear- 
liest commerce for slaves between Africa 
and America, 115; introduced first in 
Virginia, 116, 118; Dutch engage in the, 
124, 135; tax on the subjects of Great 
Britain in the, 127; encouraged in Vir- 
ginia, 128; with Angola, Africa, 134; 
encouraged by the Dutch, 135; sanc- 
tioned by the English, 13S; encouraged 
by Queen Elizabeth, 138 ; growth in New 
York, 140; slave-market erected in New 
York, 142; Indians exchanged for Ne- 
groes, 173; in New England, 174; ship 



INDEX. 



479 



'Desire " built for the, 174; arrives with 
cargo of slaves, 174, 176; on the coast 
of Guinea, iSo; increased in Massachu- 
setts, 1S4; abolished by England, 231; 
bill for the suppression of, in Massachu- 
setts, 235 ; sanctioned in Rhode Island, 
265, 273 ; vessels fitted out for the, 269; 
slave-market at Charleston, S. C, 299 ; 
the situation of Soutli Carolina favorable 
to the, 302 ; progress during the Revo- 
lution, 402; discussion in Congress on 
the restriction of the, 434 ; act against the 
foreign, 43S. 
<^lcw, Jenny, a slave, sues for her fieedom, 
22S. 

Smeatham, Dr., one of the founders of the 
Sierra Leone colony, 86. 

Smith, Hamilton, antiquity of the Negro 
race, 18. 

Smith, Samuel, murders his Negro slave, 
461. 

Smith, William, volunteers to prosecute 
the Negroes in New York, 151, 15S, 166. 

.Sommcrsctt, James, a Negro slave, brought 
to England and abandoned by his mas- 
ter, S5, 205; discharged, 206. 

.Sorubiero, Margaret, connected with the 
New-York Negro plot, 1741,147,152, 153. 

South Carolina, slaves purchased in, to 
evade the ta.x, 12S; slavery in, 2S9-301 ; 
receives two charters from Great liritain, 
2S9 ; Negro slaves in, 289 ; slavery legis- 
lation, 289; slavery established, 2S9; 
perpetual bondage of the Negro, 290, 

291 ; slaves regarded as chattel property, 

292 ; trial of slaves, 292 ; increase of 
slave population, 292 ; growth of the 
rice-trade, 292 ; trade with Negroes pro- 
hibited, 293 ; conduct of slaves regu- 
lated, 293 ; punishment of slaves, 294 ; 
branded, 294 ; life of slaves regarded 
as of little consequence, 296 ; fine for 
killing slaves, 296 ; education of slaves 
jirohibited, 29S, 300 ; permitted to be 
baptized, 298 ; inquiry into the treat- 
ment of slaves, 29S ; overworking of 
-slaves prohibited, 29S ; hours of labor, 
2gS ; slave-market at Charleston, 299 ; 
Negro insurrection, 299 ; whites au- 
thorized to carry fire-arms, 300 ; enlist- 
ment of slaves, 300; Negroes admitted 
to the militia service, 300; masters com- 
pensated for the loss of slaves, 301 ; few 



.slaves manumitted, 301 ; little legisla- 
tion on slavery ftom 1754-1776, 301 ; 
effect of the threatened war with Eng- 
land, 301 ; number of slaves in 1715 and 
'775' 3-5 ; efforts to raise Negro troops, 
355; Negroes desert from, 355 ; recai>- 
ture of Negroes from the British, 376; 
slave i)opulation, 1790, 436. 

Spain engaged in the slave-trade, 31 ; her 
colonies in the West Indies to be fur- 
nished with Negroes, 237. 

Stanley, Henry M., description of a jour- 
ney through Africa, 72. 

Staten Island, N. Y., a Negro regiment to 
be raised there, 342. 

Stephens, Thomas, favors the introduction 
of slavery in Georgia, 319; reprimanded, 
320. 

Stewart, Charles, owner of the Negro 
slave James .Sommersett, 205. 

Stone, S. C, a Negro insurrection at, 299. 

Swain, John, suit to recover a slave, 231. 

Swan, Jame-s, advocate of liberty for all, 
204. 

Swedes, settle on the Delaware River, 312. 

T.\cuDONS, king of Dahomey, 28. 

Tarshish, Africa, description of, 452. 

Taylor, Comfort, sues a slave for trespass, 
278. 

Teage, Collin, missionary to Liberia, lol. 

Tembanduniba, queen of the Jagas, 56. 

Th.araca, king of Egypt, 454. 

Thethmosis, king of Egypt, 459. 

Thomas, John, letter to John Adams, 1775, 
on the employment of Negroes in the 
army, 337. 

Thompson, Capt., of ship " Nautilus," ar- 
rives at .Sierra Leone with Negroes, 86. 

Timans, second king of Egypt, 454. 

Tutu Osai, king of .\shantee, 34. 

" Treasurer," ship, sails to \Vest Indies 
for Negroes, 116; arrives at Virginia, 1 17. 

" Tyrannicide," armed vessel, re-captures 
Negroes, 376. 

UcnoREt:s, king of Egypt, 459. 

Undi, African chief, 50. 

United States, condition of the Colored 

population before the war of 1861,96; 

first statute establishing slavery in, 177 ; 

slave population, 1715 and 1775, 325; 

confederation of the, 374 ; treaty with 



48o 



INDEX. 



Englan , 3S2 ; the Tory party in favor 
of slavery, 413; the Whigs the domi- 
nant party in the Northern States, 414 ; 
slavery recognized under the new gov- 
ernment of the, 414 ; anti-slavery agita- 
tion in, 414 ; plan for the disposal of the 
Western Territory, 416; proceedings of 
Federal Convention, 417; slave popula- 
tion in 1790, 436. 

United-States Congress, action on the dis- 
posal of recaptured Negroes, 374 ; first 
session at New York, 1789, 426; pro- 
ceedings, 427 ; memorials to, for the 
abolition of slavery, 432, 437; discussion 
in, on the restriction of the slave-trade, 
433; prohibits the introduction of slaves 
into the Mississippi Territory, 440. 

Upton, Samuel and WiUiam, emancipate 
their father's slave, 207. 

Ury, John, his connection with the New- 
York Negro plot, 1741, 160, 162, 163, 
166; executed, 169. 

Utrecht, the treaty of, to provide Negroes 
for the Spanish West Indies, 236. 

Van Twillf.r, Wouteu, charged with 
neglect of public affairs in New Nether- 
lands, 249; owner of Negro slaves, 250. 

Varick, Cajsar, charged with burglary at 
New York, 14.S. 

Varnum, Gen. J. M., letter to Washington 
on the enlistment of Negroes, 346. 

Vaughan, Col. James, Legislature of 
Rhode Island refund tax on two child 
slaves imported by, 276. 

Vermont, slave population, 1790; admitted 
into the Union, 436. 

" Victoria," ship, captures British privateer 
with Negroes, 376. 

Virginia, slavery in, 115-133; slaves first 
introduced, 116; number of, 119; forced 
en the colony, 119; the first to pur- 
chase slaves, 119; women purchased 
in England and sent to, 119; number 
of slaves, 119, 120, 132, 133; popula- 
tion, 120; Assembly pass prohibition 
against Negroes, 121; slavery legalized, 
123; Indians declared slaves, 124, 125; 
Assembly protest against the repeal of 
the Act declaring Negroes real estate, 
125, 126; impose duty on slaves and 
servants imported, 126, 127; tax on 
slaves sold, 12S; reduced, 128, repealed, 



1 28; revived, 12S; prohibit Catholics, 
Indians, and Negro slaves to appear as 
witnesses, 129; p.iss act to value slave 
when executed, 129; threatened revolt 
of the free Negroes, 130; Act in regard 
to the freedom of slaves, 130 ; number of 
slaves in 1715 and 1775, 325; arrival 
of slaves in 1775, 3-Ss purchaser of the 
same reproved, 328; instructions to 
delegation to Congress relative to the 
abolition of slavery, 32S ; Lord Dun- 
more's proclamation freeing slaves, 336 ; 
Negroes join the British army, 339, 352 ; 
declaration of convention against Dun- 
more 's proclamation, 341 ; number of 
slaves in Cornvvallis's army, 358 ; rights 
of slaves limited, 409 : slaves who served 
in the army emancipated, 410; slave 
population, 1790, 436. 

Walklin, Thomas, testimony in the 

.Sommersett case, 205. 
Warren, Joseph, oration on human liberty, 

Warwick, Earl of, slaves on his plantation 
at the Bermudas, 116, 118. 

Washburn, Emory, views on the slavery 
laws of Massachusetts, 179. 

Washington, George, acknowledges verses 
written by Phillis Wheatley 200, 201 ; 
presents Virginia resolutions of 1774 
against slavery, 327 ; takes command of 
the army, 334; forbids the enlistment of 
Negroes, 334 ; instructed to discharge 
all Negroes and slaves in the army, 335 ; 
order of, against Negro enlistments, 
336; letter to Congress on admitting 
Negroes to the army, 337 ; letter to 
Joseph Reed on Lord Dunmore's proc- 
lamation, 341 ; letter to Gov. Cooke, 
345; letter to Henry Laurens, on the 
arming of the Negroes, 353 ; letter to 
John Laurens on the failure to enlist 
Negroes in the South, 360 ; letter to Sir 
Guy Carleton relative to Negroes, 381 ; 
to Gen. Putnam in regard to a Negro 
in the army claimed by his owner, 3S4; 
president of the Federal Convention, 41 7. 

Watson, Capt., arrives at Norfolk, Va., 
with slaves, 328. 

Wayne, Anthony, letter to Lieut.-Col. 
Meigs relative to Negroes captured by 
him, 375. 



JXDEX. 



481 



VVeslcyan Methodists establish mission at 
Sierra Leone, 90. 

West India Company, trade in slaves, 
135; children of manumitted Negroes I 
held as slaves by the, 135; cost of the | 
government of New Netherland to the, 
136; encourage commerce in slaves, 
137 ; slaves in New York the property 
of the, 139. 

West Indies, Negroes captured and made 
slaves, 117, ilS; slaves sold at, iSl ; 
England furnishes Negroes to the, 237. 

Western Territory, plan for the disposal 
of the, 416; slave population, 1790, 436. 
•^ Wheatley, I'hillis, an African poetess, 197 ; 
visits England, 19S ; publishes her 
poems, 199; marries John Peters, 200; 
death of, 200; poem to Washington, 
200 ; Washington's letter of acknowl- 
edgment, 201. 

Whipple, John, sued by Jenny Slew, a 
slave, 22S. 

Whitefield, Rev. George, his plantation 
and Negroes in Georgia, 321. 

Williams, George W., orations on " The 
Footsteps of the Nation," " Early 



Christianity in Africa," 11 1; first col- 
ored graduate from Newton Seminarv, 
III ; ordination poem by Rev. Dr. .\b- 
bott. III. 

Wilson, I). .'V., principal of school at 
Liberia, 100. 

Wilson, Jacob, on African languages, 67. 

Wilkinson, Gardiner, discovers a Theban 
tunib with Negro scenes, 15; condition 
of white and black slaves, 16. 

Willson, Capt. John, charged with excit- 
ing slaves, 226. 

Windsor, Thomas, master of ship " Sea- 
flower," arrives at Newport, R.I., with 
slaves from Africa, 269. 

Winter, Sir Willian\, a slave-trader, 
138. 

Worcester, Mass, representative instructed 
to vote against slavery, 220. 

York, Dlkk of, conveys Delaware to 

W'illiam Penn, 249. 
Yoruba, Africa, Negro kingdom, 31 ; slave 

trade stopped, 31. 

Zerah, king of Ethiopia, 454. 



HISTORY 

OF 

THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 

1800 TO 1880 



NOTE. 



THIS second volume brings the History of the Negro Race in 
America from 1800 down to 1880. It consists of six parts and 
twenty-nine chapters. Few memories can cover this eventful 
period of American history. Commencing its career with the Repubhc, 
slavery grew witii its growth and strengthened with its strength. The 
dark spectre kept pace and company with Hberty until separated by the 
sword. Beginning with the struggle for restriction or extension of 
slavery, I have striven to record, in the spirit of honest and impartial 
historical incpiiry, all the events of this period belonging properly to my 
subject. The development and decay of anti-slavery sentiment at the 
South ; the pious efforts of the good Quakers to ameliorate the condi- 
tion of the slaves ; the service of Negroes as soldiers and sailors ; the 
anti-slavery agitation movement ; the insurrections of slaves ; the na- 
tional legislation on the slavery question ; the John Brown movement ; 
the war for the Union ; the valorous conduct of Negro soldiers ; the 
emancipation proclamations ; the reconstruction of the late Confederate 
States ; the errors of reconstruction ; the results of emancipation ; vital, 
prison, labor, educational, financial, and social statistics ; the exodus — 
cause and effect ; and a sober prophecy of the future, — are all faithfully 
recorded. 

After seven years I am loath to part with the saddest task ever 
committed to human hands ! I have tracked my bleeding countrymen 
through the widely scattered documents of American history ; I have 
listened to their groans, their clanking chains, and melting prayers, until 
the woes of a race and tlie agonies of centuries seem to crowd upon my 
soul as a bitter reality. Many pages of this history have been blistered 
with my tears ; and, although having lived but a little more than a 
generation, my mind feels as if it were cycles old. 

The long spectral hand on the clock of American history points to 
the completion of the second decade since the American slave became 
an American citizen. How wondrous have been his strides, how mar- 
vellous his achievements ! Twenty years ago we were in the midst of a 

iii 



iv NOTE. 

great war for the extinction of slavery ; in tliis anniversary week I com- 
plete my task, record the results of that struggle. I modestly strive to 
lift the Negro race to its pedestal in American history. I raise this 
post to indicate the progress of humanity ; to instruct the present, to 
inform the future. I commit this work to the considerate judgment of 
my fellow-citizens of every race, "with malice toward none, and charity 
for all." 

GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 



Hoffman House, New York City, Dec. 28, 1882. 



CONTENTS. 

«♦< 

^'avt 4. 

CONSERVATIVE ERA— NEGROES IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



CHAPTER I. 

RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 
180O-1825. 

PAGR 

Commencement of the Nineteenth Century. — Slave Population of iSoo. — Memorial presented 
to Congress calling Attention to the Slave-trade to the Coast of Guinea. —Georgia cedes 
the Territory lying West of her to become a State. — Ohio adopts a State Constitution. — 
William Henry Harrison appointed Governor of the Territory of Indiana. — An Act of 
Congress prohibiting the Importation of Slaves into the United States or Territories. — 
Slave Population of iSio.— Mississippi applies for .\dmission into the Union with a Slave 
Constitution. — Congress besieged by Memorials urging more Specific Legislation against 
the Slave-trade. — Premium offered to the Informer of every illegally imported African 
seized within the United States. — Circular-letters sent to the Naval Officers on the 
Sea-coast of the Slave-holding States. — President Monroe's Message to Congress on the 
Question of Slavery. — Petition presented by the Missouri Delegates for the Admission of 
that State into the Union. — The Organization of the Arkansas Territory. — Resolutions 
passed for the Restriction of Slavery in New States. — The Missouri Controversy. — The 
Organization of the Anti-slavery Societies. — An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery 
in New Jersey. — Its Provisions. — Th^ Attitude of the Northern Press on the Slavery 
Question. — Slave Population of 1820. — Anti-slavery Sentiment at the North ... I 

CHAPTER II. 

NEGRO TROOPS IN THE WAR OF lSl2. 

Employment of Negroes as Soldiers in the War of i8u. — The New York Legislature 
•authorizes theEnlislment of a Regiment of Colored Soldiers. — Gen. Andrew Jackson's 
Proclamation to the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana calling them to .Arms. — Stir- 
ring Address to the Colored Troops the Sunday before the Battle of New Orleans. — Gen. 
Jackson anticipates the Valor of his Colored Soldiers. — Terms of Peace at the Close of 
the War by the Commissioners at Ghent. — Negroes placed as Chattel Properly. — Their 
Valor in War secures them no immunity in Peace 23 

CHAPTER HI. 

NEGROES IN THE NAVY. 
No Proscription against Negroes as Sailors. — They are carried upon the Rolls in the Navy 
without Regard to their Nationality. — Their Treatment as Sailors. — Commodore Perry's 
Letter to Commodore Chauncey in Regard to the Men sent him. — Commodore Chaun- 
cey's Spirited Reply. — The Heroism of the Negro set forth in the Picture of Perry's 
Victory on Lake Erie. — E.xtract of a Letter from Nathaniel Shaler, Commander of a 
Private Vessel. — He cites Several Instances of the Heroic Conduct of Negro Sailors . aS 



CONTENTS. 

^avt 5. 

ANTI-SLA VER V AGITA TIOAT. 
CHAPTER IV. 

RETROSPECTION AND REFLECTION. 
1825-1S50. 



PAC»1< 



The Security of the Institution of Slavery at the South. —The Right to hoM Slaves ques- 
tioned.— Rapid Increase of the Slave Population.— Anti-slavery Speeches in >he Legis'l- 
ture of Virginia. — The Quakers of Maryland and Delaware emancipate their Slavs. ~ 
The Evil Effect of Slavery upon Society. — The Conscience and Heart of the South di(* 
not respond to the Voice of Reason or the Dictates of Humanity ' 

CHAPTER V. 

ANTI-SLAVERY METHODS. 

The Antiquity of Anti-slavery Sentiment. — Benjamin Lundy's Opposition to Slavery In 
the South and at the North. — He establishes the " Genius of Universal Emancipa- 
tion." — His Great Sacrifices and Marvellous Work in the Cause of Emancipation.— 
William Lloyd Garrison edits a Paper at Bennington, Vermont. — He pens a Petition to . 
Congress for the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia. — Garrison the Peer- 
less Leader of the ,\nti-slavery .\gitation. — Extract from a Speech delivered by Daniel 
O'Connell at Cork, Ireland. — Increase of Anti-slavery Societies in the Country.— 
Charles Sumner delivers a Speech on the "Anti-slavery Duties of the Whig Party." — 
Marked Events of 1846. — Sumner the Leader of the Political Abolition Party. — Hetero- 
dox ,\nti-slavery Party. — Its Sentiments. — Horace Greeley the Leader of the Economic 
.\nti-slavery Party. — The Aggressive Anti-slavery Party. — Its Leaders. — The Coloniza- 
tion Anti-slavery Society. — American Colonization Society. — Manumiited Negroes colo- 
nizeon the West Coast of Africa.— A Bill establishing a Line of Mail Steamers to the Coast 
of Africa. — It provides for the Suppression of the Slave-trade, the Promotion of Com- 
merce, and the Colonization of Free Negroes. — E.\tracts from the Press warmly urging 
the Passage of the Bill. — The Underground Railroad Organization. — Its Efficiency in 
freeing Slaves. — Anti-Slavery Literature. — It exposes the True Character of Slavery. — 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher Stowe, pleaded the Cause of the Slave in 
Twenty Different Languages. — The Influence of " Impending Crisis." . . . . , 

CHAPTER VI. 

ANTI-SLAVERY EFFORTS OF FREE NEGROES. 

Intelligent Interest of Free Negroes in the Agitation Movement. — " First Annual Conven- 
tion of the People of Color" held at Philadelphia. — Report of the Committee on the 
Establishment of a College for Young Men of Color. — Provisional Committee appomted 
in each City. — Conventional Address. — Second Convention held at Bcnezet Hall, 
Philadelphia. — Resolutions of the Meeting. — Conventional Address. — The Massa- 
chusetts General Colored Association.— Convention of Anti-slavery Women of America 
at New York. — Prejudice against admitting Negroes into White Societies. — Colored 
Orators. — Their Eloquent Pleas for their Enslaved Race ( 

CHAPTER Vir. 

NEGRO INSURRECTIONS. 

The Negro not so Docile as supposed. — The Reason why he was kept in Bondage. — 
Negroes possessed Courage but lacked Leaders. — Insurrection of Slaves. — Gen. Gabriel 
as a Leader. — Negro Insurrection, planned in South Carolina. — Evils of, revealed — The 
"• Nat. Turner " Insurrection in South Hampton County, Virginia. — The Whites arm 
themselves to repel the Insurrectionists. — Capture and Trial of " Nat. Turner." — His 
Execution. — Effect of the Insurrection upon Slaves and Slave-holders . • . . 1 



CONTENTS. vii 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE " AMISTAI) " l' A l-TI VES. 

The Spanish Slaver " Amistad " sails from Havana, Cuba, for Porto Principe. — Fifty-four 
Native Africans on Board. — Joseph Cinque/., the Son ol an African Prince. —The 
" Am istad " captured and taken into New London, Conn. — Trial and Release of tlie 
Slaves. —Tour through the United States, ^ Return to their Native Country in Company 
with Missionaries. — Tile .\nti-slavery Cause benelited by their Stay in the United 
States. — Tlieir Appreciation of C'hristiau Civilization 93 



THE PEKWD OF PREPARATION: 



CHAPTER IX. 

NORTHERN SYMPATHY AND SOUTHERN SUBTERFUGES. 
1S5O-1860. 

Violent Treatment of .\nti-slavcry Orators. — The South misinterprets the Mobocratic Spirit 
of the North. -The " Garrisonians " and " Calhounites." — Slave Population of 1S30- 
1850. — The Thirty-first Congress. —Motion for the Admission of Neiv Mexico and Cali- 
fornia. — The Democratic and Whig Parties on the Treatment of the Slave Question. — 
Convention of the Democratic Party at Haltimore, Maryland. — Nomination of Franklin 
Pierce for President. — Whig Party Convention. — Nomination of Gen. Winficld Scott 
for the Presidency by the Whigs. -- Mr. Pierce elected President in 1853. — .-V Bill in- 
troduced to repeal the '* Missouri ('omproinise." — Speech by Stephen \. Doughiss. — 
Mr. Chase's Reply. — An Act to organize the Territories ol Kansas and Nebraska. — 
State Militia in tlie South make Preparations for War. — President Huchanan in Sympathy 
with the South 

CHAPTER X. 

THE " HLACK LAWs" OK " BORDER STATES." 
Stringent Laws enacted against Free Negroes and Mulattoes. — Fugitive-slave Law respected 
in Ohio. — A Law to prevent Kidnapping. —The First Constitution 01 Ohio. — Hi.story of 
tlie Dred Scott case. — Juilge Taney's Opinion in this ("ase. — Ohio Constitution of 1851 
denied Free Negroes the Right to vote. — The Establishment of Colored Schools. — Law 
in Indiana Territory in Reference to Executions. — .\n .Act for the Iniroductionof .Negroes 
and Mulattoes into the Territory. — First Constitution of Indiana. — The Illinois Consti- 
tution of 1818. -Criminal Code enacted. — Illinois Legislature passes an .\ct to prevent 
the Hlmigration of Free Negroes into the Slate. — Free Negroes of the Northern States 
endure Restriction and Proscription ...1 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 
Nominal Rights of Free Negroes in the Slave States. — Fugitive Slaves seek Refuge in Canada. 
— Negroes petition against Taxation without Representation.— A Law preventing Negroes 
from other States from settling in Massachusetts. — Notice to Blacks, Indi.ans, and Mulat- 
toes, warning theui to leave the Commonwealth. - The Rights and Privileges of the 
Negro restricted. — Colored Men turn their Attention to the Eilucation of their own 
Race. —John V. De Grasse, the first Colored Man admitted to the Massachusetts Medical 
Society. --Prominent Colored Men of New York an<l Philadelphia. — The Organization 
of the .\frican Methodist Episcopal and Colored Baptist Churches. - Colored Men distin- 
guish themselves in the Pulpit.- Report to the Ohio Anti-slavery Society of Colored 



viii CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

People in Cincinnati in 1835. — Many purchase their Freedom. — Henry Boyd, the Me- 
chanic and Builder. ^ He becomes a Successful Manufacturer in Cincinnati.— Samuel 
T. Wilcox, the Grocer. — His Success in Business in Cincinnati. — Ball & Thomas, the 
Photographers. — Colored People of Cincinnati evince a Desire to take Care of themselves, 
— Lydia P. Mott establishes a Home for Colored Orphans. —The Organization effected 
in 1S44. " Its Success. — Formation of a Colored Military Company called " The Attucks 
Guards." — Emigration of Negroes to Liberia. — The Colored People live down much 
Prejudice 12s 



CHAPTER XII. 

NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 

1619-1860. 

The Possibilities of the Human Intellect. — Ignorance Favorable to Slavery. — AnActbythe 
Legislature of Alabama imposing a Penalty on any one instructing a Colored Person. — 
Educational Privileges of the Creoles in the City of Mobile. — Prejudice against Colored 
Schools in Connecticut. — The Attempt of Miss Prudence Crandall to admit Colored Girls 
into her School at Canterbury. — The Indignation of the Citizens at this Attempt to mix 
the Races in Education. — The Legislature of Connecticut jiasscs a Law abolishing the 
School. — The Building assaulted by a Mob. — Miss Crandall arrested and imprisoned for 
teaching Colored Children against the Law. — Great Excitement. — The Law finally re- 
pealed. — An Act by the Legislature of Delaware taxing Persons who brought into, or 
sold Slaves out of, the State. ~ Under .-Xct of 1829 Money received for the Sale of Slaves 
in Morid;i w^as added to the School h'und in that State. — Georgia prohibits the Education -« 
of Colored Persons under Heavy Penalty. — Illinois establishes Separate Schools for Col- 
ored Chddren.— The ''Free Mission Institute " at Quincy, Illinois, destroyed by a Mis- 
souri Mob. — Numerous and Cruel Slave Laws in Kentucky retard the Education of the 
Negroes. — An Act passed in Louisiana preventing the Negroes in any Way from being 
instructed. — Maine gives Equal School Privileges to Whites and Blacks. — St. Francis 
Academy for Colored Girls founded in Baltimore in 1831. — The Wells School. — The First 
School for Colored Children established in Boston by Intelligent Colored Men in 1798. — 
A School-house for the Colored Children built and paid for out of a Fund left by Abiel 
Smith for that Purpose ^John B. Russworm one of the Teachers and afterward Gov- 
ernor of the Colony of Cape I'almas, Liberia. — l'"irst Primary School~for Colored Chil- 
dren established in 1820. — Missouri passes Stringent Laws against the Instruction of 
Negroes. — New York provides for the Education of Negroes. — Elias Neau opens a 
School in New York City for Negro Slaves in 1704, — " New York .African Free School " 
in 1786. — Visit of Lafayette to the African Schools in 1824. — His Address. — Public 
Schools for Colored Children in New York. — Colored Schools in Ohio. — ''Cincinnati 
High School" for Colored Youths founded in iS44.~-Oberlin College opens its Doors to 
Colored Students. — The Establishment of Colored Schools in Pennsylvania by Anthony 
Benezet in 1750. — His Will. — "Institute for Colored Youths" established in 1837.^ — 
'* Avery College," at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, founded in 1S40. — Ashmun Institute, 
or Lincoln L^niversity, li.>unded in October, 1856. — South Carolina takes Definite Action 
against the Education or Promotion of the Colored Race in 1 800-1803-1834. — Tennessee 
makes no Discrimination against Color in the School Law of 1840. — Little Opportunity 
afforded in Virginia for the Colored Man to be enlightened. — Stringent Laws enacted. — 
History of Schools for the Colored Population in the District of Columbia . . . .147 

CHAPTER XIII. 

JOHN BROWN — HERO AND MARTYR. 

John Brown's Appearance in Kansas. — He denounces Slavery in a Political Meeting at Osa- 
watomie. — Mrs. Stearns's Personal Recollection of John Brown. — Kansas infested by 
Border Ruffians. ~ The Battle of Harper's Ferry. "^ The Defeat and Capture of Captain \ 
John Brown. — His Last Letter ^vrittcn to Mrs. Stearns. — His Trial and Execution. — His 
Influence upon the Anti-slavery Question at the North. — His Place in History . . . 214 



CONTENTS. IX 

^avt 7. 

THE NEGRO IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION, 



CHAPTER XIV. 

DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 

PACK 

Increase of Slave Population in Slave-liokiing States from 1850-1860. — Products of Slave 
Labor. — Basis of Soutliern Rcprcscnlatian. — Six Sccedins States organize a New Govern- 
ment. — Constitution of tlie Confederate (Government. — Spcecii l>v Alexamicr H. Ste- 
phens. - Mr. Lincoln in Favor of Gradual Emancipation, — He is elected President of the 
United States. — The Issue of the \\'ar between the States 328 

CHAPTER XV. 

" A WHITE man's war.'* 

The First Call for Troops. — Rendition of Fugitive Slaves by the Army. — Col. Tyler's Ad- 
dress to the People of Virginia. — General Isaac R. Sherwood's Account of an Attempt to 
secure a Fugitive Slave in his Charge. -- Col. Steedman refuses to have his Camp 
searched for Fugitive Slaves by Order from Gen. Fry. — Letter from Gen. Buell in De- 
fence of the Rebels in the South. — Or^lers issued by Generals Hooker, Williams, and 
Others, in Regard to harboring Fugitive Slaves in Union Camps, ~ Observation Concern- 
ing Slavery from the " Army of the Potomac." —Gen. Butler's Letter to Gen. Winfield 
Scott. — It is answered by the Secretary of War. — Horace Greeley's Letter to the Presi- 
dent. — President Lincoln's Reply. Gen. John C. Fremont, Commander of the Union 
Army in Missouri, issues a Proclamation emancipating Slaves in his District. — Tt is disap- 
proved bv the President. — Emancipation Proclamation by Gen. Hunter. — It is rescinded 
by the President. — Slavery and Union joined in a Desperate Struggle 241 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE NEGRO ON FATIGUE DUTY, 

Negroes employed as Teamsters and in the Quartermaster's Department. — Rebel General 
Mercer's Order to the Shive-holders issued from Savannah. - He receives Orders from the 
Secretary of War to impress a Number of Negroes to build Fortifications. — The Negro 
proves himself Industrious and earns Promotion a6o 

CHAPTER XVH. 

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 

Congress passes an Act to confiscate Property used for Insurrectionary Purposes. — A Fruit- 
less Appeal to the President lo issue an Emancipation Proclamation. — He thinks the Time 
not yet come for such an .\ction, but within a Few Weeks changes his Opinion and issues 
an Emancipation Proclamation, ~ The Rebels show no Disposition to accept the Mild 
Terms of the Proclamation. — Mr. Davis gives Attention to the Proclamation In his Third 
Annual Message. —Second Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln Jan- 
uary 1, 1863. —The Proclamation imparts New Hope to the Negro 263 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 

The Question of the Military Employment of Negroes. —The Rebels take the First Step toward 
the Military Employment of Negroes. ~ Grand Review of the Rebel Troops at New 
Orleans. — General Hunter Arms the First Regiment of Loyal Negroes at the South. — 
,' Official Correspondence between the Secretary of War and General Hunter respecting the 
Enlistment of the Black Regiment — The Enlistment of Five Negro Regiments au- 
thorized by the President. — The Policy of General Phelps in Regard to the Employ- 



X CONTENTS. 

PACE 

ment of Negroes as Soldiers in Louisiana. — A Second Call for Troops by the Presi- 
dent. — An Attempt to amend the Army Appropriation Bill so as to prohibit the Further 
Employment of Colored Troops. — Governor John A. Andrew, ot Massachusetts, au- 
thorized by Secretary of War to organize Two Regiments of Colored Troops. — General 
Lorenzo Thomas is despatched to the Mississippi Valley to superintend the Enlistment of 
Negro Soldiers in the Spring of i8t3. — An Order issued by the War Department in the 
Eallof 1S63 for the Enlistment of Colored Troops. —The Union League Ciub of New York 
City raises Two Regiments. — Reciuiting of Colored Troops in Pennsylvania. — Major 
George L. Stearns assigned Charge of the Recruiting of Coloreil Troops in the Depart- 
ment of the Cumberland. — Free Military School established at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania. — Endorsement of the School by Secretary Stanton. — The Organization of the 
School. — OtTicial Table giving Number of Colored Troops in the Army. — The Char- 
acter of Negro Troops. — Mr. Greeley's Editorial on "Negro Troops." — Letter from 
Judge-Advocate Holt to the Secretary of War on the " Enlistment of Slaves." — The 
Negro Legally and Constitutionally a Soldier. — History records his Deeds of Patriotism. 27* 

CHAPTER XIX. 

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 

Justification of the Federal Government in the Employment of Slaves as Soldiers. —Trials of 
the Negro Soldier. — He undergoes Persecution from the White Northern Troops, and 
Hatbarous Treatment from the Rebels. -— Editorial of the "New York Times " on the 
Negro Soldiers in Battle. — Report of the " Tribune " on the Gallant Exploits of the ist 
South Carolina Volunteers. — Negro Troops in all the Departments. — Negro Soldiers in 
the Battle of Port Hudson.— Death of Captain Andre Callioux. — Death of Color-Sergeant 
Anselmas P)anciancois. — An Account of the Battle of Port Hudson. — Official Report of 
General Banks. — He applauds the Valor of the Colored Regiments at Port Hudson. — 
George H, Boker's Poem on " The Black Regiment."— Battle of Milliken's Bund, June, 
1803. — Description of the Battle. —Memorable Events of July, 1863.— Battle on Morris 
Island. — Bravery of Sergeant Carney. — An Account of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment 
by Edward L. Pierce to Governor Andrew. — Death of Col. Shaw. — Colored Troops in 
the Army of the Potomac. — Battle of Petersburg. — Table showing the Losses at Nash- 
ville. — Adjt. -Gen. Thomas on Negro Soldiers. — An Extract from the "" New York Tri- 
bune "in Behalf of the Soldierly Oualities of the Negroes, — Letter received by Col. 
Darling from Mr. Aden and Col. Foster i)raising the Eminent Qualifications of the Negro 
for Military Life. — History records their Deeds of Valor in the Preservation of the 
Union 3'<^ 

CHAPTER XX. 

CAPTURE AND TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 
The Military Employment of Negroes Distasteful to the Rebel Authorities. — The Confed- 
erates the First to employ Negroes as Soldiers. —Jefferson Davis refers to the Subject in 
his Message, and the ("onfederate Congress orders .-Ml Negroes captured to be turned 
over to the State .VuthoritJes, and raises the'' Black Flag "upon White Officers com- 
manding Negro Soldiers. —The New York Press calls upon the Government to protect 
its Negro Soldiers. — Secretary Stanton's Action. — The President's Order. — Cor- 
respondence between Gen. Peck and Gen. Pickett in Regard to the Kiilmg of a Colored 
Man after he had surrenilered at the Battle of Newbern— Southern Press on the Capt- 
ure and Treatment of Negro Soldiers. — The Rebels refuse to exchange Negro Soldiers 
captured ^^w Morris and James Islands on Account of the Order of the Confederate 
Congress which required them to be turned over to the -Authorities of the Several States. 
— Jefferson Davis issues a Proclamation outlawing Gen, B. F. Butler. — He is to be hung 
without Trial by any Confederate OlTicer who may capture hira. — The Battle of Fort 
Pillow.— The Gallant Defence by the Little Band of Union Troops. — It refuses to capitu- 
late and is assaulted and captured by an Overwhelming Force. — The Union Troops 
butchered in Cold Blood. — The Wounded are carried into Houses which are tired and 
burned witli their Helpless Victims. — Men are nailed to the Outside of Buildings through 
their Hands and Feet and burned aUve. — The Wounded and Dying are brained where 
they Jay in their Ebbing Blood. — The Outrages are renewed in the Morning. — Dead and 
Living find a Common Sepulchre in the Trench. — General Chalmers orders the Killing of a 



CONTENTS. xi 



Negro Child. — Testimony of the Kcw Union Soldiers who were enabled to crawl out of 
the Gilt-Kdge, Kirc-I'roof lIcM at I'illow. — They give a Sickening Account ot the 
Massacre before Ihc Senate Committee on the Conduct of the War. — Gen. Torrest's 
Futile Attempt to destroy the Reconl of his Foul Crime. — Fort Pillow Massacre without 
a Parallel in History 350 



^•AxX 8. 

THE F/A'.Sr DECADE 01- FREEDOM. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

RECONSTRUCTION MISCONSTRUCTION. 

1865-1875. 

The War over, Peace restored, and the Nation cleansed of a Plapue. — Slavery gives Place 
to a Long Train of Events. — Unsettled Condition of Affairs at the South. — The Absence 
of Legal Civil Government necessitates the Establishment of Provisional Military Gov- 
ernment. —An Act establishing a liureau for Refugees and Abandoned Lands. — Con- 
gressional Methods for the Reconstruction of the South. — Gen. U. S. Cirant carries these 
States in iS63 and 1872 — Both Hranchesof the Legislatures in all the Southern States 
contain Negro Members. — The Errors of Reconstructiun chargeable to both Sections of 
the Country 377 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 

The Apparent Idleness of the Negro Sporadic rather than Generic. — He quietly settles do\vn 
to \\'ork. — The viovernment makes Ample Provisions for his Educational and Social Im- 
provement. — The Marvellous Prugress in:ide by the People of the South in Education. -^ 
Earliest School for Freeiiincn at l-ortress Monroe in iSC>i, — The Richmond Institute for 
Colored Youth. — Tlie Unlimited Desire of the Negroes to obtain an Education. — Gen- 
eral Order organizing a " Hureau of Refugees, Krecdmon, and Abandoned I,anris." — Gen, 
O. O. Howard appointed Commissioner of the Bureau. — Report of all the Receipts and 
Expenditures of the Freedman's Bureau from 1S65-1S67. — An Act Incorporating the 
Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust Company. —The Business of the Company as 
shown from 1866-1S71. — Financial Statement by the Trustees for 1S72.— Failure of the 
Bunk. —The Social and Financial Condition of the Colored People in the South. — The 
Negro rarely receives Justice in Southern Courts. — Treatment of Negroes as Convicts in 
Southern Prisons— Increase of the Colored People from 1790-1880. — Negroes susceptible 
of the Highest Civilization 584 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

RKPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 

Thirteenth .imendment to the Constitution. — The Leg.Tl Destruction of Slavery and a Consti- 
tutional Prohibition. — Fifteenth .\inendnient granting Manhood SufTra^^c to the .\nierican 
Nesro. -President Grant's Special Message upon the Subject. -- Univer&il Rejoicing 
among the Colored People. —The Negro in the United Slates Senate anil I louse of Repre- 
sentatives. —The Negro in the Dii>lomatic Service of the Country. - Frederick Douglass— 
His Birth, Enslavement, Escape to the North, and Life as a Krecraan. — Becomes an .Vnti- 
slavery Orator. — Goes to Great Britain.— Returns to .\merica. — Establishes the " North 
Star."— His ?;ioquence, Influence, anil Brilliant Career. — Richanl Theodore Greener.— 
His Early Life, Education, and Successful Literary Career. —John 1". Green. —His Early 
Struggles to obuin an Education. A Successful Orator, Lawyer, and Useful Legislator. 
— Other Representative Colored Men. — Representative Colored Women . . . .419 



xii CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

PAGE 

Its Origin, Growth, Orga-iiization, and Excellent Influence.— Its Publishing House, Periodi- 
cals, and Papers. — Its Numerical and Financial Strength, — Its Missionary and Educa- 
tional Spirit. — Wilberforce University 452 

CHAPTER XXV. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Founding of the M. E. Church of America in 1768. — Negro Servants and Slaves among the 
First Contributors to the Erection of the First Chapel in New York. ^ The Rev. Harr>' 
Hosier the First Negro Preacher in the M. E. Church in America. — His Remarkable 
Eloquence as a Pulpit Orator. -~ Early Prohibition against Slave-holding in the M. E. 
Church, — Strengtli of the Churches and Sunday-schools of the Colored Members in the 
M. E, Church,— The Rev. Marshall W. Taylor, D.D.— His Ancestors. — His Early 
Life and Struggles for an Education. ^ He Teaches School in Kentucky. — His Experi- 
ences as a Teacher. — Is ordained to the Gospel Ministry and becomes a Preacher and 
Missionary Teacher. — His Settlement as Pastor in Indiana and Ohio. — Is given the Title 
of Doctor of Divinity by the Tennessee College. — His Influence as a Leader, and his 
Standing as a Preacher 465 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 

The Colored Baptists an Intelligent and Useful People, — Their Leading Ministers in Missouri, 
Ohio, and in New England. — The Birth, Early Life, and Education of Duke William 
Anderson. ^ .\s Farmer, Teacher, Preacher, and Missionary. — His Influence in the West. 
- Goes South at the Close of the War. — Teaches in a Theological Institute at Nashville, 
Tennessee, — Called to Washington. — Pastor of igth Street Baptist Church. — He occupies 
Various Positions of Trust. — Builds a New Church. — His Last Revival. — His Sickness 
and Death. — His I'^uneral and the General Sorrow at his Loss, — Leonard Andrew Grimes, 
of Boston, Massachusetts.— His Piety, Faithfulness, and Public Influence for Good. ^ The 
Completion of iiis Church. — His Last Daysand Sudden Death. — General Sorrow. — Reso- 
lutions by the Baptist Ministers of Boston. — A Great and Good Man Gone .... 475 



|?avt 9. 

THE DECLINE OF NEGRO GOVERNMENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

REACTION, PERIL, AND PACIFICATION. 

1875-1880. 

The Beginning of the End of the Republican Governments at the South. — Southern Election 
Methods and Northern Sym[)athy. ^ Gen. Grant not Responsible for the Decline and 
Loss of the Republican State Governments at the South. — A Party w ithout a Live Issue. 
— Southern War Claims, — The Campaign of 1S76, — Republican Lethargy and Demo- 
cratic Activity. — Doubtful Results. — The Electoral Covint in Congress, — Gen. Garfield 
and Congressmen Foster and Hale to the Front as Leaders. — Peaceful Results. — Presi- 
dent Hayes's Southern Policy. — Its Failure. ~ The Ideas of the Hon. Charles Foster on 
the Treatment of the Southern Problem. — " Nothing but Leaves " from Conciliation, — A 
New Policy demanded by the Republican Party. — A Remarkable Speech by the Hon. 
Charles Foster at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. — He calls for a Solid North against a Solid 
South, — He sounds the Key-note for the North and the Nation responds. — The Decay 



CONTENTS. XI a 

I'AGB 

and Death of the Nesro Govcrnincnls al the South Incviubic, — The Negro must turn his 
Allention to Education, the Aocumulalion of Properly and Experience. — He will return 
to Politics when he shall be Equal to the Difficult Duties of Citizenship . . . . 5"6 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE EXODUS — CAUSE AND EFFECT. 
The Negroes of the South delight in their Home so Long as it is Possible for them to remain. 
— The Policy of abridgMig their Rights Destructive to their Usefulness as .Members of 
Society. — Political Intimidalion. Murder, and Outrage disturb the Negroes.— The Planta- 
tion Credit System the Crin:e of the Century. —The Exodus not inspired by Politicians, 
but the Natural Outcome of the liarbarous Treatment bestowed ujjon the Negroes by the 
Whites. —The Unprecedented Sufferings of 60,000 Negroes iieeing from Southern Demo- 
cratic Oppression. — Their Patient Christian Endurance. —Their Industry, Morals, and 
Frugality.- The Correspondent of the "Chicago Inter-Ocean" sends Information to 
Senator Voorhees respecting the Refugees in Kansas. —The Position of Gov. St. John 
and the Kaithful Labors of Mrs. Comstock. — The Results of the Exodus Beneficent.- The 
South must treat the Negro Better or lose his Labor 5-9 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

RETROSPECTION AND PROSPECTION. 

The Three Grand Divisions of the Tribes of Africa. — Slave Markets of America supplied 
from the Diseased and Criminal Classes of African Society. — America robs .Africa of 
15,000,000 Souls in 3fx) Years. — Negro Power of Endurance. — His Wonderful Achieve- 
ments as a Laborer. Sohlier, and Student. — First in War, and First in Devotion to the 
Country. — His Idiosyncrasies. — Mrs. Stowe's Errors. - His Growing Love for Schools 
and Churches. — His General Improvement. — The Negro will endure to the End. — He 
is Capable for All tlie Duties of Citi/.cnship.— Amalgamation will not obliterate the Race. 
— The .-Vmcrican Negro will civilize .\frica.— America wiii establish Steamship Communi- 
cation with the Dark Continent, — Africa will yet be composed of States, and " Ethiopia 
shall soon stretch out her Hands unto God.'* 544 



HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 



J^uvt 4. 



CONSERVATIVE ERA— NEGROES IN THE ARMY AND 

NAVY. 



CHAPTER I. 

RESTRICTION' AND EXTKNSIOX. 
1800-1825. 

Commencement of the Nineteenth Cesti'rv. — Slave Pni'fi-\Tif>N' of iSoo, — Mf.morial pre- 
sented TO Congress calling Attention to the Slave-tradr to the Coast ofGulnra. ■-• 
Georgia cedes the Territory lying West of her to become a State. — Ohio adopts 
A State Constitution'.— William HuKkv Harrison aftointf.d (Jovernok of the Terri- 
tory OF IND14NA. — An Act of Congress prohibiting the Importation op Slaves into 
the United States or Territories. — Slave Population of 1810. — Mississippi applies 
FOR Admission into the Union with a Slave Constitution. — Congress uesieged nv Me- 
morials urging more specific Legislation against tke Slave-trade. — Premium offered 

TO THE InFORMF.R OF EVERY ILLEGALLY IMPORTED AFRICAN SEIZED WITHIN THE UnITED 

States. — Circular Letters sent to the Naval Officers on the Seacoa.st of the 
Sl.we-holoing States. — President Monroe's Message to Congress on the Question op 
Slavery. — Petition presented dv the Missouri Delegates for the Admission of that 
State into the Union. — The Organization of the .-Vrkansas Territory. — Resolutions 
passed for the Restriction of Slavery is New States. — The Missouri Controversy. — 
The Organization of the Anti-slaverv Societies. — An Act for the Gradual Aboli- 
tion OF Slaverv in' New Jersey. — Its Provisions. — The Attitude of ihe Northern 
Press on the Slavery Question. — Slave Popul.\tion of 1830, — Anti-slavebv Sentiment 
at the North. 

THE nineteenth century opened auspiciously for the cause 
of the Negro. Although slavery had ceased to exist in 
Massachusetts and Vermont, the census of iSoo showed 
that the slave population in the other States was steadily on the 
increase. In the total population of 5,305,925. there were 893,- 
041 slaves. The subjoined table exhibits the number of slaves 
in each of the slave-holding States in the year 1800. 



HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CENSUS OF 1800 — SLAVE POPULATION. 



District of Columbia 

Connecticut . 

Delaware 

Georgia 

Indiana Territory 

Kentucky 

Maryland . 

Mississippi Territory 

New Jersey 

New Hampshire . 

New York 

North Carolina . 

Pennsylvania . 

Rhode Island 

South Carolina 

Tennessee . 

Virginia . 



Aggregate 



3.244 

• 951 

6,153 

59.404 

135 

• 40.343 
105,635 

• 3-489 
12,422 

8 

20-343 

133,296 

1,706 

38r 
146,151 

13-584 
345,796 

893,041 



On the 2d of January, 1800, a number of Colored citizens of 
the city and county of Philadelphia presented a memorial to 
Congress, through the delegate from that city, Mr. Wain, calling 
attention to the slave-trade to the coast of Guinea. The me- 
morial charged that the slave-trade was clandestinely carried on 
from various ports of the United States contrary to law ; that 
under this wicked practice free Colored men were often seized 
and sold as slaves; and that the fugitive-slave law of 1793 sub- 
jected them to great inconvenience and severe persecutions. 
The memorialists did not request Congress to transcend their 
authority respecting the slave-trade, nor to emancipate the 
slaves, but only to prepare the way, so that, at an early period, 
the oppressed might go free. 

Upon a motion by Mr. Wain for the reference of the memorial 
to the Committee on the Slave-trade, Rutledge, Harper, Lee, 
Randolph, and other Southern members, made speeches against 
such a reference. They maintained that the petition requested 
Congress to take action on a question over which they had no 
control. Wain, Thacher, Smilie, Dana, and Gallatin contended 
that there were portions of the petition that came within the 
jurisdiction of the Constitution, and, therefore, ought to be re- 



EESTKICTION AND EXTENSION. 3 

ceived and acted upon. Mr. Rutledge demanded the yeas and 
nays ; but in such a spirit as put Mr. Wain on his guard, so he 
withdrew liis motion, and submitted another one by whicli such 
parts of the memorial as came within the jurisdiction of Congress 
should be referred. Mr. Kutledge raised a point of order on the 
motion of the gentleman from Pennsylvania that a " part " of 
the memorial could not be referred, but was promptly overruled. 
Mr. Gray, of Virginia, moved to amend by adding a declaratory 
clause that the portions of the memorial, not referred, inviting 
Congress to exercise authority not delegated, "have a tendency 
to create disquiet and jealousy, and ought, therefore, to receive 
the pointed disapprobation of this House." After some discus- 
sion, it was finally agreed to strike out the last clause and insert 
the following: "ought therefore to receive no encouragement or 
countenance from this House." The call of the roll resulted in 
the adoption of the amendment, with but one vote in the nega- 
tive b)' Mr. Thacher, of Maine, an uncompromising enemy of 
slavery. The committee to whom the memorial was referred 
brought in a bill during the session prohibiting American ships 
from supplying slaves from the United States to foreign markets. 
On the 2d of April, 1802, Georgia ceded the territory lying 
west of her present limits, now embracing the States of Alabama 
and Mississippi. Among the conditions she exacted was the fol- 
lowing : 

"That the territory thus ceded shall become a State, and be ad- 
mitted into the Union as soon as it shall contain sixty thousand free in- 
habitants, or at an earlier period, if Congress shall think it expedient, 
on the same conditions and restrictions, with the same privileges, and in 
the same manner, as provided in the ordinance of Congress of the 13th 
day of July, 1787, for the government of the western territory of the 
United States : which ordinance shall, in all its parts, extend to the 
territory cont.iined in the present act of cession, tlie article only ex- 
cepted which forbids slavery." 

The demand was acceded to, and, as the world knows, Ala- 
bama and Mississippi became the most cruel slave States in the 
United States. 

Ohio adopted a State constitution in 1 802-3, and the residue 
of the territory not included in the State as it is now, was desig. 
nated as Indiana Territory. William Henry Harrison was ap- 
pointed governor. One of the earliest moves of the government 



4 HISTORY OF THE XEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of the new territory was to secure a modification of the ordi- 
nance of 1787 by which slavery or involuntary servitude was pro- 
hibited in the territory northwest of the Ohio River. It was 
ordered by a convention presided over by Gen. Harrison in 
l8o2~3, that a memorial be sent to Congress urging a restriction 
of the ordinance of 1787. It was referred to a select committee, 
with John Randolph as chairman. On the 2d of March, 1803, 
he made a report by the unanimous request of his committee, 
and the portion referring to slavery was as follows : 

" The rapid population of the State of Ohio snfificiently evinces, in 
the opinion of your committee, that the labor of slaves is not necessary 
to promote the growth and settlement of colonies in that region. That 
this labor — demonstrably the dearest of any — can only be employed in 
the cultivation of products more valuable than any known to that quar- 
ter of the United States ; that the committee deem it highly dangerous 
and inexpedient to impair a provision wisely calculated to jiromote the 
happiness and prosperity of the northwestern country, and to give 
strength and security to that e.xtensive frontier. In the salutary opera- 
tions of this sagacious and benevolent restraint, it is believed that the 
inhabitants of Indiana will, at no very distant day, find ample remunera- 
tion for a temporary privation of labor and of emigration," 

After discussing the subject-matter embodied in the memorial 
from the territory of Indiana, the committee presented eight re- 
solves, one of which related to the subject of slavery, and was as 
follows : 

"Resolved, That it is inexpedient to suspend, for a limited time, the 
operation of the sixth article of the compact between the original States 
and the people and the States west of the river Ohio." 

Congress was about to close its session, and, therefore, there 
was no action taken upon this report. At the next session it 
went into the hands of a new committee whose chairman was 
CjEsar Rodney, of Delaware, who had just been elected to Con- 
gress. On the 17th of February, 1804, Mr. Rodney made the 
following report : 

"That taking into their consideration the facts stated in the said 
memorial and petition, they are induced to believe that a qualified sus- 
pension, for a limited time, of the sixth article of compact between the 
original States and the people and States west of the river Ohio, might 
be productive of benefit and advantage to said territory." 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 5 

After discussing other matters contained in the Indiana i)eti- 
tion, the committee says, in reference to slavery : 

"That tlic sixtli article of the ordinance of 17S7, which prohihited 
slavery within the said territory, be suspended in a.ciualified manner 
for ten years, so as to jiermit the introduction of slaves born within the 
United States, from any of the individual States : pnn'idid^ that such 
individual State does not permit the importation of slaves from foreign 
countries ; and provided further^ that the descendants of all such slaves 
shall, if males, be free at the age of twenty-five years, and, if female, at 
tlie age of twenty-one years." 

The House did not take up and act upon this report, and so 
the matter passed for the time being. But the original memorial, 
with several petitions of like imjjort, came before Congress in 
1805-6. They were referred to a select committee, anci on the 
14th of February, 1806, Mr. Garnctt, of Virginia, the chairman, 
made the following favorable report : 

" That, having attentively considered the facts stated in the said 
petitions and memorials, they are of opinion that a qualified suspension 
for a limited time, of the si,\th article of compact between the original 
States and the people and States wust of the river Ohio, would be bene- 
ficial to the jieople of the Indiana Territory. The suspension of this 
article is an object almost universally desired in that Territory. 

" It appears to your committee to be a question entirely different 
from that between Slavery and Freedom ; inasmuch as it would merely 
occasion the removal of persons, already slaves, from one part of the 
country to another. The good effects of this suspension, in the present 
instance, would be to accelerate the population of tiiat Territory, hitherto 
retarded by the o])eration of that article of compact, as slave-holders emi- 
grating into the Western country might then indulge any preference 
W'hich they might feel for a settlement in the Indiana Territory, instead 
of seeking, as they are now compelled to do, settlements in other Slates 
or countries permitting the introduction of slaves. The condition of 
the slaves themselves would be much ameliorated by it, as it is evident, 
from experience, that the more they are separated and diffused, the 
more care and attention are bestowed on them by their masters — each 
proi)rietor having it in his power to increase their comforts and con- 
veniences, in |)roportion to the smallness of their numbers. The dangers, 
too (if any are to be apprehended), from too large a black population 
existing in any one section of country, would certainly be very much 
diminished, if not entirely removed. But whether dangers are to be 



HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

feared from this source or not, it is certainly an obvious dictate of 
sound policy to guard against them, as far as possible. If this danger 
does exist, or tliere is any cause to apprehend it, and our Western 
brethren are not only willing I)ut desirous to aid us in taking precau- 
tions against it, wrjuld it not be wise to accept their assistance ? 

■' We should benefit ourselves, without injuring them, as their popu- 
lation must always so far exceed any black population which can ever 
exist in that country, as to render the idea of danger from that source 
chimerical." 

After a lengthy discussion of matters embodied in the Indi- 
ana memorial, the committee recommended the following resolve 
on the question of slavery: 

"Resolved, That the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, which 
prohibits slavery within the Indiana Territory, be suspended for ten 
years, so as to permit the introduction of slaves born within the United 
States, from any of the individual States." 

The report and resolves were made the special order for the 
following Monday, but were never called up. 

At the opening of the next session. Gen. Harrison presented 
another letter, accompanied by several resolves passed by the 
Legislative Council and House of Representatives, urging the 
passage of a measure restricting the ordinance of 1787. The let- 
ter and enclosures were received on the 21st of January, 1807, 
and referred to the following select committee: Parke, of Indi- 
ana, chairman; Alston, North Carolina; Masters, New York; 
Morrow, Ohio; Rhea, Tennessee ; Sandford, Kentucky; Trigg, 
Virginia. 

On the I2th of February, 1807, the chairman, Mr. Parke, made 
the following report in favor of the request of the memorialists 
[the tliird\ It was unanimous. 

"The resolutions of the Legislative Council and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the Indiana Territory relate to a suspension, for the term 
of ten years, of the sixth article of compact between the United States 
and the Territories and States northwest of the river Ohio, passed the 
13th July, 1787. That article declares that there shall be neither Slavery 
nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory. 

" The suspension of the said article would operate an immediate and 
essential benefit to the Territory, as emigration to it will be inconsider- 
able for many years, except from those States where Slavery is tolerated. 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 7 

" And although it is not considered expedient to force the popula- 
tion of the Territory, yet it is desirable to connect its scattered settle- 
ments, and, in admitted political rights, to place it on an equal footing 
with the different States. From the interior situation of the Territory, 
it is not believed that slaves could ever become so numerous as to 
endanger the internal peace or future prosperity of the country. The 
current of emigration flowing to the Western country, the 'I'erritories 
should all be opened to their introduction. The abstract question of 
Liberty and Slavery is not involved in the proposed ineasure, as Slavery 
now exists to a considerable extent in different jxirts of the Union ; it 
would not augment the number of slaves, but merely autliorize the 
removal to Indiana of such as are held in bondage in the United States. 
If Slavery is an evil, means ought to be devised to render it least 
dangerous to the community, and by which the hapless situation of the 
slaves would be most ameliorated ; and to accomplish tliese objects, no 
measure would be so effectual as the one proposed. The Committee, 
therefore, respectfully submit to the House the following resolution : 

" Resclvcd, That it is expedient to suspend, from and after the ist day 
of January, iSoS, the sixth article of compact between the United 
States and the Territories and States northwest of the Ohio, passed the 
:3th day of July, 1787, for the term of ten years." 

Like its predecessor this report wa.s made a spcci<il order, but 
was ticvcr taken up. 

On the /th of Novctnbcr, 1807, the President laid a letter from 
Gen. Harrison [probably the one already referred to], and the 
resolves of his Legislature, before Congress, and that body 
referred them to a select committee consisting of Franklin, of 
North Carolina; Ketchel, of New Jersey; and Tiffin, of Ohio. 

On the 13th of November, Mr. Franklin made the following 
adverse report : 

" The Legislative Council and House of Representatives, in their 
resolutions, express their sense of the propriety of introducing Slavery 
into their Territory, and solicit the Congress of the United States to 
suspend, for a given number of years, the sixth article of compact, in 
the ordinance for the government of the Territory nortlnvest of the 
Ohio, passed the 13th day of July, 17S;. That article declares: 
'There shall be neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude within the 
said Territory.' 

"The citizens of Clark County, in their remonstrance, express their 
sense of the impropriety of the measure, and solicit the Congress of the 
United States not to act on the subject, so as to permit the introduc- 



8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

tion of slaves into the Territory ; at least, until their population shall 
entitle them to form a constitution and State government. 

" Your Committee, after duly considering the matter, respectfully 
submit the following resolution : 

''''Resolved, That it is not expedient at this time to suspend the sixth 
article of compact for the government of the Territory of the United 
States northwest of the river Oliio." 

Thus ended in defeat the stubborn effort to secure a restriction 
of the ordinance of 17S7, and the admission of slavery into the 
Territory lying west of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, now 
comprising the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and 
Wisconsin. 

In his message to Congress at the commencement of the ses- 
sion of 1806-7, President Jefferson suggested to that body the 
wisdom of abolishing the African slave-trade. He said in this 
connection : 

" I congratulate you, fellow-citizens, on the approach of the period at 
•which you may interpose your authority, constitutionally, to withdraw 
the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those 
'/iolations of human rights which have so long been continued on the 
Mnoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the reputa- 
tion, and the best interest of our country have long been eager to 
proscribe." 

This portion of the message was referred to a select committee ; 
and in due time they reported a bill "to prohibit the importation 
or bringing of slaves into the United States or the territorieN 
thereof after the 31st day of December, 1807." 

Mr. Early, of Georgia, the chairman of the committee, inserted 
a clause into the bill requiring that all slaves illegally imported 
" should be forfeited and sold for life for the benefit of the United 
States." A long debate ensued and was conducted with fiery 
earnestness from beginning to end. It was urged in support of 
the above regulation, that nothing else could be done but to sell 
them ; that it would never do to release them in the States where 
they might be captured, poor, ignorant, and dangerous. It was 
said by the opponents of the measure, that Congress could not 
regulate the matter, as the States had the reserved authority to 
have slavery, and were, therefore, competent to say who should 
be free and who bond. It was suggested, farther along in the 
debate, that Congress might order such slaves into such States 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 9 

as prohibited slavery, whore they could be bound out for a term 
of years. After a great many able speeches the House refused to 
strike out the forfeiture clause by a vote of sixty-three to thirty- 
six. When the act was called up for final passage, it was amended 
by inserting a clause imposing a fine of §20,000, upon all persons 
concerned in fitting out a vessel for the slave-trade; and likewise 
a fine of $5,000, and forfeiture of the vessel, for taking on board 
any Negro or Mulatto, or any person of color, in any foreign port 
with the intention of selling them in the United States. 

During these efforts at restriction the slave population was 
growing daily. The census of 18 10 showed that within a decade 
the slave population had sprung from 893,041, in 1800, to 
1,191,364, — an increase of 5^ per cent. The following table ex- 
hibits this remarkable fact : 

CENSUS OF iSlO. SLAVE POPULATION. 



I^istrict of Columbia 




S.39S 


Rhode Island 




108 


Connecticut 




310 


Pennsylvania 




795 


Delaware 




... 4, '77 


New Jersey 




10,851 


New York 




I5.0I7 


Louisiana 




34/'6o 


Tennessee 




44,535 


Kentucky 




80,561 


Georgia 




105,218 


Maryland 




111,502 


North Carolina 




. 168,824 


South Carolina 




i'/>,2'^>5 


Virginia 




. 392.518 


Mississip])i Territory 




17,088 


Indiana Territory 




237 


Louisiana Territory 




3.°ii 


Illinois Territory 




168 


Michigan Territory 




24 



On the loth of December, 1817, Mississippi applied for admis- 
sion into the Union with a slave constitution. The provisions 
relating to slavery dispensed with grand juries in the indictment 
of slaves, and trial by jury was allowed only in trial of capital 
cases. 



lO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

During the session of 1817-8, Congress was besieged by a large 
number of memorials praying for more specific legislation against 
the slave-trade. During the session the old fugitive-slave act 
was amended so as to make it more effective, and passed by a 
vote of eighty-four to sixty-nine. In the Senate, with several 
amendments, and heated debate, it passed by a vote of seventeen 
to thirteen ; but upon being returned to the House for concur- 
rence, the Nortiicrn members had heard from their constituents, 
and the bill was tabled, and its friends were powerless to get it up. 

In 1 8 18-9, Congress passed an act offering a premium of fifty 
dollars to the informer of every illegally imported African seized 
within the United States, and twenty-five dollars for those taken 
at sea. The President was authorized to have such slaves re- 
moved beyond the limits of the United States, and to appoint 
agents on the West Coast of Africa to superintend their recep- 
tion. An effort was made to punish slave-trading with death. 
It passed the House, but was struck out in the Senate. 

On the 12th of January, 1819, the Secretary of the Navy trans- 
mitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives copies 
of circular letters that had been sent to the naval officers on 
the various stations along the sea-coast of the slave-holding 
States. The following letter is a fair sample of the remainder : ' 

" Navy Department, January 22, 181 1. 

" Sir : — I hear, not without great concern, that the law prohibiting 
the importation of slaves has been violated in frequent instances, near 
St. Mary's, since the gun-boats have been withdrawn from that station. 

" We are bound by law, by the obligations of humanity and sound 
policy, to use our most strenuous efforts to restrain this disgraceful 
traffic, and to bring those who shall be found engaged in it to those for- 
feitures and punisliments which are bylaw prescribed for such offences. 

'■ Hasten the equipment of the gun-boats whicli, by my letter of the 
24th ultimo, you were directed to equip, and as soon as they shall be 
ready, despatch them to St. Mary's with orders to their commanders to 
use all practicable diligence in enforcing the law prohibiting the im- 
portation of slaves, passed March 2, 1807, entitled ' An Act to prohibit 
the importation of slaves into any jjort or place within the jurisdiction 
of the United States from and after tlie ist day of January, 1808.' 

' I have ill my possession large numbers of official orders and letters on tlie suppres- 
sion of the slave-trade, but the space appropriated to this history precludes their publi- 
cation. There are, however, some important docunrcnts in the appendix to this volume. 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 1 1 

The whole of this law, but especially the 7th section, requires your 
particular attention ; that section declares, that any ship or vessel 
which shall be found in any river, port, bay, or harbor, or on the high 
seas, within the jurisdictional limits of the United States, or hovering on 
the coast thereof, having on board any negro, mulatto, or person of color, 
for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or with intent to land the 
same in any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States, 
contrary to the prohibition of the act, shall, together with her tackle, 
apparel, and furniture, and the goods and effects which shall be found 
on board the same, be forfeited and may be seized, prosecuted, and 
condemned in any court of the United States having jurisdiction 
thereof. 

"It further authorizes the President of the United Stales to cause 
any of the armed vessels of the United States to be manned and 
employed to cruise on any part of the coast of the United States, or terri- 
tories thereof, and to instruct and direct the commanders to seize, take, 
and bring into any ])ort of the United States, all such ships or vessels ; 
and, moreover, to seize, take, and bring into any port of the United 
States, all ships or vessels of the Unittd States, 'tvherevcr found on tlie 
high seas, contravening the jirovisions of the act, to be proceeded 
against according to law. 

" You will, therefore, consider yourself hereby esjiecially instructed 
and required, and you will instruct and require all officers placed under 
your command, to seize, take, and bring into port, any vessel of whatever 
nature, found in any river, port, bay, or harbor, or on the high seas, 
within the juisdictional limits of the United States, or hovering on the 
coast thereof, having on board any negro, mulatto, or person of color, 
for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or with intent to land the 
same, contrary to law ; and, moreover, to seize, take, and bring into port, 
all ships or vessels of the United States, wheresoever found on the high 
seas or elsewhere, contravening the jirovisions oi. the law. Vessels thus to 
be seized, may be brought into tf/zy port of the United States ; and when 
brought into jiort, must, without delay, be reported to the district- 
attorney of the United States residing in the district in which such 
])()rt may be, who will institute such further proceedings as law and 
justice reeiuire. 

" Every person found on board of such vessels must be taken especial 
care of. The negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, are to be deliv- 
ered to such persons as the respective States may appoint to receive 
the same. The commanders and crews of such vessels will be held 
under the prosecutions of the district-attorneys, to answer the pains 
and penalties prescribed by law for their respective offences. When- 
ever negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color shall be delivered to the 
persons appointed to receive the same, duplicate receipts must be taken 



12 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

therefore, and if no person shall be appointed by the respective States to 
receive them, they must be delivered ' to the overseers of the poor of 
the port or place where such ship or vessel may be brought or found,' 
and an account of your proceedings, together with the number and 
descriptive list of such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color, must be 
immediately transmitted to the governor or chief magistrate of the 
State. You will communicate to me, minutely, all your proceedings. 

" I am, sir, resiiectfully, etc. 

Paul Hamilton. 
" H. G. Camphell, Commanding; Niwal Officer, 
Charleston, S. C." 

On the 17th of December, 1819, President Monroe sent the 
following message to Congress on the subject of the slave-trade: 

" MESSAGE. 

" To the Semite and House of Represetitathes of the United States : 

"Some doubt being entertained respecting the true intent and mean- 
ing of the act of tlie last session, entitled 'An Act in addition to the 
Acts prohibiting the slave-trade,' as to the duties of the agents, to be 
appointed on tlie coast of Africa, I think it projjer to state the interpre- 
tation which has been given of the act, and the measures adopted to 
carry it into effect, that Congress may, should it be deemed advisable, 
amend the same, before further proceeding is had under it. 

" The obligation to instruct the commanders of all our armed ves- 
sels to seize and bring into ])ort all ships or vessels of the United 
States, wheresoever found, having on board any negro, mulatto, or per- 
son of color, in violation of former acts for the suppression of the slave- 
trade, being imperative, was executed without delay. No seizures 
have yet been made, but, as they were contemplated by the law, and 
might be presumed, it seemed proper to make the necessary regulations 
applicable to such seizures for carrying the several provisions of the 
act into effect. 

"It is enjoined on the executive to cause all negroes, mulattoes, or 
persons of color, who may be taken under the act, to be removed to 
Africa. It is the obvious import of the law, that none of the persons 
thus taken should remain within the United States ; and no place other 
than the coast of Africa being designated, their removal or delivery, 
whether carried from the United States or landed immediately from 
the vessels in which they were taken, was supposed to be confined to 
that coast. No settlement or station being specified, the whole coast 



JiESTKICTION AND EXTENSION. 13 

was thought to be left open for the seIe<:tion of a projter phice, at whicli 
the persons tlnis taken slioiild be delivered. The executive is author- 
ized to ajjpoiiit one or more agents, residing there, to receive sucii per- 
sons ; and one hundred thousand dollars arc appropriated for the 
general jjurposes of the law. 

" On due consideration of the several sections of the act, and of its 
humane policy, it was supposed to he the intention of Congress, that 
all the persons above described, who might be taken under it, and 
landed in Africa, should be aided in their return to their former homes, 
or in their establishment at or near the jilace where landed. Some 
shelter and food wotdd be necessary for them there, as soon as landed, 
let their subsequent disposition be what it might. Should they be 
landed wiiliout such provision having been previously made, they 
might perish. It was supposed, by the authority given to the executive 
to ap])oint agents residing on that coast, that they shr)uld provide such 
shelter and food, and perform the other beneficent and charitable 
offices contemplated by the act. The coast of Africa having been little 
explored, and no persons residing there who possessed the requisite 
(lualifications to entitle them to the trust being known to the execu- 
tive, to none such could it lie committed. It was believed that citi- 
zens only, who would go hence, well instructed in the views of their 
government, and zealous to give them effect, would be competent to 
these duties, and that it was not the intention of the law to [ireclude 
their appointment. It was obvious that the longer these persons should 
be detained in the United States in the hands of the marshals, the 
greater would be the expense, and that for the same term would the 
main purpose of the law be suspended. It seemed, therefore, to be 
incumbent on me to make the necessary arrangements for carrying 
this act into effect in Africa, in time to meet the delivery of any 
I)ersons who might be taken by the public vessels, and landed there 
under it. 

" On this view of the policy and sanctions of the law, it has been de- 
cided to send a public ship to the coast of Africa with two such 
agents, who will take with them tools and other implements necessary 
for the purposes above mentioned. To each of these agents a small 
salary has been allowed — fifteen hundred dollars to the principal, and 
twelve hundred to the other. .\ll our luiblic agents on the coast 
of Africa receive salaries for their services, and it was understood that 
none of our citizens possessing the requisite qualifications would accept 
these trusts, by which they would be confined to parts the least fre- 
quented and civilized, without a reasonable compensation. Such allow- 
ance, therefore, seemed to be indispensable to the execution of the act. 
It is intended, also, to subject a portion of the sum appropriated, to the 
order of the principal agent, for the special objects above stated, 



14 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

amounting in the whole, including the salaries of the agents for one 
year, to rather less than one third of the appropriation. Special in- 
structions will be given to these agents, defining, in precise terms, their 
duties in regard to the persons thus delivered to them ; the disburse- 
ment of the money by the principal agent ; and his accountability for 
the same. They will also have power to select the most suitable place 
on the coast of Africa, at which all persons who may be taken under 
this act shall be delivered to them, with an express injunction to exer- 
cise no power founded on the principle of colonization, or other power 
than that of performing the benevolent offices above recited, by the 
permission and sanction of the existing government under which they 
may establish themselves. Orders will be given to the commander of 
the public sliip in which they will sail, to cruise along the coast, to give 
the more complete effect to the principal object of the act. 

"James Monroe. 
"Washington, December, 17, 1S19." 

In March, 181S, the delegate from Missouri presented petitions 
from the inhabitants of that territory, praying to be admitted 
into the Union as a State. They were referred to a select com- 
mittee, and a bill was reported for the admission of Missouri as 
a State on equal footing with the other States. The bill was 
read twice, when it was sent to the Committee of the Whole, 
where it was permitted to remain during the entire session. Dur- 
ing the next session, on the 13th of February, 1819, the House 
went into the Committee of the Whole with Gen. Smith, of 
Maryland, in the chair. The committee had two sittings during 
which they discussed the bill. Gen. Tallmadge, of New York, 
offered the following amendment directed against the life of the 
clause admitting slavery : 

"And provided that the introduction of slavery, or involuntary servi. 
tude, be prohibited, except for the punishment of crimes whereof the 
party has been duly convicted, and that all children born within the said 
State, after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be declared free 
at the age of twenty-five years." 

A long and an able discussion followed, in which the author- 
ity of the government to prohibit slavery under new State gov- 
ernments was affirmed and denied. On coming out of the Com- 
mittee of the Whole, the yeas and nays were demanded on the 
amendment prohibiting the introduction of slavery into Mis- 
souri, and resulted as follows: yeas, 87, — only one vote from the 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 15 

South, Delnware ; nays, "jS, — ten votes from Northern States. 
Upon the hitter chuise of the amendment — " and that all chil- 
dren of slaves, born within the said State, after the admission 
thereof into the Union, shall be declared free at the age of 
twenty-five years " : yeas, 82, — one vote from Marj'land ; nays, 
78, — fourteen from Northern States. And thus the entire amend- 
ment of Gen. Tallmadgc was sustained, and being reported to 
the House, passed by a vote 98 to 56. 

The bill reached the Senate on the 17th of February, and 
after its second reading was referred to a select committee. On 
the 22d of February, the chairman, Mr. Tait, of Georgia, re- 
ported the bill back with amendments, striking out the Tall- 
madge restriction clauses. The House went into the Committee 
of the Whole on the 27th of February, to consider the bill, when 
Mr. Wilson, of New Jersey, moved to postpone the further con- 
sideration of the bill until the 5th of March. It was rejected. 
The committee then began to vote upon the recommendations of 
the select committee. Upon striking out the House amendment, 
providing that all the children of slaves born within said State 
should be free, etc., it was carried by a vote of 27 to 7, eleven 
Northern Senators voting to strike out. The seven votes against 
striking out were all from free States. 

Upon the clause prohibiting servitude except for crimes, etc., 
22 votes were cast for striking out,— five being from Northern 
States; against striking out, 16, — and they were all from North- 
ern States. 

Thus amended, the bill was ordered to be engrossed, and on 
the 2d of March — the last day but one of the session — was read 
a third time and passed. It was returned to the House, where 
the amendments were read, when Mr. Tallinadge moved that the 
bill be indefinitely postponed. His motion was rejected by a 
vote of: yeas, 69 ; nays, 74. But upon a motion to concur in the 
Senate amendments, the House refused to concur: yeas, 76; 
nays, 78. The Senate adhered to their amendments, and the 
House adhered to their disagreement bj' a vote of "jd to 66 ; and 
thus the bill fell between the two Houses and was lost. 

The southern portion of the territory of Missouri, which was 
not included within the limits of the i)roposed State, was 
organized as a separate territory, under the designation of the 
Arkansas Territory. After considerable debate, and several 
attempts to insert an amendment for the restriction of slavery, 



l6 in STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tlie bill creating the territory of Arkansas passed without any 
reference to slavery, and thus the territory was left open to 
slavery, and also the State some years later. 

The Congressional discussion of the slavery question aroused 
the anti-slavery sentiment of the North, which found expression 
in large and earnest meetings, in pungent editorials, and numer- 
ous memorials. At Trenton, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, 
and other places, the indignation against slavery was great. On 
December 3, 1819, a large meeting was held in the State House 
at Boston, when a resolution was adopted to memorialize Con- 
gress on the subject of "restraining the increase of slavery in 
nctv States to be admitted into the Union." The memorial was 
drawn by Daniel Webster, and signed by himself, George Blake, 
Josiah Quincy, James T. Austin, and others. The New York 
Legislature passed resolutions against the extension of slavery 
into tlie territories and new States; and requested the Congress- 
men and instructed the Senators from that State not to vote for 
the admission of any State into the Union, except such State 
should pledge itself to unqualified restriction in the letter and 
spirit of the ordinance of 1787. These resolutions were signed 
on January 17, 1820. 

On the 24th of January the New Jersey Legislature followed 
in the same strain, with six pertinent resolves, a copy of which 
the governor was requested to forward " to each of the senators 
and representatives of this State, in the Congress of the United 
States." 

Pennsylvania had taken action on the i ith of December, iSig; 
but the resolves were not signed by Gov. William Findlay until 
the i6th of the month. The Legislature was composed of fifty- 
four Democrats and twenty Whigs, and yet there was not a dis- 
senting vote cast. 

Two Southern States passed resolutions, — Delaware and Ken- 
tucky : the first in favor of restriction, the last opposed to re- 
striction. 

The effort to secure the admission of Missouri with a slave 
constitution was not dead, but only sleeping. The bill was 
called up as a special order on the 24th of Januar)', 1820. It 
occupied most of the time of the House from the 25th of 
January till tlie 19th of February, when a bill came from the 
Senate providing for the admission of Maine into the Union, 
but containing a rider authorizing the people of Missouri to 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 17 

adopt a State constitution, etc., without restrictions respecting 
slavery. The bill providiuL^ for the adinission of Maine had 
passed the House during the early days of the session, and now 
returned to the House for concurrence in the rider. The debate 
on the bill and ainendments had occupied much of the time of 
the Senate. In the Judiciary Committee on the i6th of 
February, the question was taken on amentlmcnts to the Maine 
admission bill, authorizing Missouri to form a State constitu- 
tion, making no mention of slavery : and twenty-three votes 
were cast against restriction, — three from Northern States ; 
twent\'-one in favor of restriction, — but only two from the 
South. 

Mr. Thomas offered a resolution reaffirming the doctrine of 
the si.xth article of the ordinance of 1787, and declaring its 
applicability to all that territory ceded to the United States by 
France, under the general designation of Louisiana, which lies 
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, etc. 
But on the following day he withdrew his original amendment, 
and submitted the following : 

" And he it fiirthiK enacted, That in all the territory ceded by France 
to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 
thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude, excepting only sucli 
part thereof as is included within the limits of the State contemplated 
by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise tlian in the pun- 
ishment of crime whereof the [)arty shall have been duly convicted, 
shall he and is hereby forever ])rohibited. Provided always, that any 
person escaping into the same, from where labor or service is lawfully 
claimed in any State or territory of the United States, such fugitive may 
be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her 
labor or service as aforesaid." 

Mr. Trimble, of Ohio, offered a substitute, but it was rejected. 
The question recurring upon the passage of the amendment of 
Mr. Thomas, excluding slavery from all the territory north and 
west of Missouri, it was carried by a vote of 34 to 20. 

Thus amended, the bill was ordered to engrossment by a vote 
of 24 to 20. On the l8th of February the bill passed, and this 
was its condition when it came to the House. By a vote of 93 
to 72 the House agreed not to leave the Missouri cjuestion on the 
Maine bill as a rider; but immediately tlicrcafter struck out the 
Thomas Senate amendment by a vote of 159 to 18. The House 



i8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

disagreed to the remaining Senate amendments, striking out the 
clause restricting shivery in Missouri by a vote of 102 to 68. 

Thus rejected, the bill was returned to the Senate shorn of 
its amendments. After four days of debate in the Senate it was 
decided not to recede from the attachment of the Missouri subject 
to the Maine bill; not to recede from the amendment prohibiting 
slavery west of Missouri, and north of 36° 30' north latitude, and 
insisted upon the remaining amendments without division. 

When the bill was returned to the House a motion was made 
to insist upon its disagreement to all but section nine of the 
Senate amendments, and was carried by a vote of 97 to ^6. 

The Senate asked for a committee of conference upon differ- 
ences between the two Houses, which was cheerfully granted by 
the House. On the 2d of March, Mr. Holmes, of Massachusetts, 
as chairman, made the following report : 

" I. The Senate should give up the combination of Missouri in the 
same bill with Maine. 

" 2. The House should abandon the attempt to restrict Slavery in 
Missouri. 

" 3. lioth Houses should ngree to pass the Senate's separate Missouri 
bill, with Mr. Thomas's restriction or compromising proviso, excluding 
Slavery from all territory north and west of Missouri. 

" The report having been read, 

" The first and most important question was put, viz. : 

" Will the House concur with the Senate in so much of the said 
amendments as ])roposes to strike from the fourth section of the [Mis- 
souri] bill the provision prohibiting Slavery or involuntary servitude in 
the contemplated State, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes?" 

The vote resulted as follows: For giving up restriction on 
Missouri, yeas, 90; against giving up restriction of slavery in 
Missouri, 87. 

Mr. Taylor, of New York, offered an amendment to include 
Arkansas Territory under tlie jirohibition of slavery in the terri- 
tory west and north of Missouri, but his amendment was cut off 
by a call for the previous question. Then the House concurred 
in the Senate amendment excluding forever slavery from the ter- 
ritory west and north of Missouri by a vote of 134 to 42! And 
on the following day the bill admitting Maine into the Union 
was passed without opposition. 

Thus the Northern delegates in Congress were whipped into 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 19 

line, and thus did the South gain her point in the extension of 
slavery in violation of the sacred compact between the States 
contained in the ordinance of 1787. 

But tlie strui^gle was opened afresh when Missouri presented 
herself for admission on the i6th of November, 1820. The con- 
stitution of this new State, adopted by her people on the 19th 
of July, 1820, contained the following resolutions which greatly 
angered the Northern members, who so keenly felt the defeat 
and humiliation they had suffered so recently: 

" The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws, first, for 
the emancipation of Slaves without the consent of their owners, or with- 
out paying them, before such emancipation, a full equivalent for such 
slaves so emancipated ; and second, to prevent bona-fide emigrants to 
this State, or actual settlers therein, from bringing from any of the 
United States, or from any of their Territories, such persons as may 
there be deemed to be Slaves, so long as any persons of the same de- 
scription are allowed to be held as Slaves by the laws of this State. 

. . . " It shall be their duty, as soon as may be, to pass such 
lavv-s as may be necessary, 

" ]''irst, to prevent free negroes and mulaltoes from coming to, and 
settling in, this State, under any pretext whatever." 

Upon the motion to admit the State the vote stood : yeas, 79; 
nays, 93. Upon a second attempt to admit her, with the under- 
standing that the resolution just quoted should be expunged, 
the vote was worse than before, standing: yeas, 6; nays, 146! 

The House now rested, until a joint resolve, admitting her 
with but a vague and ineffective qualification, came down from 
the Senate, where it was passed by a vote of 26 to iS — six Sena- 
tors from Free States in the affirmative. Mr. Clay, who had 
resigned in the recess, and been succeeded, as Speaker, by John 
W. Taylor, of New York, now appeared as the leader of tiie Mis- 
souri admissionists, and proposed terms of compromise, which 
were twice voted down by the Northern members, aided by John 
Randolph and three others from the South, who would have Mis- 
souri admitted without condition or qualification. At last, Mr. 
Clay proposed a joint committee on this subject, to be chosen 
by ballot — which the House agreed to by a vote of loi to 55 ; and 
Mr. Clay became its chairman. ]5y this committee it was agreed, 
that a solemn pledge should be required of the Legislature of 
Missouri, that the constitution of that State should not be con- 



2G HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

strued to authorize the passage of any act, and tliat no act 
should be passed " by which any of the citizens of either of the 
States should be excluded from the enjoyment of the privileges 
and immunities to which they are entitled under the Constitution 
of the United States." The joint resolution, amended by the 
addition of this proviso, passed the House by 86 yeas to 82 nays; 
the Senate concurred (Feb. 27, 1821) by 26 yeas to 15 nays — 
(all Northern but Macon, of N. C). Missouri complied with the 
condition, and became an accepted member of the Union. Thus 
closed the last stage of the fierce Missouri controversy, which 
for a time seemed to threaten — as so many other controversies 
have harmlessly threatened — the existence of the Union. 

By this time there was scarcely a State in the North but that 
had organized anti-slavery, or abolition, societies. Pennsylvania 
boasted of a society that was accomplishing a great work. 
Where it was impossible to secure freedom for the enslaved, 
religious training was imparted, and many excellent efforts made 
for the amelioration of the condition of the Negroes, bond and 
free. A society for promoting the '■'Abolition of Slavery" was 
formed at Trenton, New Jersey, on the 2d of March, 1786. It 
adopted an elaborate constitution, which was amended on the 
26th of November, 1788. It did an effective work throughout 
the State ; embraced in its membership some of the ablest men 
of the State ; and changed public sentiment for the better by the 
methods it adopted and the literature it circulated. On the 15th 
of February, 1804, it secured the passage of the following Act for 
the gradual emancipation of the slaves in the State : 

■' An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. 

" Section i. Be it enacted by the Council and General Assembly of this 
State, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That every 
child born of a slave within this State, after the fourth day of July 
next, shall be free ; but shall remain the servant of the owner of his or 
her mother, and the executors, administrators, or assigns of such owner, 
in the same manner as if such child had been bound to service by the 
trustees or overseers of tiie poor, and shall continue in such service, if 
a male, until the age of twenty- five years, and if a female, until the age 
of twenty-one years. 

" 2. And be it enacted. That every person being an inhabitant of this 
State, wlio shall be entitled to the service of a child born as aforesaid, 
after the said fourth day of July next, shall within nine months after 



RESTRICTION AND EXTENSION. 2i 

the birtli of such child, cause to be delivered to the clerk of the county 
whereof such person shall be an inhabitant, a certificate in writing, con- 
taining the name and station of such person, and the name, age, and 
sex of the child so born ; which certificate, whether the same be 
delivered before or after the said nine months, shall be by the said 
clerk recorded in a book to be by him provided for that purpose ; 
and such record thereof shall be good evidence of the age of such child ; 
and the clerk of such county shall receive from said person twelve 
cents for every child so registered ; and if any person shall neglect to 
deliver such certificate to the said clerk within said nine months, such 
jjerson shall forfeit and pay for every such offence, five dollars, and the 
further sum of one dollar for every month such person shall neglect to 
deliver the same, to be sued for and recovered by any person who will 
sue for the same, the one half to the use of such prosecutor, and the 
residue to the use of the poor of the township in which such delinquent 
shall reside. 

" 3. And be it enacted, That the person enitled to the service of 
any child born as aforesaid, may, nevertheless, within one year after 
the birtli of such child, elect to aliandon such right ; in which case a 
notification of such abandonment, under the hand of such person, shall 
be filed with the clerk of the township, or where there may be a county 
poor-house established, then with the clerk of the board of trustees of 
said poor-house of the county in which such person shall reside ; but 
every child so abandoned shall be maintained by such person until such 
child arrives to the age of one year, and thereafter shall be considered 
as a pauper of such township or county, and liable to be bound out 
by the trustees or overseers of the ))Oor in the same manner as other 
poor children are directed to be bound out, until, if a male, the age of 
twenty-five, and if a female, the age of twenty-one ; and such child, 
while sucli pauper, until it shall be bound out, shall be maintained by 
the trustees or overseers of the poor of such county or township, as the 
case may be, at the expense of this State ; and for that inirpose the 
director of the board of chosen freeholders of the county is hereby 
required, from time to time, to draw his warrant on the treasurer in 
favor of such trustees or overseers for the amount of such expense, not 
exceeding the rate of three dollars per month ; provided the accounts for 
the same be first certified and approved by such board of trustees, or the 
town committee of such townshi]) ; and every jjerson who shall omit to 
notify such abandonment as aforesaid, shall be considered as having elected 
to retain the service of such child, and be liable for its maintenance un- 
til the period to which its servitude is limited as aforesaid. 

"A. Passed at Trenton, Feb. 15, 1804." 

The public journals of the larger Xorthcrn cities began to 



22 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

take a lively interest in the paramount question of the day, 
which, without doubt, was the slavery question. Gradual eman- 
cipation was doing an excellent work in nearly all the Northern 
States, as may be seen by the census of i8_'0. When the entire 
slave population was footed up it showed an increase of 30 per 
cent, during the previous ten years, but when examined by States 
it was found to be on the decrease in all the Northern or free 
States, except Illinois. The slave population of Virginia had 
increased only 8 per cent. ; North Carolina 2i per cent.; South 
Carolina 31 per cent.; Tennessee 79 per cent.; Mississippi 92 per 
cent. ; and Louisiana 99 per cent. The slave population by 
States was as follows: 



CENSUS OF 1820 — SLAVE POPULATION. 



Alabama 

District of Columbia 

Connecticut 

Delaware 

Georgia . 

Illinois 

Indiana . 

Kentucky . 

Louisiana 

Maryland . 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

New Jersey 

New York . 

North Carolina 

Pennsylvania 

Rhode Island . 

South Carolina . 

Tennessee 

Virginia 

Arkansas Territory 

Aggregate 



41,879 

• 6,377 

97 

. 4,509 

149,654 

917 

190 

• 126,732 

69,064 

• io7,397 

32,814 
10,222 

7,557 

10,088 

205,017 

211 

48 

• 258,475 

80,107 

• 425,153 

1,617 

1,538,125 



The anti-slavery sentiment of the Northern States was grow- 
ing, but no organization with a great leader at its head had yet 
announced its platform or unfurled its banner in a holy war for 
the emancipation of the Bondmen of the Free Republic of North 
America. 



NEGRO TROOPS IN THE WAR OF 1812. 



CHAPTER II. 

NEGRO TROOPS IN THE WAR OF l8l2. 

Emfi-ovment of Negroes as Soldiers in the War ok 1812.^ — The New York Legislaturb 

AUTHORIZES THtt ENLISTMENT OF A ReGIMENT OP CoLORED SOLDIERS. — GeN. Ani>RKW JaCK- 

son's Proclamation to the Free Colored Inhaditants of Louisiana calling them to 
Arms. — Stirring Address to the Colored Troohs the Sunday before the Hattle Or 
New Orleans. — Gen. Jackson anticii-ates the Vai.ok of his Ccilorfd Soldiers. — Terms 
of Peace at the Close of the War nv the Commissioners at Ghent — Negroes placed 
as Chattel Profert\. — Their Valor in War secures them no Immunity in Peace. 

WHEN the war-clouds gathered in 1 812, there was no time 
wasted in discussing whether it would be prudent to 
arm the Negro, nor was there a doubt expressed as to 
his valor. His brilliant achievements in the war of the Revo- 
lution, his power of endurance, and martial enthusiasm, were 
the golden threads of glory that bound his memory to the vic- 
torious cause of the American Republic. A lack of troops and 
an imperiled cause led to the admission of Negroes into the 
American army during the war of the Revolution. But it was 
the Negro's eminent fitness for military service that made him a 
place under the United States flag during the war in Louisiana. 
The entire country had confidence in the Negro's patriotism and 
effectiveness as a soldier. White men were willing to see Ne- 
groes go into the army because it reduced their chances of being 
sent forth to the tented field and dangerous bivouac. 

New York did not hesitate to offer a practical endorsement of 
the prevalent opinion that Negroes were both competent and 
worthy to fight the battles of the Nation. Accordingly, the fol- 
lowing Act was passed authorizing the organization of two regi- 
ments of Negroes. 

"An Act to Authorize the Raising of Two Regiments of 
Men of Color; passed Oct. 24, 1S14. 

"Sect i. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, 
represented in Senate and Assembly, That the Governor of the State be, 



24 HISl^OIiY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and he is hereby, authorized to raise, by voluntary enlistment, two regi- 
ments of free men of color, for the defence of the State for three 
years, unless sooner discharged. 

" Sect. 2. And be it fuillier enacted, That each of the said regiments 
shall consist of one thousand and eighty able-bodied men ; and the said 
regiments shall be formed into a brigade, or be organized in such man- 
ner, and shall be employed in such service, as the Governor of the 
State of New York shall deem best adapted to defend the said State. 

" Sect. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the commissioned 
officers of the said regiments and brigade shall be white men ; and the 
Governor of the State of New York shall be, and he is hereby, author- 
ized to commission, by brevet, all the officers of the said regiments and 
brigade, who shall hold their respective commissions until the council of 
appointment shall have appointed the officers of the said regiments and 
brigade, in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the said State. 

" Seci". 4. And be it further enacted. That the commissioned officers 
of the said regiments and brigade shall receive the same i)ay, rations, 
forage, and allowances, as officers of the same grade in the ariny of the 
United States ; and the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and pri- 
vates of the said regiments shall receive the same pay, rations, clothing, 
and allowances, as the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates 
of the army of the United States; and the sum of twenty-five dollars 
shall be paid to each of the said non-commissioned officers, musicians, 
and privates, at the time of enlistment, in lieu of all other bounty. 

" Skct. 5. And be it further enacted. That the troops to be raised 
as aforesaid may be transferred into the service of the United States, 
if the Government of the United States shall agree to pay and subsist 
them, and to refund to this State the moneys e.xjiended by this State in 
clothing and arming them ; and, until such transfer shall be made, may 
be ordered into the service of the United States in lieu of an equal 
number of militia, whenever the militia of the State of New York shall 
be ordered into the service of the United States. 

" Sect. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any 
able-bodied slave, with the written assent of his master or mistress, to 
enlist into the said corps ; and the master or mistress of such slave shall 
be entitled to the pay and bounty allowed him for his service ; and, 
furtlier, that the said slave, at the time of receiving his discharge, shall 
be deemed and adjudged to have been legally manumitted from that 
time, and his said master or mistress shall not thenceforward be liable 
for his maintenance. 

" Sect. 7. And be it further enacted. That every such enrolled per- 
son, who shall have become free by manumission or otherwise, if he 
shall thereafter become indigent, shall be deemed to be settled in the 
town in which the person who manumitted him was settled at the time 



NEGRO TROOrS IX TIIR II'.IR OR 1S12. 25 

of such manumission, or in such other town where he shall have gained 
a settlement subsequent to his discharge from the said service ; and 
the former owner or owners of such manumitted person, and liis legal 
representatives, shall be exonerated from liis maintenance, any law to 
the contrary hereof notwithstanding. 

" Si'.CT. 8. A/u/ he it further enacted, That, when the troops to be 
raised as aforesaid shall be in the service of the United States, ihey 
shall be subject to the rules and articles which have been or may be 
hereafter established by the l!y-laws of the United States for the gov- 
ernment of the army of the United States ; that, when the said troops 
shall be in the service of the State of New York, they shall be subject 
to the same rules and regulations ; and the Governor of the said State 
shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to exercise all the 
power and authority which, by the said rules and articles, are required 
to be exercised by the President of the United States." ' 

Gen. Andrew Jackson believed in the fighting capacity of the 
Negro, as evidenced by the subjoined proclamation : 

"Headquarters oi-- 71H Mii.iiai-iy District, 

" Moiui.K, September 21. 1S14. 

" To TKF. Frek Colored Inmiahitants or Louisiana: 

" Through a mistaken policy you have heretofore been deprived 
of a participation in the glorious struggle for national rights in which 
our country is engaged. This no longer shall exist. 

"As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our most 
inestimable blessing. As Americans, your country looks with con- 
fidence to her ado[)tcd children for a valorous support, as a faithful 
return for the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable gov- 
ernment. As fathers, husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to 
rally around the standard of the eagle, to defend all which is dear in 
existence. 

" Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not wish 
you to engage in her cause without amply remunerating you for the 
services rendered. Your intelligent minds are not to be led away by 
false representations. Your love of honor would cause you to despise 
the man who should attempt to deceive you. In the sincerity of a sol- 
dier and the language of truth I address you. 

" To every noblc-hcarted, generous freeman of color, volunteering to 
serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there 

' Laws of the State of New York, passed at the Tliiity-eigluh Session of the Legis- 
lature, chap, xviii. 



26 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

will be paid the same bounty in money and lands, now received by the 
white soldiers of the United States, viz.: one hundred and twenty-four 
dollars in money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land. The non- 
commissioned ofificers and privates will also be entitled to the same 
monthly pay and daily rations, and clothes, furnished to any American 
soldier. 

" On enrolling yourselves in companies, the major-general com- 
manding will select ofificers for your government from your white fel- 
low-citizens. Your non-commissioned officers will be appointed from 
among yourselves. 

" Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freemen and soldiers. 
You will not, by being associated with white men in the same corps, be 
exposed to improper comparisons or unjust sarcasm. As a distinct, in- 
dependent battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will, 
undivided, receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen. 

" To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my anxiety to 
engage your invaluable services to our country, I have communicated 
my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, wlio is fully informed as to 
the manner of enrollment, and will give you every necessary information 
on the subject of this address. 

" Andrew Jackson, Major-General Commanding." ' 

Just before the battle of New Orleans, General Jackson re- 
viewed his troops, white and black, on Sunday, December i8, 
1 8 14. At the close of the review his Adjutant-General, Edward 
Livingston, rode to the head of the column, and read in rich and 
sonorous tones the following address: 

" To THE Men of Color. — Soldiers ! From the shores of Mobile I 
collected you to arms ; I invited you to share in the perils and to divide 
the glory of your white countrymen. I expected much from you, for I 
was not uninformed of those qualities which must render you so for- 
midable to an invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger and 
thirst and all the hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land of 
your nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all that is 
most dear to man. But you surpass my hopes. I have found in you, 
united to these qualities, that noble enthusiasm which impels to great 
deeds. 

" Soldiers ! The President of the United States shall be informed of 
your conduct on the present occasion ; and the voice of the representa- 
tives of the American nation shall applaud your valor, as your general 
now praises your ardor. The enemy is near. His sails cover the lakes. 

' Niles's Register, vol. vii. p. 205. 



NEGJiO TBOOPS IN THE WAR OF 1S12. 27 

But the brave are united ; and if he finds us contending among our- 
selves, it will be for the prize of valor, and fame, its noblest reward." ' 

But in this war, as in the Revolutionary struggle, the com- 
missioners who concluded the terms of peace, armed with ample 
and authentic evidence of the Negro's valorous services, placed 
him among chattel property. 

And in no State in the South were the laws more rigidly 
enforced against Negroes, both free and slave, than in Louisiana. 
The efficient service of the Louisiana Negro troops in the war of 
1812 was applauded on two continents at the time, but the noise 
of the slave marts soon silenced the praise of the *' Black heroes 
of the battle of New Orleans." 

'Niles's Register, vol, vii. pp. 345, 346, 



2S HISTOR V OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER III. 

/ 
NEGROES IN THE NAVY. 

Vo Proscription against Negroes as Sailors. — Thev are carried upon the Rolls in the 
Navy without Regard to their Nationality. — Their Treatment as Sailors. — Commo- 
dore Perry's Letter to Commodore Ch.xuncey in Regard to the Men sent him. — 

COM.MODORK ChaUNCEY's SPIRITED RePLY. — The HerOIS.M OF THE NegRO SET FORTTI IN THE 

Picture of Perry's Victory on Lake Erie. — Extract of a Letter from Nathaniel 
Shai.er. Commander of a Private Vessel. — He cites several Instances of the Hekoic 
Conduct of Negro Sailors. 

IT is rather a remarkable fact of liistory that Negroes were 
carried upon the rolls of the navy without reference to their 
nationalit)-. About one tenth of the crews of the fleet 
that sailed to the Upper Lakes to co-operate with Col. Croghan 
at Mackinac, in 1814, were Negroes. Dr. Parsons says : — 

"In 1816. I was surgeon of the ' Java,' under Commodore Perry. 
The white and colored seamen messed together. About one in si.x or 
eight were colored. 

" In 1819, I was surgeon of the ' Guerriere,' under Commodore Mac- 
donoiigh ; and tlie proportion of blacks was about the same in her 
crew. There seemed to be an entire absence of prejudice against the 
blacks as messmates among the crew. What I have said applies to the 
crews of the other ships that sailed in squadrons." ' 

This ample and reliable testimony as to the treatment of 
Negroes as sailors, puts to rest all doubts as to their status in the 
United States navy. 

In the summer of 1813, Captain (afterwards Commodore) Perry 
wrote a letter to Commotlore Chauncey in which he complained 
that an indifferent lot of men had been sent him. The following 
is the letter that he wrote. 

" Sir : — I have this moment received, by express, the enclosed letter 
from General Harrison. If I had officers and men — and I have no 

' Livermoie, pp. 159, 160. 



NEGROES IN THE NAVY. 29 

doubt you will send them — I could fight the enemy, and proceed up 
the lake ; but, having no one to command the ' Niagara,' and only one 
commissioned lieutenant and two acting lieutenants, whatever my 
wishes may be, going out is out of the question. The men that came 
by Mr. Champlin are a motley set — blacks, soldiers, and boys. I can- 
not think you saw them after they were selected. I am, however, 
pleased to see any thing in the shape of a man." ' 

Commodore Chauncey replied in the followiii;^ .sliarp letter, in 
which he gave Captain Perry to understand that the color of the 
.skin had nothing to do with a man's qualifications for the navy: 

" Sir : — I have been duly honored with your letters of tlie twenty- 
third and twenty-si.xth ultimo, and notice your anxiety for men and 
officers. I am ecpially anxious to furnish you ; and no time shall be 
lost in sending officers and men to you as soon as the public service will 
allow me to send them from this lake. I regret that you are not 
pleased with the men sent you by Messrs. Champlin and Forrest ; for, 
to my knowledge, a part of them are not sur[)asscd by any seamen we 
have in the fleet ; and I have yet to learn that the color of the skin, or 
the cut and trimmings of the coat, can affect a man's qualifications or 
usefulness. I have nearly fifty blacks on board of this sliip, and many 
ci them are among my best men ; and those people you call soldiers 
have been to sea from two to seventeen years ; and I presume that you 
will find them as good and useful as any men on board of your vessel ; at 
least, if I can judge by comparison ; for those which we have on board 
of this ship are attentive and obedient, and, as far as I can judge, many 
of them excellent seamen : at any rate, the men sent to Lake Erie have 
been selected with a view of sending a fair proportion of petty officers 
and seamen ; and, I presume, upon examination it will be found that 
they are equa^l to those upon this lake." ^ 

Perry was not long in discovering that the Negroes whom 
Commodore Chauncey had sent him were competent, faithful, 
and brave ; and his former prejudice did not prevent him from 
speaking their praise. 

" Perry speaks highly of the bravery and good conduct of the ne- 
groes, who formed a considerable part of his crew. They seemed to 
be absolutely insensible to danger. When Captain Barclay came on 
board the 'Niagara,' and beheld the sickly and jiarty-colored beings 

' Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. i. pp. 165, i66. 
' Mackenzie's Life of Perry, vol. i. pp. 186, 1S7. 



30 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

around him, an expression of chagrin escaped him at having been con- 
quered by such men. The fresh-water service had very much impaired 
the heahh of the sailors, and crowded the sick-list with patients.'' 

These brave Negro sailors served faithfully through all the 
battles on the Lakes, and in the battle of Lake Erie rendered 
most effective service. Once more the artist has rescued from 
oblivion the heroism of the Negroes ; for in the East Senate 
stairway of the Capitol at Washington, and in the rotunda of 
the Capitol at Columbus, in the celebrated picture of Perry's 
Victory on Lake Erie, a Negro sailor has a place among the im- 
mortalized crew. 

The following testimony to the bravery of Colored sailors is 
of the highest character. 

"Extract of a letter from Nathaniel Shaler, Commander of 
THE private-armed Schooner 'Gov. Tompkins,' to his Agent 
IN New York, dated — 

"At Sea, Jan. i, 1S13. 

"Before I could get our light sails in, and almost before I could turn 
round, I was under the guns, not of a transport, but of a large frigate ! 
and- not more than a quarter of a mile from her. . . . Her first 
broadside killed two men, and wounded six others. . . . My officers 
conducted themselves in a vv-ay that would have done honor to a more 
permanent service. . . . The name of one of my poor fellows who 
was killed ought to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered 
with reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was a 
black man, by the name of John Johnson. A twenty-four-pound shot 
struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of his body. In 
this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the deck, and several times ex- 
claimed to his shipmates : ^ Fire away, my boys ; 110 haul a color dorvn.' 
The other was also a black man, by the name of John Davis, and wa? 
struck in much the same way. He fell near me, and several times re- 
quested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of 
others. 

'When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the tyrants 
of the ocean." ' 

After praise of such a nature and from such a source, eulogy 
is superfluous. 

' Analectic Magazine, vol. iii. p. 255. 

' Niles's Weekly Register, Saturday, Feb. 26, 1814. 



RETROSPECTION AND REFLECTION 3i 



ANTI-SLA VER Y A GIT A TION. 



CHAPTER IV. 

RETROSPECTION AND RICILECTION. 

1825-1850. 

Thk Sf-CI'ritv of thk Institi:t!on of Slavery at the Sotrrn. — The Richt to hold Slaves 
(QUESTIONED. — Rapid Increase of the Slave Population. — Asti-slavilky Steeches in the 
Legislature of \'irginia. — The Quakers of Maryland and Delaware emancipate iheik 
Slaves. — The Evil Effect of Slavery upon Society. — The Conscience and He.art op 
THE South did not respond to the \'otCE op Reason or Dictates of Humanity. 

AN awful silence succ;.edcd the stormy struggle that ended 
in the violation of the ordinance of 1787. It was now 
time for reflection. The Southern statesmen had proven 
themselves the masters of the situation. The institution of 
slavery was secured to them, with many collateral political ad- 
vantages. And, in addition to this, they had secured the inocu- 
lation of the free territory beyond the Mississippi and Ohio 
rivers with the virus of Negro-slaverj'. 

If the mother-country had forced slavery upon her colonial 
dependencies in North America, and if it were difficult and in- 
convenient to part with slave-labor, who were now responsible 
for the extension of the slave area? Southern men, of course. 
What principle or human law was strong enough to support an 
institution of such cruel proportions? The old law of European 
pagans born of bloody and destroying wars? No; for it was 
now the nineteenth century. Abstract law ? Certainly not ; for 
law is the perfection of reason — it always tends to conform 
thereto — and that which is not reason is not law. Well did Jus- 
tinian write: " Live honestly, hurt nobody, and render to every 



one liis just dues," The law of nations? Verily not ; for it is a 
system of rules deducible from reason and natural justice, and 
established by universal consent, to regulate the conduct and 
mutual intercourse between independent States. The Declara- 
tion of Independence? Far from it; because the prologue of 
that incomparable instrument recites: " f/V Iiold these truths to 
be self-evident — that all MEN arc created equal ; that they arc cn- 
doiued by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ; that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that, to se- 
cure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed." And the 
peerless George Bancroft has added : " The heart of JefTerson in 
writing the Declaration, and of Congress in adopting it, beat for 
all humanity ; the assertion of right was made for all mankind 
and all coming generations, without any exception whatever; 
for the proposition which admits of exceptions can never be self- 
evident." There was but one authority for slavery left, and that 
was the Bible. 

Many slave-holders thought deeply on the question of their 
right to hold slaves. A disturbed conscience cried aloud for a 
"Thus saith the Lord," and the pulpit was charged with the 
task of tjuieting the general disquietude. The divine origin of 
slavery was heard from a thousand pulpits. God, who never 
writes a poor hand, had written upon the brow of every Negro, 
the word "Slave": slavery was their normal condition, and the 
white man was God's agent in the United States to carry out the 
prophecy of Noah respecting the descendants of Ham ; while 
St. Paul had sent Onesimus back to his owner, and had written, 
"Servants, obey your masters." 

But apologetic preaching did not seem to silence the gnaw- 
ing of a guilty conscience. Upon the battle-fields of two great 
wars; in the army and in the navy, the Negroes had demon- 
strated their worth and manhood. They had stood with the 
undrilled minute-men along the dusty roads leading from Lex- 
intiton and Concord to Boston, acrainst the skilled redcoats 
of boastful Britain. They were among the faithful little band 
that held Bunker Hill against overwhelming odds ; at Long 
Island, Newport, and Monmouth, they had held their ground 
against the stubborn columns of the Ministerial army. They 
had journeyed with the Pilgrim Fathers through eight years of 
despair and hope, of defeat and victory ; had shared their suf- 



RETROSPECTION AND REFLECTION. 33 

ferings and divided tlieir glor_\-. These recollections made difficult 
an unqualified acceptance of the doctrine of the divine nature of 
perpetual slavery. Reason downed sophistry, and human sym- 
pathy shamed prejudice. And against prejudice, custom, and 
political power, the thinking men of the South launched their 
best thoughts. Jefferson said: "The hour of emancipation is 
advancing in the march of time. It will come, and whether 
brought on by the generous energy of our own minds, or by the 
bloody process of St. Domingo, excited and conducted by the 
power of our present enemy [Great Britain], if once stationed 
permanently within our country and offering asylum and arms to 
the oppressed [Negro], is a leaf in our history not yet turned over." 
These words, written to Edward Coles, in August, 18 14, were 
still ample food for the profound meditation of the slave-holders. 
In his "Notes on N'^irginia" Mr. Jefferson had written the follow- 
ing words : " Indeed, I tremble for uiy eountry zvlien I reflect that 
God is just ; that I/is Justiec eannot s/eep forever. That, consider- 
ing numbers, nature, and natural means, only a revolution of 
the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possi- 
ble events. That it ma\' become probable by supernatural inter- 
ference. The Almighty has no attribute which can take side icith 
us in such a contest." ' 

The eloquence of Patrick Henry and the logic and philosophy 
of Madison and Jefferson rang in the ears of the people of the 
slave-holding States, and they paused to think. In forty years 
the Negro population of Virginia had increased 186 per cent. — 
from 179010 1830, — ^while the white had increased only 51 per 
cent. The rapid increase of the slave population winged the 
fancy and produced horrid dreams of insurrection ; while the 
pronounced opposition of the Northern people to slavery seemed 
to proclaim the weakness of the government and the approach of 
its dissolution. In 1832, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, a grandson 
of Thomas Jefferson, lifted up his voice in tiie Legislature of 
Virginia against the institution of slavery. 

Said Mr. Jefferson : — " There is one circumstance to which we are 
to look as inevitable in the fulness of time — a Jissolution of this Union. 
God grant it may not happen in our time or that of our children ; but, 
sir, it must come sooner or later, and when it docs come, border war 
follows it, as certain as the night follows the day. An enemy upon 



' Jefferson's Writings, vol. viii, p. 404. 



34 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

your frontier offering arms and asylum to this population, tampering 
with it in your bosom, when your citizens shall march to repel the in- 
vader, their families butchered and their homes desolated in the rear, 
the spear will fall from the warrior's grasp ; his heart may be of steel, 
but it must quail. Suppose an invasion in part with Mack troops, speak- 
ing the same language, of the same nation, burning with enthusiasm for 
the liberation of their race ; if they are not crushed the moment they 
put foot upon your soil, they roll forward, an hourly swelling mass ; your 
energies are paralyzed, your power is gone ; the morasses of the low- 
lands, the fastnesses of the mountains, cannot save your wives and 
children from destruction. Sir, we cannot war with these disadvan- 
tages ; peace, ignoble, abject peace, — peace upon any conditions that an enetny 
may offer, must be accepted. Are we, then, prepared to barter the liberty 
of our children for slaves for them ? . . . Sir, it is a practice, and 
an increasing practice in parts of Virginia to rear s/aves for market. 
How can an honorable mind, a jjatriot and a lover of his country, bear to 
see this ancient Dominion, rendered illustrious by the noble devotion 
and patriotism of her sons in the cause of liberty, converted into one 
grand managerie, where men are to be reared for market like oxen for 
the shambles. Is this better, is it not worse, than the Slave-Trade, that 
trade which enlisted the labor of X^cm good and the ivise of every creed and 
every clime to abolish it I" 

Mr. P. A. Boiling said : — 

'' Mr. Speaker, it is vain for gentlemen to deny the fact, the feelings 
of society are fast becoming adversed to slavery. The moral causes 
which produce that feeling are on the march, and will on until the 
groans of slavery are heard no more in this else happy country. Look 
over this world's wide page — see the rapid progress of liberal feelings — 
see the shackles falling from nations who have long writhed under the 
galling yoke of slavery. Liberty is going over the wiiole earth — hand- 
in-hand with Christianity. The ancient temples of slavery, rendered 
venerable alone by their antiquity, are crumbling into dust. Ancient 
prejudices are flying before the light of truth — are dissipated by its 
rays, as the idle vapor by the bright sun. The noble sentiment of 
Burns : 

' Then let us pray thai come it may, 
As come it will for a' tlLit, 
That man to man, the warlcl o'er, 
Shall brothers be for a' that ' — 

is rapidly spreading. The day-star of human liberty has risen above 
the dark horizon of slavery, and will continue its bright career, until it 
smiles alike on all men." 



RETROSPECTIOX AND REFLECTION. 35 

Mr. C. J. FaulkiuT said : — 

" Sir, I am gralificd tiiat no gentleman has yet risen in this hall, the 
advocate of slavery. * * * Let me compare the condition of the 
slave-holding portion of this commonwealth, barren, desolate, and 
scarred, as it were, by the avenging hand of Heaven, with the descrip- 
tions which we have of this same country from those who first broke 
its virgin soil. To what is this change ascribable ? Alone to the 
withering, blasting effects of slavery. If this does not sati.sfy him, let me 
request him to e.Ktend his travels to the Northern States of this Union, 
and beg him to contrast the hapi)iness and contentment which prevail 
throughout that countr\ — the Inisy and cheerful sound of industry, the 
rapid and swelling growth of their population, their means and institu- 
tions of education, their skill and proficiency in the useful arts, their 
enterprise and public spirit, the monuments of their commercial and 
manufacturing imluslry, and, above all, their devoted attaciiment to the 
government from which they derive their protection, with the division, 
discontent, indolence, and poverty of the Southern country. To what, 
sir, is all this ascribable ? 'T is to that vice in the organization of so- 
ciety by which one half of its inhabitants are arrayed in interest and feel- 
ing against the other half ; to that unfortunate state of society in which 
free men regard labor as disgraceful, and slaves shrink from it as a bur- 
den tyrannically imposed upon them. ' To that condition of thini^s in 
which half a million of your population can feel no sympathy 7i'ith the so- 
ciety in the prosperity of which they are forbidden to participate, and no 
attachment to a government at whose hands they receive nothing liut injus- 
tice' In the language of the wise, prophetic Jefferson, ' you must 
approach this subject, vou must adopt some i'L.-\n ov emancipa- 
tion, OR WORSE WILL FOLLOW.' " 

In Maryland and Delaware the Quakers were rapidly eman- 
cipating their slaves, and the strong reaction that had set in 
among the thoughtful men of the South began to threaten the 
institution. Men felt that it was a curse to the slave, and poi- 
soned the best white society of the slave-holding States. As 
early as 1781, Mr. Jefferson, with his keen, philosophical insight, 
beheld with alarm the demoralizing tendency of slavery. "The 
whole commerce," says Mr. Jefferson, " between master and 
slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions ; the 
most unrelenting despotism on the one part, and degrading sub- 
mission on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imi- 
tate it — for man is an imitative animal. This quality is the 
germ of all education in him. From his cradle to his grave he 



36 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

is learning to do what he sees others do. If a parent could find 
no motive, either in his philanthropy or his self-love, for restrain- 
ing the intemperance of passion toward his slave, it should 
always be a sufificient one that his child is present. But gener- 
ally, it is not sufficient. The parent storms ; the child looks on, 
catches the lineaments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the 
circle of smaller slaves, gives a loose tongue to the worst of pas- 
sions, and, thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, 
cannot but be stamped with odious peculiarities. The man must 
be a prodigy who can retain his manners and morals undepraved 
by such circumstances. And with what execration should the 
statesman be loaded, who, permitting one half the citizens thus 
to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into 
despots and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one 
part, and the amor patria; of fhe other! " ' 

And what was true in Virginia, as coming under the observa- 
tion of Mr. Jefferson, was true in all the other States where 
slavery existed. And indeed it was difficult to tell whether the 
slave or master was injured the more. The ignorance of the 
former veiled from him the terrible evils of his condition, while 
the intelligence of the latter revealed to him, in detail, the bale- 
ful effects of the institution upon all who came within its area. 
It was at war with social order ; it contracted the sublime ideas 
of national unit)-; it made men sectional, licentious, profligate, 
cruel, — and selfishness paled the holy fires of patriotism. 

But notwithstanding the profound reflection of the greatest 
minds in the South, and the philosophic prophecies of Jeffer- 
son, the conscience and heart of the South did not respond to 
the dictates of humanity. Cotton and cupidity led captive the 
reason of the South, and, once more joined to their idols, the 
slave-holders no longer heard the voice of prudence or justice in 
the slave marts of their " section." 

' Jefferson's Writings, vol. viil. p. 403. 



AN TI- SL A I 'F.R ) ' ME THODS. 



chaptp:r v. 

ANTI-SLAVEKV MKTHODS. 

The Antiquity of Anti-slavery Sentimknt. — Benjamin Lundv's Opposition to Slavery in 
THE South ani> at the Nokth. — He estahi.ishes the "Genius of Universal Eman- 
cipation." — His Great Sacrifices and Marvellous Work in the Cause of Emancipa- 
tion. — William Lloyd Garrison edits a Paper at Hennincton, Vermont. — He pens a 
Petition 'lo Congress for the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Colu.muia. — 
Garrlion the Peerless Leadi--k ofthe Anti-slavery AtHTATloN. — Extract from a Speech 
delivered iiv Daniel O'Connell at Cork, Ireland. — Increase of .Anti-slavery Socie- 
ties IN THE Country. — (Charles Sumner delivers a Speech on -i he "Anti-slavery Duties 
OF THE Whk; Partv." — Marked Events of 1846. — Sumner the Leader of the Politi- 
cal Party. — Heterodox Anti-slavery Party. — Its Seniiments. — Horace Greeley the 
Leader of the Econo.mic Anti-slavery Party. — The .\ggressive Anti-slavery Party. — 
Its Leaders. — The Colonization Anti-slavery Societv. — American Colonizat ion Society. 

— Manumitied Negroes colonize on the Wf.st Coast of Africa. — A Bill estaoi.ishing 
a Link of Mail Steamers to the Coast of Africa. — It provides for the Suppression of 
the Slave-trade, Promotion of Co.mmerce, and the Colonization of Free Negroes. — 
ExTRACis from the Press \var.mly urging the Passage of the Hill. — The Underground 
Railroad Organization. — Its Efficiency in freeing Slaves. — Anti-slavery Liteiuture. 

— It exposf:s the True Character OP Slavery. — ' Uncle Tom's Cap.in," iiv Harriet 
Beeciier Stowe, pleaded the Cause of the Slave in Twenty Different Languages. — 
The Influence of " Impending Crisis.'' 

ANTI-SL.W'KRV .sentiment is as old as the luiiiian family. 
It antedates the Bible ; it was eloquent in the days of 
our Saviour; it preached the (lospel of Humanity in the 
palaces of the Caisars and Antonies ; its arguments shook the 
thrones of Europe during the Mediaeval ages. And wlicn the 
doctrine of property in man was driven out of Europe as an exile, 
and found a home in this New World in the West, the ancient 
and time-honored anti-slavery sentiment combined all that was 
good in brain, heart, and civilization, and hurled itself, with 
righteous indignation, against the institution of slavery, the per- 
fected curse of the ages I And how wonderful that God should 
have committed the task of blotting out this terrible curse to 
Americans ! And what " vessels of honor " they were whom the 
dear Lord chose " to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the 
opening of the prison to them that are bound I " Statesmen like 
Franklin, Rush, Hamilton, and Jay ; divines like Hopkins, Ed 
wards, and Stiles ; philanthropists like Woolman, Lay, and 



40 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

very sensitive are the slave-holding community to every movement re- 
lating to the abolition of slavery. At the same time, it would furnish to 
the world a beautiful pledge of their sincerity if they would unite with 
the non-slave-holding States, and by a unanimous vote proclaim freedom 
to every soul within sight of the capital of this free government. We 
could then say, and the world would then admit our pretence, that the 
voice of the nation is against slavery, and throw back upon Great Brit- 
ain that disgrace which is of right and justice her exclusive property." 

Charmed by the originality, boldness, and humanity of Gar- 
rison, the meek little Quaker went to Boston by stage ; and then, 
with staff in hand, walked to Bennington, Vt., to sec the young 
man whose great heart-throbs for the slave he had felt in "The 
Journal of the Times." There, in the Green Mountains of Ver- 
mont, swept by the free air, and mantled by the pure snow, the 
meek Quaker communed with the strict Baptist, and they both 
took sweet coun.'^el together. The bright torch that Garrison 
had held up to the people in Vermont was to be transferred to 
the people of Baltimore, who were "sitting in darkness." So, 
as a result of this conference. Garrison agreed to join Lundy in 
conducting "The Genius of Universal Emancipation." Accord- 
ingly, in September, 1829, Garrison took the principal charge of 
the Journal, enlarged it, and issued it as a weekly. Lundy was to 
travel, lecture, and solicit subscribers in its interest, and contrib- 
ute to its editorial columns as he could from time to time. 

Both men were equally against slavery : Lundy for gradual 
emancipation and ^^/(7«?3rt//«i«/ but Garrison for iinincdiate and 
unconditional emancipation. Garrison said of this difference : 
"But I was n"t much help to him, for he had been all for gradual 
emancipation, and as soon as 1 began to look into the matter, I 
became convinced that immediate abolition was the doctrine to 
be preached, and I scattered his subscribers like pigeons." 

But the good " Friend " contemplated the destructive zeal 
of his young helper with the complacency so characteristic of his 
class, standing by his doctrine that every one should follow "his 
own light." But it was not long before Garrison made a bold 
attack upon one of the vilest features of the slave-trade, which 
put an end to his paper, and resulted in his arrest, trial for libel, 
conviction, and imprisonment. The story runs as follows: 

" A certain ship, the ' Francis Todd,' from Newburyport, came to 
Baltimore and took in a load of slaves for the New Orleans market. 



ANTI- SL A I -RR J ' ME THODS. 4 ' 

All the harrowing cruelties and separations which attend the rending 
asunder of families and the sale of slaves, were enacted under the 
eves of the youthful philanthropist, and in a burning article he de- 
nounced the inter-State slave-trade as piracy, and piracy of an aggra- 
vated and cruel kind, inasmuch as those born and educated in civilized 
and Christianized society have more sensibility to feel the evils thus 
inflicted than imbruted savages. He denounced the owners of the 
ship and all the parties in no measured terms, and expressed his deter- 
mination to 'cover with thick infamy all who were engaged in the trans- 
action.'" 

Then, to be sure, the sleeping tiger was roused, for there was a 
vigor and power in the young editor's eloquence that quite dis- 
sipated the good-natured contempt which had hitherto hung 
round the paper. He was indicted for libel, found guilty, of 
course, condemned, imprisoned in the cell of a man who had 
been hanged for murder. His mother at this time was not liv- 
ing, but her heroic, undaunted spirit still survived in her son, 
who took the baptism of persecution and obloquy not merely 
with patience, but with the joy which strong spirits feel in en- 
durance. He wrote sonnets on the walls of his prison, and by 
his cheerful and engaging manners inade friends of his jailer and 
family, who did everything to render his situation as comfortable 
as possible. Some considerable effort was made for his release, 
and much interest was excited in various quarters for him." 

Finally, the benevolent Arthur Tappan came forward and 
paid the exorbitant fine imposed upon Garrison, and he went 
forth a inore inveterate foe of slavery. This incident gave the 
world one of the greatest reformers since Martin Luther. With- 
out money, social influence, or friends, Garri.son lifted again the 
standard of liberty. He began a lecture tour in which God 
taught him the magnitude of his work. Everywhere mouths 
were sealed and public halls closed against hiin. At length, on 
January I, 1 83 1, he issued the first number of "The Liberator," 
which he continued to edit for thirty-five years, and discontinued 
it only when every slave in America was free ! His methods of 
assailing the modern Goliath of slavery were thus tersely put : 

" I determined, at every hazard, to lift up the standard of emancipa- 
tion in the eyes of the nation, within sight of Bunker Hill, and in the 
birthplace of liberty. That standard is now unfurled ; and long may it 

' Men of our Times, pp. 162, 163. 



42 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

float, unhurt by the spoliations oC time or the missiles of a desperate 
foe ; yea, till every chain be broken, and every bondman set free ! Let 
Southern oppressors tremble ; let their secret abettors tremble ; let all 
the enemies of the persecuted Black tremble. Assenting to the self- 
evident truths maintained in the American Declaration of Independence, 
• — ' that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness,' I shall strenuously contend for the immediate enfranchise- 
ment of our slave population. 

" I am aware that many object to the severity of my language ; but 
is there not cause for severity ? I will be as harsh as truth, and as 
uncompromising as justice. On this subject I do not wish to think, 
or speak, or write with moderation. No ! No ! Tell a man whose 
house is on fire to give a moderate alarm ; tell him to moderately rescue 
his wife from the hands of the ravisher ; tell the mother to gradually 
extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen ; but urge me 
not to use moderation in a cause like the present ! I am in earnest. 
I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch. 
And I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the peoijle is enough to make 
every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the 
dead. 

" It is pretended that I am retarding the cause of emancipation by 
the coarseness of my invective and the precipitancy of my measures. 
The charge is not true. On this question, my influence, humble as it 
is, is felt at this moment to a considerable extent ; and it shall be felt 
in coming years — not perniciously, but beneficially, — not as a curse, but 
as a blessing ; and posterity will bear testimony that I was 
RIGHT. I desire to thank God that He enables me to disregard ' the fear 
of man which bringeth a snare,' and to speak truth in its simplicity and 
power ; and I here close with this dedication : 

''Oppression ! I have seen thee, face to face, 
And met thy cruel eye and cloudy brow ; 
By thy soul-withering glance I fear not now— 
For dread to prouder feelings doth give place, 
Of deep abhorrence ! Scorning the disgrace 
Of slavish knees that at thy footstool bow, 

I also kneel — but with far other vow ' 

Do hail thee and thy herd of hirelings base ; 
I swear, while life-blood warms my throbbing veins, 
Still to oppose and thwart, with heart and hand, 
Thy brutalizing sway — till Afric's chains 
Are burst, and Freedom rules the rescued land, 
Trampling Oppression and his iron rod ; 
Such is the vow I take — so help me, God ! " 



AXTI-SLA I -KR } ' METIFODS. 43 

There never was a grander declaration of war against slavery. 
There never was a more intrepid leader than William Ljoyd Gar- 
rison. Words more prophetic were never uttered by human 
voice. His paper did indeed make " Southern oppression 
tremble," while its high resolves and sublime sentiments found 
a response in the hearts of many people. It is pleasant to 
record that this first impression of "The Liberator" brought a 
list of twenty-five subscribers from Philadelphia, backed by $50 
in cash, sent by James Forten, a Colored man I 

One year from the day he issued the first number of his paper, 
William Lloyd Garrison, at the head of eleven others, organized 
The Autcrican Anti-Slavery Society. It has been indicated al- 
ready that he was in favor of immediate emancipation ; but, in 
addition to that principle, he took the ground that slavery was 
supported by the Constitution ; that it was " a covenant with 
death and an agreement with hell" ; that as a Christian it was his 
duty to obey God rather than man ; that his conscience was para- 
mount to the Constitution, and, therefore, his duty was to work 
outside of the Constitution for the destruction of slavery. Thus 
did Garrison establish the first Anti-slavery Society in this coun- 
try to adopt aggressive measures and demand immediate and un- 
conditional emancipation. It is not claimed that his methods 
were original. Daniel O'Connell was perhaps the greatest agitator 
of the present century. In a speech delivered at Cork, he said: — 

" I speak of liberty in commendation. Patriotism is a virtue, but 
it can be selfish. Give me the great and immortal Bolivar, the savior 
and regenerator of his country. He found lier a province, and he has 
made her a nation. His first act was to give freedom to the slaves 
upon his own estate. (Hear, hear.) In Colombia, all castes and all 
colors are free and unshackled. But how I like to contrast him with 
the far-famed Northern heroes ! George Washington ! That great and 
enlightened character — the soldier and the statesman — had but one 
blot upon his character. He had slaves, and he gave them liberty when 
he wanted them no longer. (Loud cheers.) Let America, in the ful- 
ness of her pride wave on high her banner of freedom and its blazing 
stars. I point to her, and say : There is one foul blot upon it : you 
have negro slavery. They may compare their struggles for freedom to 
Marathon and Leuctra, and point to the rifleman with his gun, amidst 
her woods and forests, shouting for liberty and .\merica. In the midst 
of their laughter and their pride, I point them to the negro children 
screaming for the mother from whose bosom they have been torn. 



44 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

America, it is a foul stain upon your character ! (Cheers.) This con- 
duct kept up by men who had themselves to struggle for freedom, is 
doubly unjust. Let them hoist the flag of liberty, with the whip and 
rack on one side, and the star of freedom upon the other. The Ameri- 
cans are a sensitive people ; in fifty-four years they have increased their 
population from three millions to twenty millions ; they have many 
glories that surround them, but their beams are partly shorn, for they 
have slaves. (Cheers.) Their hearts do not beat so strong for liberty 
as mine. ... I will call for justice, in the name of the living God, 
and I shall find an echo in the breast of every human being. (Cheers.)" ' 

But while Garrison's method of agitation was not original, it 
was new to this country. He spol<e as one having authority, and 
his fiery earnestness warmed the frozen feeling of the Northern 
people, and startled the entire South. One year from the for- 
mation of the society above alluded to (December 4, 5, and 6, 
1833), a National Anti-Slavery Convention was held in Philadel- 
phia, with sixty delegates from ten States! In 1836 there were 
250 auxiliary anti-slavery societies in thirteen States ; and eigh- 
teen months later they had increased to 1,006. Money came 
to these societies from every direction, and the good work had 
been fairly started. 

William Lloyd Garrison created a party, and it will be known 
in history as the Garrisoiiian Party. 

While Mr. Garrison had taken the position that slavery was 
constitutional, there were those who held the other view, that 
slavery was unconstitutional, and, therefore, upon constitutional 
grounds should be abolished. 

The Whig party was the nearest to the anti-slavery society 
of any of the political organizations of the time. It had prom- 
ised, in convention assembled, " to promote all constitutional 
measures for the overthrow of slavery, and to oppose at all times, 
with uncompromising zeal and firmness, any further addition of 
slave-holding States to this Union, out of whatever territory 
formed.' But the party never got beyond this. Charles Sumner 
was a member of the Whig party, but was greatly disturbed 
about its indifference on the question of slavery. In 1846 he de- 
livered a speech before the Whig convention of Massachusetts 
on " The Anti-Slavery Duties of the Whig Party." He declared 

' Speech delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Cork Anti-Slavery Society, lS2g. 
' Sumner's Works, vol. i. p. 336, 



ANTr-SLAVr.RY METHODS. 45 

his positive opposition to slavery; said that he intended to attack 
the institution on constitutional grounds; that slavery was not a 
" covenant with death or an agreement with hell"; that he in- 
tended to do his work for the slave inside of the Constitution. 
He said : — 

" There is in the Constitution no compromise on the subject of 
slavery of a character not to be reached legally and constitutionally, 
which is the only way in which I propose to reacli it. Wherever power 
and jurisdiction are secured to Congress, tliey may uniiuestionabiy be 
exercised in conformity with the Constitution. And even in matters 
beyond existing powers and jurisdiction there is a eonstitutional mode 
of action. The Constitution contains an article pointing out how at 
any time amendments may be made thereto. This is an important 
article, giving to the Constitution a progressive character, and allowing 
it to l)e moulded to suit new exigencies and new conditions of feeling. 
Tlie wise framers of this instrument did not treat the country as a Chi- 
nese foot, never to grow after its infancy, but anticipated the changes 
incident to its growth." 

He proposed to the Whigs as their rallying watchword, the 
" Repeal ok slavkry under the Constitution and Laws 
OK •lllE h'EDERAL GOVERNMENT." Discussing the methods, lie 
continued : — 

" The time has passed when this can be opposed on constitutional 
grounds. It will not be questioned by any competent authority that 
Congress may by exjiress legislation abolish slavery, first, in the District 
of Columbia; second, in the territories, if there should be any; third, 
that it may abolish the slave-trade on the high seas between the States ; 
fourth, that it may refuse to admit any new State with a constitution 
sanctioning slavery. Nor can it be doubted that the people of the free 
States may, in the manner pointed out by the Constitution, proceed to 
its amendment." 

Thus did Charles Sumner lay down a platform for a Political 
Abolition Party, and of such a party he became the laurelled 
champion and leader. 

The year 1846 was marked by the most bitter political discu.s- 
sion ; Garrison the Agitator, the Mexican war, and otlier issues 
had greatly exercised the people. At a meeting held in Tre- 
mont Temple, Boston, on the 5th of November, 1846, Mr. Sum- 
ner took occasion to give his reasons for bolting the nominee of 



46 HISTORY OF THE iVF.GRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the Whig jiarty for Congress, Mr. Winthrop.' Mr. Sumner said 
that he liad never heard Mr. Winthrop's voice raised for the 
slave; and that, judging from the past, he never expected to 
hear it. " Will he oppose," asked Mr. Sumner, " at all times, 
without compromise, any further addition of slave-holding 
States? Here, again, if we judge him by the past, he is want- 
ing. None can forget that in 1845, on the 4th of July, a day 
ever sacred to memories of freedom, in a speech at Faneuil Hall, 
he volunteered, in advance of any other Northern Whig, to re- 
ceive Texas with a welcome into the family of States, although 
on that very day she was preparing a constitution placing slavery 
beyond the reach of Legislative cliangc."° 

Here, then, was another party created — a Political Abolition 
Party — for the- suppression of slavery. 

In 1848, Mr. Sumner left the Whig party, and gave his mag- 
nificent energies and splendid talents to the organization of the 
Free-Soil Party, upon the principles he had failed to educate the 
Whigs to accept. 

Charles Sumner was in the United States Senate, where "his 
words were clothed with the majesty of Massachusetts." The 
young lawyer who had upbraided Winthrop for his indifference 
respecting the slave, and opposed the Mexican war, was consis- 
tent in the Senate, and in harmony with his early love for humani- 
ty. He closed his great speech on FREEDOM NATION.VL, SLAVERY 
SECTIONAL, in the following incisive language: — 

" At the risk of repetition, but for the sake of clearness, review now 
tliis argument, and gather it together. Considering that slavery is of 
such an offensive character that it can find sanction only in positive 
law, and that it has no such 'positive ' sanction in the Constitution ; that 
the Constitution, according to its Preamble, was ordained to ' establish 
justice,' and 'secure the blessings of liberty' ; that in the convention 
which framed it, and also elsewhere at the time, it was declared not to 
■ sanction ' ; that according to the Declaration 01 Independence, and the 
address of the Continental Congress, the nation was dedicated to 'Lib- 
erty' and the 'rights of human nature'; that according to the principles 
of common law, the Constitution must be interpreted openly, actively, and 

'At the election that took plnce on the 9th of November, 1846, the vote stood as 
follows: Winthlop (Whig), 5,980 ; Howe (.\nti- .Shivery), 1,334; Homer (Democrat), 
I, 6SS ; Whiton (Independent), 331. The number of tickets in the field indicated the 
state of public feeling. 

" Sumner's Works, vol. I. p. 337. 



ANTI- SLA I 'ER J ' METHODS. 47 

perpetually for Freedom ; that according to the decision of the Supreme 
Court, it acts upon slaves. »<'( as prof>ert\\ but as persons ; that at tlie 
first organization of the national government under Washington, slavery 
had no national favor, existed nowhere on the national territory, 
bsneath the national flag, but was openly condemned by the nation, the 
Church, the colleges, and literature of the times ; and finally, that accord- 
ing to an amendment of the Constitution, the national government can 
only exercise powers delegated to it, among which there is none to sup- 
port slavery ; — considering these things, sir, it is impossible to avoid the 
single conclusion that slavery is in no respect a national in-tituiion, and 
that the Constitution nowhere upholds property in man." 

This speech set men in the North to thinking. Sumner was 
now the acknowledged leader of the only political party in the" 
country that had a wholesome anti-slavery plank in its ])latform. 

Daniel Webster and the Whig party were in their grave. 
After the Democratic Convention heid met and adjourned with- 
out mentioning Webster, a Northern farmer exclaimed when he 
had read the news, " The South never pay their s/nzus ! " 

During all these years of agitation and struggle, the pulpit of 
New England maintained an unbroken silence on the slavery 
cjuestion. Doctor Lyman Becchcr was the acknowledged leader 
of the orthodox pulpit. Dr. William E. Channing was the 
champion of Unitarianism and the leader of the heterodox 
pulpit. Dr. Beechcr was fond of controversy, enjoyed a battle 
of words upon every thing but the slavery question. He pro- 
claimed the doctrine of '' immediate repentance" ; was earnest in 
his entreaties to men to quit their "cups" at onee ; but on the 
slavery question was a slow coach. lie was for ^o-rrt^f^/z/^/ emanci- 
pation. He frowned not a little upon the vigorous editorials 
in "The Liberator." He regarded Mr. Garrison as a hot-head; 
"having zeal, but not according to knowledge." Abolitionism 
received no encouragement from this venerable divine. 

Dr. Channing was a gentle, pure-hearted, and humane sort of 
a inan. He dreaded controvensy, and shunned the agitation 
and agitators of anti-slavery. 

The lesser lights followed the example of these bright stars in 
the churches. 

But all could not keep silent.— for slavery needed apologists 
in the North. Stewart, of Andover ; Alexander, of Princeton; 
Fisk„of Wilberham, and many other leading ministers endeav- 
ored to prove the Divine Origin and Biblical Authority of Slavery. 



48 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The silence of the pulpit drove out many anti-slavery men 
who, up to this time, had been hoping for aid from this quarter. 
Many went out of the Church temporarily, hoping that the scales 
would drop from the eyes of the preachers ere long; but others 
never returned — were driven to infidelity and bitter hatred of 
the Christian Church. Dr. Albert Barnes said : "That there was 
no power out of the Cliurch that would sustain slavery an hour 
if it were not sustained in it." 

Among the leaders of the HETERODOX ANTI-SLAVERY PARTY 
— those who attacked the reticency, silent acquiescence, or act 
of support the Church gave slavery, ^were Parker Pillsbury, 
James G. Birney, Stephen S. Foster, and Samuel Brooke. The 
platform of this party was clearly defined by Mr. Pillsbury : — 

" That slavery finds its surest and sternest defence in the prevailing 
religion of the country, is no longer questionable. Let it be driven from 
the Church, with the burning seal of its reprobation and execration 
stamped on its iron brow, and its fate is fixed forever. Only while its 
horrors are baptized and sanctified in the name of Christianity, can it 
maintain an e.xistence. 

" The Anti-Slavery movement has unmasked the character of the 
American Church. Our religion has bee7t found at war with the interests 
of humanity and the laws of God. And it is more than time the world 
was awakened to its unhallowed influence on the hopes and happiness 
of man, while it makes itself the palladium of the foulest iniquity ever 
perpetrated in the sight of heaven." ' 

This was a bold inovement, but it was doubtless a sword that 
was as dangerous to those who essayed to handle it, as to the 
Church whose destruction it was intended to effect. The doc- 
trine that was to sustain and inspire this party can be briefly 
stated in a sentence: THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD, AND THE 
BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 

Once outside the orthodo.K church, Theodore Parker gave 
himself wholly to this idea. He preached the " Gospel of Hu- 
manity" ; and, standing upon a broad platform, preaching a 
broad doctrine, bound by no ecclesiastical law, his claims to a 
place in the history of his county, and in the gratitude of his 
countrymen can be fairly audited when his work for the emanci- 
pation of evangelical churches from the thraldom of slavery is 

' Cluirch As It Is, etc., Introduction. 



ANTT-SLA VERY METHODS. 49 

considered. He did more in his day to rui>titre the organic and 
sympathetic relation existing between the Northern and Southern 
churches, and, thereby, hasten the struggle between the sections 
for the extension or extinction of domestic slavery, than any other 
man in America. The men who found themselves on the out- 
side of the Church gathered about Parker, and applauded his 
invective and endorsed his arraignment of the churches that had 
placed their hands upon their mouths, and their mouths in the 
dust, before the slave power. He touched a chord in the human 
heart, and it yielded rich music. He educated the pew until an 
occasional voice broke the long silence respecting the bondman 
of the land. First, the ministers were not so urgent in their 
invitations to Southern ministers to occupy their pulpits. This 
coldness was followed by feeble prayer and moderate speech on 
behalf of those who were bound. And the churches themselves 
began to feel that they were " an offence " to the world. Every 
note of sympathy that fell from the pulpit was amplified into a 
grand chorus of pity for the slave. And thus the leaven of human 
sympathy hid in the orthodox church of New England, leavened 
the whole body until a thousand pulpits were ablaze with a 
righteous condemnation of the wrongs of the slaves. Even Dr. 
Channing came to the conclusion that something should be " So 
done as not to put in jeopardy the peace of the slave-holding 
States!" ' 

The economic anti-slaveky party was headed by the 
industrious and indomitable Horace Greeley. His claim to the 
feelings of humanity should never be disputed ; but as a prac- 
tical man who sought to solve the riddle of every-day life he 
placed his practical views in the foreground. As a political 
economist he reasoned that slave labor was degrading to free 
labor ; that free labor was better than slave labor, and, therefore, 
he most earnestly desired its abolition. Wherever you turn in 
his writings this idea gives the edge to all his arguments concern- 
ing slavery. " But slavery," wrote Mr. Greeley, " primarily con- 
sidered, has still another aspect — that of a natural relation of 
simplicity to cunning, of ignorance to knowledge, of weakness to 
power. Thomas Carlyle, before his melancholy decline and fall 
into devil-worship, truly observed, that the capital mistake of 
Rob Roy was his failure to comprehend that it was cheaper 



' Channing's Works, vol. ii. p. lo, sq. 



so HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

to buy the beef he required in the Grassmarket at Glasgow 
than to obtain it without price, by harrying the lowland 
farms. So the first man whoever imbibed or conceived the fatal 
delusion that it was more advantageous to him, or to any human 
being, to procure whatever his necessities or his appetites re- 
quired by address and scheming than by honest work — by the 
unrequited rather than the fairly and faithfully recompensed toil 
of his fellow-preachers — was, in essence and in heart, a slave- 
holder, and only awaited opportunity to become one in deed and 
practice. . . . It is none the less true, however, that ancient 
civilization, in its various national developments, was habitually 
corrupted, debauched, and ultimately ruined by slavery, which 
rendered labor dishonorable, and divided society horizontally 
into a small caste of the wealthy, educated, refined, and inde- 
pendent, and a vast hungry, sensual, thriftless, and worthless 
populace ; rendered impossible the preservation of republican 
liberty and of legalized equality, even among the nominally free. 
Diogenes, with his lantern, might have vainly looked, through 
many a long day, among the followers of Marius, or Catiline, or 
Caisar, for a specimen of the poor but virtuous and self-respect- 
ing Roman citizen of the days of Cincinnatus, or even of 
Regains. " ' 

But Mr. Greeley's philosophy was as destructive as his logic 
was defective. He wished the slave free, not because he loved 
him ; but because of the deep concern he had for the welfare of 
the free, white working-men of America. He was willing the 
Negro should be free, but never suggested any plan of relief 
for his social condition, or prescribed for his spiritual and intel- 
lectual health. He handled the entire Negro problem with the 
icy fingers of the philosopher, and always applied the flinty logic 
of abstract political economy. He was an anti-slavery advocate, 
but not an abolitionist. He was opposed to slavery, as a system 
at war with the social and commercial prosperity of the nation ; 
but so far as the humanity of the question, in reaching out after 
the slave as an injured member of society, was concerned, he 
was silent. 

The aggressive anti-slavery tarty had its birth in the 
pugnacious brains of E. P. Lovejoy, James G. Birney, Cassius 
M. Clay, and John Brown. All of the anti-slavery parties had 

' American Conflict, vol. i. pp. 25, 26. 



ANTF-SLA VER ) ' METHODS. 5 ^ 

taught the doctrine of non-rcsistaiicc : that if " thy enemy smite 
thee on thy check, turn the other also." 15ut there were a few 
men wiio beUeved they were possessed of sacred rights, and that 
it was their duty to defend them, even with their Hves. It was 
not a popular doctrine ; and yet a conscientious few practised it 
with sublime courage whenever occasion required. In 1836 
James G. Birney, editor of Tlic Philanthropist, published at Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, defended his press, as best he could, against a 
mob, who finally destroyed it. And on the "th of November, 
1837, the Rev. Mr. Lovejoy sealed the sacred doctrine cf the 
liberty of the press with his precious blood in the defence of his 
printing-press at Alton, Illinois. Cassius M. Clay went armed, 
and insisted upon his right to freely and peaceably discuss the 
cause of anti-slavery. 

But these men only laid down a great, fundamental truth ; it 
was given to John Brown to write the lesson upon the hearts of 
the American people, so that they were enabled, a few years 
later, to practise the doctrine of resistance, and preserve the Na- 
tion against the bloody aggressions of the Southern Confederacy. 

The COLONlZ.\TK)N ANTI-SLAVERV SOCIETY ante-dated any 
of the other organizations. Benjamin Lundy was one of the 
earliest advocates of colonization. The object of colonizationists 
was to transport to Liberia, on the West Coast of Africa, all 
manumitted slaves. Only free Negroes were to be colonized. 
It was claimed by the advocates of the scheme that this was the 
only hope of the free Negro ; that the proscription everywhere 
directed against his social and intellectual endeavors cramped 
and lamed him in the race of life ; that in Liberia he could build 
his own government, schools, and business; and there would be 
nothing to hinder him in his ambition for the highest places in 
Church or State. Moreover, they claimed that the free Negro 
owed something to his benighted brethren who were still in 
pagan darkness ; that a free Negro government on the West 
Coast of Africa could exert a missionary influence upon the 
natives, and thus the evangelization of Africa could be effected 
by the free Negro himself.' 



' The following were the objects of the Colonization Society : 

" 1st. To rescue the free colored people of the United States from their political 
and social disadvantages. 

"2d. To place them in a country where they may enjoy the benefits of free govern- 
ment, with all the blessings which it brings in its train. 



52 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

To this method Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Horace Mann, of 
Massachusetts; Rev. Howard Malcoin, of Pennsylvania: Rev. R. 
R. Gurley, of New York ; and many other persons of distinction, 
gave their endorsement and assistance. The American Coloni- 
zation Society was organized in 1817. Its earliest supporters 
were from the Southern and Middle States. A fair idea can be 
had of the character of the men who sustained the cause of col- 
onization by an examination of the following list of officers 
elected in March, 1834. 

"'President. — James Madison, of Virginia. 

" Vice-Presidents.— Q.\\\^i-]v.^'(\cft Marshall ; General Lafayette, 
of France , Hon. Wm. H. Crawford, of Georgia ; Hon. Henry Clay, 
of Lexington, Kentucky; Hon. John C. Herbert, of Maryland; Robert 
Ralston, Esq., of Philadelphia ; Gen. John Mason, of George- 
town, D. C. ; Samuel Bayard, Esq., of New Jersey ; Isaac McKim, 
Esq., of Maryland; Gen. John HARrwELL Cocke, of Virginia; Rt. 
Rev. Bishop White, of Pennsylvania ; Hon. Daniel Webster, of Bos- 
ton ; Hon. Charles F. Mercer, of Virginia ; Jeremiah Day, D.D., 
of Yale College ; Hon. Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania ; Bishop Mc- 
Kendree ; Philip E. Thomas, Esq., of Maryland ; Dr. Thomas C. 
James, of Philadelphia ; Hon. John C.'otton Smith, of Connecticut ; 
Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey ; Hon. ].ou!s Mc- 
Lane, of Washington City ; Gerrit Smith, of New York ; J. H. 
M'Clure, Esq., of New Jersey ; Gen. Alexander Macomb, of Wash- 
ington City ; Moses Allen, Esq., of New York ; Gen. Walter Jones, 
of Washington City ; F. S. Key, Esq., of Georgetown, D. C. ; Samuel 
H. Smith, Esq., of Washington City ; Joseph Gales, Jr., Esq., of 
Washington City ; Rt. Rev. Wm. Meade, D.D., Assistant Bishop of 
Virginia ; Hon. Alexander Porter, of Louisiana ; John McDon- 
ough, Esq., of Louisiana ; Hon. Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey. 

''Managers. — Rev. James Laurie, D.D. ; Gen. Walter Jones; 
Francis S. Key ; Rev. Wm. Haley ; J(jhn Underwood ; William 
W. Seaton ; Walter Lowrie • Dr. Phineas Bradley ; Dr. Tho.mas 
Sewall. 

" Secretaries. — Rev. Ralph R. Guri.ky, William H. Macfarland. 

" Treasurer. — Joseph Gales, Senior. 

"Recorder. — Phillip R. Fendall." 

" 3(1. To spread civilization, sound morals, and true religion through the continent 
of Africa. 

" 4. To arrest and destroy the slave-trade. 

" ^. To afford slave-owners who wish, or are willing, to liberate their slaves an 
asylum for theii reception." 



AN TI-SI. A ]-F.RY METHODS. 53 

The Colonization Society was never able to secure the sym- 
pathy of the various anti-slavery societies of the country ; and 
was unable to gain the confidence of the Colored people to any 
great extent. But it had the advantage of being in harmony 
with what little humane sentiment there was at the South. It 
did not attempt to agitate. It only sought to colonize on the 
West Coast of Africa all Negroes who could secure legal manu- 
mission. Nearly all the Southern States had laws upon their 
statute-books requiring all emancipated slaves to leave the State. 
The question as to where they should go was supposed to be 
answered by the Colonization Society. It had much influence 
with Congress, and did not hesitate to use it. A Mr. Joseph 
Bryan, of Alabama, petitioned Congress for the establishment 
"of a line of Mail Steam-ships to the Western Coast of Africa," 
in the summer of 1850. The Committee on Naval Affairs re- 
ported favorably the following bill: 

''A Bill to Estahlish a Line of War Steamers to the 
CoAsr oi- Africa, [Report No. 438.] 

"/// tJic Ili'im of Ripnsin/a/h'fi, August i, 1S50. Ht-dd /loici', and com- 
inittrd to tlw Coiitinittff of the 7vho!f House on the State of tlie Union. 

" Mr. F. P. Stanton, from the Committee on Naval Affairs, reported 
the following bill : — A bill to establish a line of war steamers to the 
coast of Africa, for the suppression of the slave-trade, and the promo- 
tion of commerce and colonization : 

Sec. i '' Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That it shall 
be the duty of the Secretary of the Navy, immediately after the passage 
of this act, to enter into contract with Joseph Bryan, of Alabama, and 
George Nicholas Saunders, of New York, and their associates, for the 
building, equipment, and maintenance of three steam-ships to run 
between the United States and the coast of Africa, upon the following 
terms and conditions, to wit : 

"The said sIujjs to be each of not less than four thousand tons bur- 
den, to be so constructed as to be convertible, at the least possible 
expense, into war steamers of the first class, and to he built and 
equipped in accordance with ]ilans to be submitted to and ai)])roved by 
the Secretary of the Navy, and under tlie superintendence of an ofticer 
to be a])pointed hy him , two of said ships to be finished and ready for 
sea in two and a half years and the other within three years after the 
date of the contract, and the whole to be kept up by alterations, re- 



54 HISTORY OF THE XEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

pairs, or additions, to be approved by the Secretary of the Navy, so as 
to be fully ecpial to the exigencies of the service and the faithful per- 
formance of the contract. The said Secretary, at all times, to exercise 
such control over said shi])s as may not be inconsistent with the pro- 
visions of this act. and especially to have the power to direct, at the 
expense of the Government, such changes in the machinery and 
mtcrnal arrangements of the ships as he may at any time deem ad- 
visable. 

" Each of said ships to be commanded by an officer of the Navy, 
who with four Passed Midshipmen to act as watch officers, and any mail 
agents who may be sent by the Government, shall be accommodated 
and provided for in a manner suitable to their rank, at the expense of 
the contractors. Each of said ships, if required by the Secretary, shall 
receive two guns of heavy caHbre, and the men from the United States 
Navy necessary to serve them, who shall be provided for as aforesaid. 
In the e\ent of war th.3 Government to have the right to take any or 
all of said ships tor its own exclusive use on payment of the 
value thereof ; sucli vakie not exceeding the cost, to be ascertained 
by appraisers chosen by the Secretary of the Navy and the con- 
tractors 

'■ Each of said ships lo make four voyages per annum ; one shall 
leave New Orleans every three months ; one shall leave Baltimore every 
three months, touchmg at Norfolk and Charleston ; and one shall 
leave New York every three months, touching at Savannah ; all having 
liberty to touch at any of the West India Islands ; and to proceed 
thence to Liberia, touching at any of the islands or ports on the coast 
of Africa ; thence to Gibraltar, carrying the Mediterranean mails ; 
thence to Cadiz, or some other Spanish port to be designated by the 
Secretary of the Navy ; thence to Lisbon ; thence to Brest, or some 
other trench ])ort to be designated as above ; thence to London, and 
back to the ]jlace of departure, bringing and carrying the mails to anti 
from said ])orts. 

" The said contractors shall further agree to carry to Liberia so many 
emigrants being free persons of color, and not exceeding twenty-five 
hundred tor each voyage, as the American Colonization Society may 
require, upon the payment by said Society of ten dollars for each emi- 
gtant over twelve years of age, and five dollars for each one under that 
age , these sums, respectively, to include all charges for baggage of emi- 
grants and the daily supply of sailors' rations. The contractors, also, 
to carry, bring back, and accommodate, free from charge, all necessary 
agents of the said Society. 

' The Secretary of the Navy shall further stipulate to advance tc> 
said contractors, as the building of said ships shall progress, two thirds 
of the amount expended thereon ; such advances to be made in the 



ANTI- SLA VER } ' MR THODS. 3 5 

bonds of the United States, payable thirty years after date, and bearing 
five per cent, interest, and not to exceed six hundred thousand dollars 
for each ship. And the said contractors shall stipulate to repay the 
said advances in equal annual instalments, with interest from tlie date 
of the completion of said ships until the termination of the contract, 
which shall continue fifteen years from the commencement of the ser- 
vice. The Secretary of the Navy to require ample security for the 
faithful performance of the contract, and to reserve a lien upon the 
shi[)s for the sum advanced. The Government to pay said contractors 
forty thousand dollars for each trip, or four hundred and eiglity thou- 
sand dollars per annum. 

"SiiC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United 
States shall cause to be issued the bonds of the United States, as the 
same may, from time to time, be required by the Secretary of the Navy 
to carry out the contract aforesaid." 

Public sentiment. North antl South, was greatly in favor of 
the measure. T. J. Diirant, Esq., of New Orleans, in an elabor- 
ate letter addressed to the "Commercial Bulletin" of New 
Orleans, under date of September I2, 1850, answered objections, 
and warmly urged the passage of the bill. The Chaplain of the 
U. S. Senate, Rev. R. R. Gurley, wrote a letter on the loth of 
October, 1850, to George N. Saunders, Esq., urging the measure 
as of paramount importance to both America and Africa. The 
press of the country generally endorsed the bill, and commented 
upon the general good to follow in nuinerous editorials. A 
scheme o'f such gigantic proportions poorly set forth the profound 
thought that harassed the public mind in regard to the crime of 
keeping men in slavery. A few extracts from the papers will 
suffice to show how the matter was regarded. 

EXTR.ACTS I'KOM THE PRESS. 

"The Report of the Naval Committee to the House of Representa- 
tives in favor of the establishment of a line of mail steam-ships to the 
Western Coast of Africa, and thence via the Mediterranean to London, 
has been received by the public press throui;hout the Union with the 
warmest expressions of approbation. The Whig, Democratic, and neu- 
tral papers of the North and South, in the slave-holding and non-slave- 
holding States, with a very few exceptions, appear to vie with each 
other in pressing its consideration upon the public attention. This 
earnest and almost unanimous support of the measure by tlie organs of 
public opinion, without respect to party or section, shows the deep hold 



56 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

which the objects it proposes to effect have upon the public favor. 
Those objects are to promote the emigration of free persons of coloi 
from this country to Liberia ; also to increase the steam navy, and to ex- 
tend the commerce of the United States, — all, it will be almost univer- 
sally conceded, desirable objects. The des'rableness of the objects 
being admitted, the question is, does the mode proposed for promoting 
them recommend itself to the sanction of Congress ? We are forced to 
the conclusion that it does. We are aware that while all agree as to 
the expediency of increasing our steam navy — some are in favor of the 
Government's building its own steam-ships, and others advocate the en- 
couragement of lines of steam-packets, to be established by ])rivate en- 
terprise under the auspices of Government. 

" The considerations, however, which in our opinion should commend 
this measure to the favorable attention of Congress are so obvious, and 
have been so clearly and strongly presented in the report of the com- 
mittee, that we need not here repeat them. If the voice of the press, 
of all sections and of all parties, be any indication of popular opinion, 
we are free to say, that it would be difficult for Congress to pass a 
measure which would be received with more ^g-tv/^n// satisfaction by the 
people of the United States." ' 

" African steam-lines. — The entertainment by the Government of 
Great Britain of a project for the establishment of a powerful line of 
steam- vessels between that country and the African coast, ostensibly 
for the con\eyance of a monthly mail, and the more effectual checking 
of the slave-traftic, is strong proof, we think, of the value that the com- 
merce between the two countries is capable of becoming. It may, in 
addition, he regarded as corroborative of the justness of the position 
taken by the advocates of a mail-steamer line between this country and 
Africa We are by no means disposed to look invidiously on the en- 
terprising spirit exhibited abroad for securing a closer connection with a 
country, the great mercantile wealth of which is yet, comparatively 
speaking, untouched. This spirit should have on us no other than a 
stimulating effect. Besides, for years, if not ages, to come, the trade 
with Africa can admit of no very close competition. The promised 
vastness of this trade, whilst excluding all idea of monopoly, must con- 
tinue to excite the new enterprise by its unlimited rewards. It is un- 
necessary that we should exhibit statistics to show her how largely 
England has been benefited by persevering though frequently inter- 
rupted communication with the interior parts of that great continent ; 
nor to make plain how, with better knowledge and more ready means 
of access, mercantile risks will be lessened and mercantile profits en- 
larged, It will be remembered that the Congressional committee to 

' The Republic, Sept, ii, 1S50. 



JjV TI- SL a I -RR J ' ME TIIODS. 5 7 

whom the question of establishing mail steamers between this country 
and Africa was referred, adverted in tlieir report to the aid its adoption 
woidd afford in the consummation of the plans of the Colonization 
Society. On the intimate relation between the one and the other, it 
was supjiosed that a good part of the required success was dependent. 
It is something singular that the colored race — those in reality most 
mterested in the future destinies of Africa — should be so lightly affected 
by the evidences continually being presented in favor of colonization. 
He will do a service to this country as well as Africa who shall do any 
thing to open the eyes of the colored race to the advantages of emigra- 
tion to the fertile and, to them, congenial shores of Africa."' 

" Africa and steam-ships. — If but a single line of steam-ships is to 
be authorized this Session — and the state and prospects of the finances 
must counsel frugality and caution, — we think a line to Africa fairly 
entitled to the preference. That continent on its western side is com- 
paratively proximate and accessible ; it is filled with inhabitants who 
need the articles we can abundantly fabricate, and it is the ancestral 
soil of more than three millions of our jieople — of a race on whose ac- 
count we are deeply debtors to justice and to heaven. That race is 
more plastic and less conservative than the Chinese ; their soil pro- 
duces in spontaneous profusion many articles which are to us comforts 
and luxuries, while nearly every thing we produce is in eager demand 
among its inhabitants, if they can but find the wherewithal to ]iay for 
them. Instead of being a detriment and a depression to our own 
manufacturing and mechanical industry, as the trade induced by our 
costly steam-ship lines to Liverpool, Bremen, and Havre mainly is, all 
the commerce with Africa which a more intimate communication with 
her would secure, would be advantageous to every department of Amer- 
ican labor. Her surplus products are so diverse from ours, that no col- 
lision of interests between her producers and ours could ever be real- 
ized, while millions' worth of her tropical products which will not 
endure the slow and capricious transportation which is now their only 
recourse, would come to us in good order by steam-ships, and richly 
reward the labor of the gatherers and the enterprise of the importers. 

" But the social and moral aspects of this subject are still more im- 
portant. We are now expending life and treasure, in concert with 
other nations, to suppress the African slave-trade, and it is now gener- 
ally conceded that such suppression can never be effected by the 
means hitherto relied on. The colonization of the Slave Coast, with 
direct reference to its Christianization and civilization, is the only sure 
means of putting an end to this inhuman traffic. .\nd this coloni- 
zation, all who are interested in the work seem heartily to agree, would 

' National Intelligencer, October 23, 1850. 



58 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

be immensely accelerated by the establishment of a line of African 
steam-ships. Liberia, now practically distant as Buenos Ayres, would, 
by such a line, be brought as near us as Bremen, and the ports regu- 
larly visited by our steamers could not fail rapidly to assume impor- 
tance as centres of commerce and of increasing intelligence and in- 
dustry." ' 

" The colony of Liberia and its prospectus. — By every ar- 
rival from Liberia we learn that the colony of free negroes from the 
United States is progressing at a rate truly astonishing, and that before 
many years it promises to be a strong and powerful republic. The 
experiment of self-government has been completely successful ; the 
educational interests of the inhabitants are duly cared for ; civilization is 
making great headway among the aborigines ; and, by means of Liberia, 
there is a very flattering prospect of the slave-trade on the coast of Africa 
being entirely destroyed. Governor Roberts, a very intelligent colored 
man, of mixed blood, goes even so far as to say that Liberia is destined 
to rival the United States, and that both republics, by a unity of action, 
can civilize and Christianize the world, and especially benighted Africa. 
We are pleased to hear such good accounts from Liberia, and we shall 
always be pleased to hear of its success, and of the progress and wel- 
fare of its inhabitants. Founded, as it has been, by American philan- 
thropists, and peopled by our emancipated slaves, the United States 
will ever watch its progress with interest, and aid and assist it as far as 
it possibly can." ° 

But notwithstanding the apparent favor the cause of coloni- 
zation received from the press, it was an impractical, impossible, 
wild, and visionary scheme that could not be carried to the ex- 
tent its projectors designed. It lost strength yearly, until all 
were convinced that the Negro would be emancipated here and 
remain here ; that it was as iinnossible to colonize a race of peo- 
ple as to colonize the sun, moon, and stars. 

The underground railroad organization was perhaps 
one of the most useful auxiliaries the cause of agitation had. 
It could scarcely be called an organization. Unlike the other 
societies, it did not print its reports.' Like good Samaritans, its 
conductors did not ask passengers their creed ; but wherever 
they found human beings wounded in body and mind by slavery, 



'Tribune, December 25, 1850. ' Herald, December, 17, 1850. 

' It is to be regretted that Vi'illiam Still, the author of the U. G. R. K., failed to 
give any account of its origin, organization, \vorl<ings, or the number of persons 
helped to freedom. It is an interesting narrative of many cases, but is shorn of that 
minuteness of detail so indispensable to authentic historical memorials. 



ANTI-SLAVKKY METHODS. 59 

they yavc them passage to the " Inn " of Freedom on Canadian 

soil. 

In a sense, the Underi^round Railroad was a secret organi- 
zation. This was necessary, as the fugitive-slave law gave the 
master the right to pursue his slave when " fleeing from labor 
and service in one State into another," and apprehend him by 
due process of Federal law. The men who managed this road 
felt that they should obey God rather than man ; that the slave's 
right to his freedom was greater than any law the nation could 
make through its representatives. So the Underground Rail- 
road was made up of a company of godly men who stretched 
themselves across the land, from the borders of the sunny slave 
States to the snow-white shores of Canada. When men came 
up out of the hell of slavery gasping for a breath of free air, 
these good friends sheltered and fed them : and then hastened 
them off in the stillness of the night, with the everlasting stars 
as their ministers, toward Canada. The fugitives would be 
turned over to another conductor, who would conceal them until 
nightfall, when he would load his living freight into a covered 
conveyance, and drive all night to reach the next " station " ; and 
so on until the fugitives found themselves free and safe under 
the English flag in Canada. 

This was the safety-valve to the institution of slavery. As 
soon as leaders arose- among the slaves, refusing to endure the 
yoke, they came North. Had they remained, the direful scenes 
of St. Domingo would have been enacted, and the hot, vengeful 
breath of massacre would have .swept the South as a tornado, 
and blanched the cheek of the civilized world. 

Anti-SLAVERV literature wrought mightily for God in its 
f^eld.' Frederick Douglass's book, " My Bondage and My Free- 
dom " ; Bishop Loguen's, " As a Slave and As a Freeman " ; Au- 
tobiography of a Fugitive Negro," by the Rev. Samuel Ringgold 
Ward ; " Twenty-two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Free- 
man," by the Rev. Austin Stewart ; " Narrative of Solomon 
Northup," "Walker's Appeal,"— all by eminent Negroes, ex- 
posed the true character of slavery, informed the public mind, 
stimulated healthy thought, and touched the heart of two conti- 
nents with a s}-mpathy almost divine. 

But the uncounted millions of anti-slavery tracts, pamphlets, 



'Judge Stroud, William Goodell, Wendell Phillips, WiUi.im Jay, and hundreds of 
other white men contributed to the anti-slavery literature of the period. 



6o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

journals, and addresses of the entire period of agitation were little 
more than a paper wad compared with the solid shot " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin " was to slavery. Written in vigorous English, in 
scintillating, perspicuous style ; adorned with gorgeous imagery, 
bristling with living '' fads" \ going to the lowest depths, mount- 
ing to the greatest altitudes, moving with panoramic grandeur, 
picturing humanity forlorn and outraged ; giving forth the shrill- 
est, most despairing cries of the afflicted, and the sublimest 
strains of Christian faith ; the struggle of innocent, defenceless 
womanhood, the subdued sorrow of chattel-babyhood, the yearn- 
ings of fettered manhood, and the piteous sobs of helpless old 
age, — made Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's " Uncle Tom's Cabin" 
the magnifying wonder of enlightened Christendom ! It pleaded 
the cause of the slave in twenty different languages; it engrossed 
the thought of philosophers, and touched the heart of youth with 
a strange pity for the slave. It covered audiences with the sun- 
light of laughter, wrapt them in sorrow, and veiled them in tears. 
It illustrated the power of the Gospel of Love, the gentleness of 
Negro character, and the powers and possibilities of the race. It 
was God's message to a people who had refused to listen to his 
anti-slavery prophets and priests ; and its sad, wierd, and heart- 
touching descriptions and dialogues restored the milk of human 
kindness to a million hearts that had grown callous in an age of 
self-seeking and robbery of the poor. 

In a political and sectional sense, the " Impending Crisis," by 
Helper, e.xerted a wide influence for good. It was read by mer- 
chants and politicians. 

Diverse and manifold as were the methods of the friends of 
universal freedom, and sometimes apparently conflicting, under 
God no honest effort to rid the Negro and the country of the 
curse of slavery was lost. All these agencies, running along dif- 
ferent lines, converged at a common centre, and aimed at a. 
common end — the ultimate extinction of the foreign and domes- 
tic slave-trade. 



ANTI-SLAVERY EFFOR IS OF FREE NEGROES. 6l 



CHAPTER. VI. 

ANTI-Sl.AVERV EFFORTS OF FREE NEGROES. 

Intelligent Interest of Free Negroes in the Agitation Movement. — "First Annital Con- 
vention OF THE People of Color" held at PHii.AnELrHiA. — Report of the Committee 

ON THE establishment OF A COLLECE FOR YoUNG MeN OF CoLOR. — I*RO\ISIONAI. COMMITTEE 
APPOINTED IN EACH CiTV. — CONVENTIONAL AUDUESS. — SeCOND CONVENTION HELD AT BeNE- 

ZET Hall, Philadelphia. — Resolutions of the Meeiing. — Conventio.nal Address. — 
The Massachuseits General Colored .\ssociation. — Convention of Anti-slavery Women 
OF America at New York. — Prejudice against admitping Negroes into White Socie- 
ties. — Colored Orators. — Their Eloquent Pleas for their Enslaved Race. 

THE free Negroes throughout the Northern States were not 
passive during the agitation movement. Tlic)- took a 
hvcly interest in the cause that had for its ultimate end 
the freedom of the slave. They did not comfort themselves 
with the consciousness that they were free; but thought of tlicir 
brctlircn who were bound, and sympathized with them. 

" The First Annual Convention of the People of Color" was held 
in Philadclpliia from the 6tli to the i ith of June, 1831. Its sessions 
were held " in the brick Wesleyan Church, Lombard Street," 
"pursuant to public notice, . . . signed by Dr. Belfast Burton 
and William Whipper." The following delegates were present: 

P/iilai/cl/t/iia — John Bowers, Dr. Belfast Burton, James Cornish, 
Junius C. Morel, \\illiam Whi|iper. 

N'c-w York — Rev. Wm. Miller, Henry Sipkiiis, Thos. L. Jennings. 
Wm. Hamilton, James Bennington. 

Maryland — Rev. Abner Coker, Robert Cowley. 

Dila-dmre — Abraham D. Shad, Rev. Peter Gardiner. 

Virginia — Wm. Duncan. 

The following officers were chosen : 

President — John Bowers. 

Vice-Presidents — Abraham D. Shad, William Duncan. 

Secretary — William Whijiper. 

Assista/tt Secretary — Thos. L. Jennings. 



62 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The first concern of this convention was the condition of that 
class which it directly represented— the -free persons of color" 
in the United States. A committee, consisting of Messrs. Morel, 
Shad, Duncan, Cowley, Sipkins, and Jennings, made the follow- 
ing report on the condition of the free persons of color in the 
United States : 

" BrcthicH ana Fdlow-Ciiizeiis : 

"We, the Committee of Inquiry, would suggest to the Convention 
the i)ropricty of adopting the following resolutions, viz. : 

" Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Convention, it is highly nec- 
essary that the different societies engaged in the Canadian ScUlement 
be earnestly requested to persevere in their praiseworthy and philan- 
thropic undertaking ; firmly believing that, at a future jieriod, their 
labors will be crowned with success. 

" The Committee would also recommend this Convention to call on 
the free people of color to assemble annually by delegation at such 
place as may be designated as suitable. 

" They would also respectfully submit to your wisdom the necessity 
of your deliberate reflection on the dissolute, intemjjerate, and ignorant 
condition of a large portion of the colored population of the United 
States. They would not, however, refer to their unfortunate circum- 
stances to add degradation to objects already degraded and miserable ; 
nor, with some others, improperly class the virtuous of our color with 
the abandoned, but with the most sympathizing and heartfelt commiser- 
ation, show our sense of obligation as the true guardians of our inter- 
ests, by giving wholesome advice and good counsel. 

" The Committee consider it as highly important that the Conven- 
tion recommend the necessity of creating a general fund, to be denomi- 
nated the Conventional Fund, for the purpose of advancing the 
objects of this and future conventions, as the public good may require. 
" They would further recommend, that the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence and the Constitution of the United Stales be read in our Conven- 
tions ; believing, that the truths contained in the former are incontro- 
vertible, and that the latter guarantees in letter and spirit to every free' 
man born in this country, all the rights and immunities of citizenship. 

"Your Committee with regret have witnessed the many oppressive, 
unjust, and unconstitutional laws which have been enacted in the dif- 
ferent parts of the Union against the free people of color, and they 
would call upon this Convention, as possessing the rights of freemen, 
to recommend to the people, through their delegation, the propriety of 
memorializing the proper authorities, whenever they may feel them- 
selves aggrieved, or their rights invaded, by any cruel or oppressive laws. 



ANTI-SLAVERY EFFORTS OF FREE NEGROES. 6 



J 



"And your Committee would further report, that, in their opinion, 
Education, TdiipenDicf, and J'lconoiiiy nre best calculated to j)romote 
the elevation of mankind to a |>roper rank and standing among men, as 
they enable him to discharge all those duties enjoined on him by his 
Creator. We would, therefore, respectfully request an early attention 
to those virtues among our brethren who have a desire to be useful. 

"And lastly, your Committee view with unfeigned regret, and 
resjiectfully submit to the wisdom of this Convention, the operations 
and misrepresentations of the American Colonization Society in these 
United States. 

"We feel sorrowful to see such an iuniiense and wanton waste of 
lives and property, not doubting the benevolent feelings of some indi- 
viduals engaged in that cause. But we cannot for a moment doubt, but 
that the cause of many of our unconstitutional, unchristian, and un- 
heard-of sufferings emanate from that unhallowed source ; and we 
would call on Christians of every denomination firmly to resist it." ' 

The convention was in session for several days. It attracted 
])ublic attention on account of the intelligence, order, and excel- 
lent judgment which prevailed. It deeply touched the )-oniiif 
white men who had, but a few months previous, enlisted under 
the broad banner \Vm. Llo\'d Ciarrison had given to the breeze. 
They called to see Colored men conduct a convention. The 
Rev. S. S. Jocelyn, of New Haven, Connecticut ; Arthur Tappan, 
of New York ; Benjamin Lundy, of Washington, D. C. ; William 
Llo_\-d Ciarrison, of Boston, Massachusetts; Thomas Shipley and 
Charles Pierce, of Philadelphia, visited the conxention and were 
cordially received. Messrs. Jocelyn, Tappan, and Ciarrison were 
invited to address the convention. They delivered stirring ad- 
dresses, and especially urged the necessit)- of establishing a col- 
lege for the education of " Young Men of Cohjr." At the sug- 
gestion of the speaker the convention appointed a conimittcc 
with whom the speaker conferred. The report of the committee 
was as follows : 

" That a plan had been sul)mitted to them by the above-named 
gentlemen, for the liberal education of Young Men of Color, on the 
Manual-Labor System, all of which they respectfully submit to the con- 
sideration of the Convention, are as follow : 

" The plan proposed is, that a College be established at New Haven, 
Conn., as soon as $20,000 are obtained, and to be on the Manual- Labor 

Tlie Minutes, in possession, of tlie auliior. 



64 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

System, by which, in connection with a scientific education, they may also 
obtain a useful Mechanical or Agricultural profession ; and (they further 
report, having received information) that a benevolent individual has 
offered to subscribe one thousand dollars toward this object, provided 
that a farther sum of nineteen thousand dollars can be obtained in one 
year. 

" After an interesting discussion, the above report was unanimouslv 
adopted ; one of the intpiiries by the Convention was in regard to the 
place of location. On interrogating the gentlemen why New Haven 
should be the place of location, they gave the following as their rea- 
sons : — 

" I St. The site is healthy and beautiful. 

" 2d. Its inhabitants are friendly, pious, generous, and humane.' 

" 3(1. Its laws are salutary and protecting to all, without regard to 
complexion. 

" 4th. I'.oarding is cheap and provisions are good. 

" 5 th. The situation is as central as any other that can be obtained 
with the same advantages. 

" 6th. The town of New Haven carries on an extensive West India 
trade, and many of the wealthy colored residents in the Islands, would, 
no doubt, send their sons there to be educated, and thus a fresh tie of 
friendship would be formed, which might be productive of much real 
good in the end. 

" And last, though not the least, the literary and scientific character 
of New Haven, renders it a very desirable place for the location of the 
college." 

The report of the Committee was received and adopted. The 
Rev. Samuel li. Cornish was appointed general agent to solicit 
funds, aiid Arthur Tappan was selected as treasurer. A Pro- 
visiotial Committee was appointed in each city, as follows: . 

" Boiton — Rev. Hosea Easton, Robert Roberts, James G. Barbadoes, 
and Rev. Samuel Snowden. 

'^ New York — Rev. Peter Williams, Boston Cromwell, Philip Bell, 
Thomas Downing, Peter Voglesang. 

" Philadelphia — Joseph Cassey, Robert Douglass, Sr., James For- 
ten, Richard Howell, Robert Purvis. 

" Baltimore — Thomas Green, James P. Walker, Samuel G. Mathews, 
Isaac Whipper, Samuel Hiner. 

" Ne7v Haven — Biars Stanley, John Creed, Alexander C. Luca. 

" Brooklyn, L. I. — Jacob Deyes, Henry Thomson, Willis Jones. 
' " lVtlniini;/on, Del. — Rev. Peter Spencer, Jacob Morgan, William S. 
Thomas. 



ANTI-SLAVERY EFFORTS OF FREE NEGROES. 65 

" ^/i^a/zy— Benjamin Latimore, Captain Schuyler, Cajjtain Francis 

March. 

" Washington, D. C. — William Jackson, Arthur Waring, Isaac Carey. 

''Lancaster, Pa. — Charles Butler and Jared Grey. 

" Carlisle, Pa. — John Peck and Rowland G. Roberts. 

" Chanibersburg, Pa. — Dennis Berry. 

" Pittsburgh — John B. Vashon, Lewis Gardiner, Abraham Lewis. 

" Neiuark, N. y. — Peter Petitt, Charles Anderson, Adam Ray. 

" Trenton — Samson Peters, Leonard Scott." 

The proceedings of the convention were characterized by a 
deep solemnity and a lively sense of the gravity of the situation. 
The delegates were of the ablest Colored men in the country, and 
were conversant with the wants of their people. The subjoined 
address shows that the committee that prepared it had a thorough 
knowledge of the public sentiment of America on the subject of 
race prejudice. 

"conventional address. 

" Respected Brethren and Fello'di-Citizens : 

" Our attention has been called to investigate the political standing 
of our brethren wherever dispersed, but more particularly the situation 
of those in this great Republic. 

" Abroad, we have been cheered with pleasant views of humanity, 
and the steady, firm, and uncompromising march of equal liberty to the 
human family. Despotism, tyranny, and injustice have had to retreat, 
in order to make way for the unalienable rights of man. Truth has 
conquered [)reiudice, and mankind are about to rise in the majesty and 
splendor of their native dignity. 

" The cause of general emancipation is gaining powerful and able 
friends abroad. Britain and Denmark have ])erformed such deeds as 
will immortalize them for their humanity, in the breasts of the philan- 
thropists of the present day ; whilst, as a just tribute to their virtues, 
after-ages will yet erect unperishable monuments to their memory. 
(Would to God we could say thus of our own native soil !) 

" And it is only when we look to our own native land, to the birth- 
place of our fathers, to the land for whose prosperity their blood and 
our sweat have been shed and cruelly extorted, that the Convention has 
had cause to hang its head and blush. Laws, as cruel in theinselves as 
they were unconstitutional and unjust, have in many places been en- 
acted agiinst our poor unfriended and unoffending brethren ; laws, 
(without a shadow of provocation on our part,) at whose bare recital 



66 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

the very savage draws him up for fear of tlie contagion, — looks noble, 
and prides himself because he bears not the name of a Christian. 

" But the Convention would not wish to dwell long on this subject, 
as it is one that is too sensibly felt to need description. 

" We would wish to turn you from tliis scene with an eye of pity, 
and a breast glowing with mercy, praying that the recording angel may 
drop a tear, which shall obliterate forever the remembrance of so foul a 
stain upon the national escutcheon of this great Republic. 

" This spirit of persecution was the cause of our Convention. It 
was that first induced us to seek an asylum in the Canadas ; and the 
Convention feels hajjpy to report to its brethren, that our efforts to 
establish a settlement in that province have not been made in vain. 
Our prospects are cheering ; our friends and funds are daily increasing ; 
wonders have been performed far exceeding our most sanguine expecta- 
tions ; already have our brethren purchased eight hundred acres of 
land — and two thousand of them have left the soil of their birth, crossed 
the lines, and laid the foundation for a structure which promises to 
prove an asylum for the colored population of these United States. 
They have erected two hundred log-houses, and have five hundred acres 
under cultivation. 

" And now it is to your fostering care the Convention appeals, and 
we appeal to you as to men and brethren, yet to enlarge their borders. 

'■ We therefore ask of you, brethren, — we ask of you, philanthropists 
of every color and of every kindred, — to assist us in this undertaking. 
We look to a kind Providence and to you to say whether our desires 
shall be realized and our labors crowned with success. 

" The Convention has done its duty, and it now remains for you, 
brethren, to do yours. Various obstacles have been thrown in our way 
by those opposed to the elevation of the human species ; but, thanks to 
an all-wise Providence, his goodness has as' yet cleared the way, and 
our advance has been slow but steady. The only thing now wanted, is 
an accumulation of funds, in order to enable us to make a purchase 
agreeable to the direction of the first Convention ; and, to effect that 
purpose, the Convention has recommended, to the different Societies 
engaged in that cause, to preserve and prosecute their designs with 
double energy ; and we would earnestly recommend to every colored 
man (who feels the weight of his degradation), to consider himself in 
duty bound to contribute his mite toward this great object. We would 
say to all, that the prosperity of the rising generation mainly depends 
upon our active exertions. 

" Yes, it is with us to say whether they shall assume a rank and stand- 
ing among the nations of the earth, as men and freemen, or whether 
they shall still be prized and held at market-price. Oh, then, by a 
brothers love, and by all that makes man dear to man, awake in time ! 



ANTI-Sr.AVKRY EFFORTS OF FRRF NEC ROES. 67 

Be wise ! 15c free ! Endeavor to walk with circumspection ; be obe- 
dient to the laws of our common country ; honor and respect its law- 
makers and law-givers ; and, through all, let us not forget to respect 
ourselves. 

" During the deliberations of this Convention, we had the favor of 
advising and consulting with some of our most eminent and tried phil- 
anthropists — men of unblemished character and of acknowledged rank 
and standing. Our sufferings have excited tlieir sympathy ; our igno- 
rance appealed to their humanity ; and, brethren, we feel that gratitude 
is due to a kind and benevolent Creator, that our excitement and appeal 
have neither been in vain. A plan has been proposed to the Convention 
for the erection of a college for the instruction of young men of color, 
on the manual-labor system, by which the children of the poor may re- 
ceive a regular classical education, as well as those of their more ojjulent 
brethren, and the charge will be so regulated as to put it within the 
reach of all. In support of this plan, a benevolent individual has 
offered the sum of one thousand dollars, provided that we can obtain 
subscriptions to the amount of nineteen thousand dollars in one year. 

" The Convention has viewed the plan with considerable interest, and, 
after mature deliberation, on a candid investigation, feels strictly justified 
in recommending the same to the liberal patronage of our brethren, and 
respectfully solicits the aid of those philanthropists who feel an interest 
in sending light, knowledge, and truth to all of the human species. 

" To the friends of general education, we do believe that our appeal 
will not be in vain. For the present ignorant and degraded condition 
of many of our brethren in these United States (which has been a subject 
of much concern to the Convention) can excite no astonishment (al- 
though used by our enemies to show our inferiority in the scale of hu- 
man beings) ; for, what opportunities have they [lossessed for mental 
cultivation or improvement ? Mere ignorance, however, in a people 
divested of the means of acquiring information by books, or an exten- 
sive connection with the world, is no just criterion of their intellectual 
incapacity ; and it had been actually seen, in various remarkable in- 
stances, that the degradation of the mind and character, which has been 
too hastily imputed to a people kept, as we are, at a distance from those 
sources of knowledge which abound in civilized and enlightened com- 
munities, has resulted from no other causes than our unhapjiy situation 
and circumstances. 

"True philanthropy disdains to adopt those prejudices against any 
people which have no better foundation than accidental diversities of 
color, and refuses to determine without substantial evidence and incon- 
testible fact as the basis of her judgment. And it is in order to remove 
these prejudices, which are the actual causes of our ignorance, that we 
have appealed to our friends in support of the contemplated institution. 



68 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" The Convention has not been unmindful of the ojierations of th» 
American Colonization Society, and it would respectfully suggest to that 
august body of learning, talent, and worth, that, in our humble opinion, 
strengthened, too, by the opinions of eminent men in this country, as 
well as in Europe, that they are pursuing the direct road to perpetuate 
slavery, with all its unchristianlike concomitants, in this boasted land of 
freedom ; and, as citizens and men whose best blood is sapped to gain 
popularity for that institution, we would, in the most feeling manner, 
beg of them to desist ; or, if we must be sacrificed to their philan- 
thropy, we would rather die at home. Many of our fathers, and some 
of us, have fought and bled for the liberty, independence, and peace 
which you now enjoy ; and, surely, it would be ungenerous and unfeel- 
ing in you to deny us an humble and quiet grave in that country which 
gave us birth ! 

" In conclusion, the Convention would remind our brethren that 
knowledge is power, and to that end, we call on you to sustain and sup- 
port, by all honorable, energetic, and necessary means, those presses 
which are devoted to our instruction and elevation, to foster and encour- 
age the mechanical arts and sciences among our brethren, to encourage 
simplicity, neatness, temperance, and economy in our habits, taking due 
care always to give the preference to the production of freemen wherever 
it can be had. Of the utility of a General Fund, the Convention be- 
lieves there can exist but one sentiment, and that is for a speedy estab- 
lishment of the same. Finally, we trust our brethren will pay due care 
to take such measures as will ensure a general and equal representation 
in the next Convention 

[Signed] " Belfast Burton, 

" Junius C. Morel, 
"William Whipper, 

" Piiblisliiiig Committee." 

Encouraged by the good results that followed the first con- 
vention, another one was called, and assembled in Philadelphia, 
at Benezet Hall, Seventh Street, June 4, 1832. The following 
delegates were admitted to seats in the convention : 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Pittsburgh — John B. Vashon. 

Philadelphia — John Bowers, William Whipper, J. C. Morel, Benjamin 
Paschal, F. A. Hinton. 
Carlisle — John Peck. 
Lewistoivn, Miffiii County — Samuel Johnson. 



ANTISLA VER Y EFFOR TS OF FREE NEGROES. tSg 

NEW i'ORK. 

JVaif York City — William Hamilton, Thomas L. Jennings, Henry 
Sipkins, Philip A. Bell. 

Brooklyn — James Pennington. 

DELAWARE. 

Wilmington — Joseph Puirton, Jaeob Morgan, Abni. D. Shad, William 
Johnson, Peter Gardiner. 

MARYLAND. 

Baltimore — Samuel Elliott, Robert Cowley, Samuel Hiner. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Gloiicestei — Thomas D. Coxsin, Thomas Banks. 
Trenton — Aaron Roberts. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Boston — Hosea Easton. 

Neto Bedford — Nathan Johnson. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Hartford — Paul Drayton. 

Ale7t> Haven — Scipio C. Augustus. 

RHDDE ISLAND. 

Providence — Ichabod Northrop. 

On the following day the convention adjourned to the 
"First African Presbyterian Church."' The following report was 
adopted : 

" Resoli'cd,T\\a\. in the opinion of this Committee, the plan suggested 
by the first General Convention, of purchasing land or lands in Upper 
Canada, for the avowed object of forming a settlement in that province, 
for such colored persons as may choose to emigrate there, still merits 
and deserves our united support and exertions ; and further, that the 
appearances of the times, in this our native land, demand an immediate 
action on that subject. Adopted. 

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this committee, we still solemnly 
and sincerely protest against any interference, on the part of the Ameri- 
can Colonization Society, with the free colored ])opulation in these 
United States, so long as they shall countenance or endeavor to use 
coercive measures (either directly or indirectly) to colonize us in any 
place which is not the object of our choice. And we ask of them re- 
spectfully, as men and as Christians, to cease their unhallowed persecu- 



70 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TiX AMERICA. 

tions of a people already sufficiently oppressed, or if, as they profess to 
have our welfare and prosperity at heart, to assist us in the object of 
our choice. 

" Resolved, That this committee would recommend to the members 
of this Convention, to discountenance, by all just means in their power, 
any emigration to Liberia or Hayti, believing them only calculated to 
distract and divide the whole colored family." 

In accordance with a resolution of the previous day the Rev. 
R. R. Gurley, Secretary of the American Colonization Society, 
was invited to address the convention. He endeavored to offer 
an acceptable explanation of the Society, and to advocate its 
principles. But the Colored people, almost to a man, were op- 
posed to colonization ; and most of the anti-slavery societies re- 
garded colonization as impracticable and hurtful to the cause of 
emancipation. William Lloyd Garrison happened to be present, 
and followed Gurley in a speech that destroyed the hopes of the 
friends of colonization, and greatly delighted the convention. 

While the Colored people opposed colonization they regarded 
Canada as a proper place to go. They felt that as citizens they 
had the right to decide where to go, and, when they got ready, 
to go on their own account. Canada had furnished an asylum 
to their fl\'ing, travel-soiled, foot-sore, and needy brethren, — was 
not so very far away, and, therefore, it was preferred to the West 
Coast of Africa. The committee having under consideration 
this subject, made the following comprehensive report : 

" Resolved, That the members of this Convention take into consider- 
ation the propriety of effecting the purchase of lands in the province of 
Upper Canada, as an asylum for those of our bretheren who may be 
compelled to remove from these United States, beg leave, most respect- 
fully to report : 

" That, after due consideration, they believe the resolution em- 
braces three distinct inquiries for the consideration of this Convention, 
which should be duly weighed before they can adopt the sentiments 
contained in the above-named resolution. Therefore, your Committee 
conceive the resolution premature, and now proceed to state the en- 
quiries separately. 

" First. — Is it proper for the Free people of color in this country, 
under existing circumstances, to remove to any distant territory beyond 
these United States ? 

" Secondly. — Does Upper Canada possess superior advantages and 
conveniences to those held out in these United States or elsewhere ? 



ANTI-SLA VERY {f.F FOR TS OF FREE NEGROES. 71 

" Thirdly. — Is there any certainty that the people of color will be 
compelled by oppressive legislative enactments to abandon the land of 
their birth for a home in a distant region ? 

"Your Committee, before examining those enquiries, would most 
respectftiUy take a retrospective view of the object for which the Con- 
vention was first associated, and the causes which have actuated their 
deliberations. 

" The expulsory laws of Ohio, in iiS29, which drove our people to 
seek a new home in Ujiper Canada, and their impoverished situation 
afterward, excited a general burst of sympathy for their situation, by 
the wise and good, over the whole country. This aw^akened public 
feeling on their behalf, and numerous meetings were called to raise 
funds to alleviate their i)resent miseries. The bright [jrospects that 
then appeared to dawn on the new settlement, awakened our jieople to 
the precariousness of their situations, and, in order more fully to be 
prepared for future exigencies, and to extend the system of benevolence 
still further to those who should remove to Upper Canada, a circular 
was issued by five individuals, viz.: — the Rev. Richard .Allen, Cyrus 
IJlack. Junius C. Morel, Henjamin Pascal, and James C. Cornish, in 
behalf of the citizens of Philadelphia, calling a convention of the col- 
ored delegates from the several States, to meet on the 20th day of Sep- 
tember, 1S30, to devise plans and means for the establishment of a 
colony in Upper Canada, under the patronage of the general Conven- 
tion, then called. 

'■ That Convention met, pursuant to public notice, and recom- 
mended the formation of a parent society, to be established, with auxil- 
iaries in the different towns where they had been represented in general 
convention, for the purpose of raising moneys to defray the object of 
purchasing a colony in the province of Upper Canada, for those who 
should hereafter wish to emigrate thither, and that immediately after 
its organization, a corresponding agent should be appointed to reside 
at or near the intended purchase. 

" Our then limited knowledge of the manners, customs, and privi- 
leges, an<l rights of aliens in Upper Canada, together with the climate, 
soil, and productions thereof, rendered it necessary to send out agents 
to examine the same, who returned with a favorable report, except that 
citizens of these United States could not purchase lands in Upper 
Canada, and legally transfer the same to other individuals. 

" The Convention resolved to reassemble on the first Monday in 
June, 1831, during which time the order of the Convention had been 
carried into operation, relative to establishing Societies for the promo- 
tion of said object ; and the sum and total of their proceedings were, 
that the Convention recommended to the colored people generally, 
when persecuted as were our brethren in Ohio, to seek an Asylum in 



72 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Upper Canada. During which time, information having been received 
that a part of the white inhabitants of said province had, through 
prejudice and the fear of being overburthened with an ejected population, 
petitioned the provincial parliament to prohibit the general influx of 
colored population from entering their limits, which threw some con- 
sternation on the prospect. Tiie Convention did not wholly abandon 
the subject, but turned its attention more to the elevation of our people 
in this, our native home. 

" The recent occurrences at the South have swelled the tide of preju- 
dice until it has almost revolutionized public sentiment, which has 
given birth to severe legislative enactments in some of the States, and 
almost ruined our interests and prospects in others, in which, in the 
opinion of your Committee, our situation is more precarious than it 
has been at any other period since the Declaration of Independence. 

" The events of the past year have been more fruitful in persecu- 
tion, and have ])resented more inducements than any other period of 
the history of our country, for the men of color to fly from the graves 
of their fathers, and seek new homes in a land where the roaring bil- 
lows of prejudice are less injurious to their rights and privileges. 

" Your Committee would now approach the present Convention and 
examine the resolution under consideration, beginning with the first 
interrogatory, viz. : Is it proper for the Free people of color in this 
country, under e.xisting circumstances, to remove to any distant ter- 
ritory beyond the United States ? 

" If we admit the first interrogatory to be true, as it is the e.xact 
spirit of the language of this resolution, now under consideration, it is 
altogether unnecessary for us to make further preparation for either 
our moral, intellectual, or political advancement in this our own, our 
native land. 

" Your Committee also believe that if this Convention shall adopt 
a resolution that will, as soon as means can be obtained, remove our 
colored population to the province of Ujiper Canada, the best and 
brightest prospect of the [)hiLinthropists who are laboring for our eleva- 
tion in this country will be thwarted, and they will be brought to 
the conclusion that the great object which actuated their labors would 
now be removed, and they might now rest from their labors and 
have the painful feeling of transmitting to future generations, that an 
oppressed people, in the land of their birth, supported by the genuine 
philanthropists of the age, amidsts friends, companions, and their nat- 
ural attachments, a genial clime, a fruitful soil, — amidst the rays of as 
proud institutions as ever graced tlie most favored spot that has ever 
received the glorious rays of a meridian sun, — have abandoned their 
homes on account of their persecutions, for a home almost similarly 
precarious, for an abiding-place among strangers ! 



AN TI- SLA VERY KF FORTS OF FREE NEGROES. 73 

"Your Committee further lielieve that any express ])lan to colonize 
our people beyond the limits of these United States, tends to weaken 
the situation of those who are left behind, without any peculiar ad- 
vantage to those who emigrate. But it must be admitted, that the 
rigid oppression abroad in the land is such, that a part of our suffer- 
ing brethren cannot live under it, and that the compulsory laws and 
the inducements held out by the American Colonization Society are 
such as will cause them to alienate all their natural attachments to 
their homes, and accept of the only mode left oi)en, which is to re- 
move to a distant country to receive those rights and privileges of 
which they have been deprived. And as this Convention is associated 
for the purpose of recommending to our people the best mode of al- 
leviating their present miseries, 

" Therefore, your Committee would, most respectfully, recommend 
to the general Convention, now assembled, to e.vercise the most vigor- 
ous means to collect monies through their auxiliaries, or otherwise, to 
be applied in such manner, as will advance the interests, and contribute 
to the wants of the free colored population of this country generally. 

" Your Committee woukl now most respectfully ajjproach the second 
inquiry, viz. : — Does Upper Canada ])ossess superior advantages and 
conveniences to tliose held out in the United States or elsewhere .' 

" \'our Committee, without summing up the advantages and disad- 
vantages of other situations, would, most respectfully answer in the 
affirmative. At least they are willing to assert that the advantage is 
much in favor of those who are obliged to leave their present homes. 
For your more particular information on that subject we would, most 
respectfully, refer you to the interesting account given by our real and 
indefatigable friend, Benjamin Lundy, in a late number of the " Genius 
of Universal Emancii)ation." K/V/f " (ienius of Universal l^mancijja- 
tion," No. 10, vol. 12. 

■' From the history there laid down, your Committee would, most 
resjiectfully, request the Convention to aid, so far as in their power lies, 
those who are obliged to seek an asylum in the province of Upper 
Canada; and, in order that they may more effectually carry their views 
into operation, they would respectfully recpiest them to apjjoint an .-\gent 
in Upper Canada, to receive such funds as may be there transmitted 
for their use. 

'"Your Committee have now arrived at the third and last inquiry, 
viz. : — Is there any certainty that we, as a people, will be compelled to 
leave this our native land, for a home in a distant region ? To this in- 
quiry your Committee are unable to answer ; it belongs to the fruitful 
events of time to determine. The mistaken policy of some of tiie 
friends of our improvement, that the same could be effected on the 
shore of Africa, has raised the tide of our calamity until it has over- 



74 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

flowed tlie valleys of peace and tranquillity — the dark clouds of prejudice 
have rained persecution — the oppressor and the oppressed have suffered 
together — and we have yet been protected by that Almighty arm, who 
holds in his hands the destinies of nations, and whose presence is a 
royal safeguard, should we place the utmost reliance on his wisdom and 
power. 

" Your Committee, while they rejoice at the noble object for which 
the Convention was first associated, have been unable to come to any 
conclusive evidence that lands can be purchased by this Convention 
and legally transferred to individuals, residents of said colony, so long 
as the present laws exist. But, while they deem it inexpedient for the 
Convention to purchase lands in Upper Canada for ttie purpose of 
erecting a colony thereon, do again, most respectfully, hope that they 
will exercise the same laudable exertions to collect funds for the com- 
fort and ha]5piness of our people there situated, and those who may 
hereafter emigrate, and pursue the same judicious measures in the ap- 
propriation of said funds, as they would in procuring a tract of land, as 
expressed by the resolution. 

" Your Committee, after examining the various circumstances con- 
nected with our situation as a people, have come, unanimously, to the 
conclusion to recommend to this Convention to adopt the following 
resfjlution, as the best mode of alleviating the miseries of our ojipressed 
brethren : 

" Resolved. That this Convention recommend the establishment of a 
Society, or Agent, in Upper Canada, for the purpose of purchasing 
lands and contributing to the wants of our people generally, who may 
be, by oppressive legislative enactments, obliged to flee from these 
United States and take up residence within her borders. And that 
this Convention will employ its auxiliary societies, and such other 
means as may lie in its ])ower, for the purpose of raising monies, and 
remit the same for the pur[)ose of aiding the proposed object. 



[Signed] " Robert Cowlev, Benj. Pasch.\i., 

" John Peck, Thos. D. Coxsin, 

" Wm. Hamilton, J. C. Morel, 
" Wm. Whipper, 



Committee." 



This convention's work was carefully done, its plans were 
laid upon a broader scale, and the Colored people, beholding its 
proceedings, took heart, and went forward with zeal and courage 
seeking to increase their intelligence and wealth, and improve 
their social condition. In their address the convention did not 
fail to give the Colonization Society a parting shot. 



ANTI-SLAVERY EFFORTS OF FREE NEGROES. 75 
"conventional address. 

" To the Eree Colored Inhabilants of these United Slates : 

" Fellow-Citizens : We have again been permitted to associate in 
our representative character, from the different sections of this Union, 
to pour into one common stream, tlie afflictions, the prayers, and sym- 
pathies of our oppressed people ; the axis of time has brought around 
this glorious, annual event. And we are again brougiit to rejoice that 
the wisdom of Divine Providence has protected us during a year whose 
autumnal harvest has been a reign of terror and persecution, and whose 
winter has almost frozen the streams of humanity by its frigid legis- 
lation. It is under the influence of times and feelings like these,' that we 
now address you. Of a people situated as we are, little can be said, 
except that it becomes our duty strictly to watch those causes that 
operate against our interests and ])rivilegcs ; and to guard against what- 
ever measures that will either lower us in the scale of Ijeing, or ])er- 
]ietuate our degradation in tiie eyes of the civilized world. 

" The effects of Slavery on the bond and Colonization on the free. 
Of the first we shall say but little, but will here repeat the language of 
a high-minded Virginian in the Legislature of that State, on the recent 
discussion of the slave question before that honorable body, who de- 
clared, that man could not hold property in man, and that the master 
held no right to the slave, either by a law of nature or a patentee from 
Crod, but by tlie will of society ; which we declare to be an unjust 
usur[Kuion of the rights and privileges of men. 

" But how beautiful must the prospect be to the philanthropist, to 
view us. the children of persecution, grown to manhood, associating in 
our delegated character to devise i)lans and means for our moral eleva- 
tion, and attracting the attention of the wise and good over the whole 
country, who arc anxiously watching our deliberations. 

" We have here to inform you, that we have patiently listened to the 
able and eloquent arguments produced by the Rev. R. R. (Jiirley, Sec- 
retary of the American Colonization Society, in behalf of tlie doings of 
said Society, and Wni. Lloyd Garrison, Esq., in opposition to its action. 

" .\ more favorable opportunity to arrive at truth seldom has been 
witnessed, but while we admire the distinguished piety and Christian feel- 
ings witli which he so solemnly portrayed the docrines of that institution, 
we do now assert, that the result of the same has tended more dee|)ly to 
rivet our solid conviction, that the doctrines of said Society are at enmity 
with the principles and precepts of religion, humanity, and justice, and 
should be regarded by every man of color in these United States as an 
evil, for magnitude, unexcelled, and whose doctrines aim at the entire 
extinction of the free colored population and the riveting of slavery. 



76 HISTOR V OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" We might here repeat our protest against that institution, but it is 
unnecessary ; your views and sentiments have long since gone to the 
world ; the wings of the wind have borne your disapprobation to that 
institution. Time itself cannot erase it. You have dated your oppo- 
sition from its beginning, and your views are strengthened by time and 
circumstances, and they hold the uppermost seat in your affections. 
We have not been unmindful of the compulsory laws which caused our 
brethren in Ohio to seek new homes in a distant land, there to share 
and suffer all the inconveniences of exiles in an uncultivated region ; 
which iias led us to admire the benevolent feeling.s of a rival govern- 
ment in its liberal protection to strangers ; whicli has induced us to 
recomm<ind to you, to exercise your best endeavors, to collect monies 
to secure the purchase of lands in the Canadas, for those who may by 
oppressive legislative enactments be obliged to move thither. 

" In contributing to our brethren that aid which will secure them a 
refuge in a storm, we would not wish to be understood as possessing 
any inclination to remove, nor in the least to impoverish, that noble 
sentiment which we rejoice in e.xclaiming — 

" This is our own, 
Our native land. 

".iVll that we have done, humanity dictated it ; neither inclinsviMii nor 
alienated feelings to our country prescribed it, but that power which 
is above all other considerations, viz. : the law of necessity. 

" We yet anticipate in the moral strength of tiiis nation, a final re- 
demption from those evils that have been illegitimately entailed on us as 
a people. We yet e.xpect, by due exertions on our part, together with 
the aid of the benevolent philanthropists of our country, to acquire a 
moral and intellectual strength that will unshaft the caluumious darts 
of our adversaries, and ])resent to the world a general character that 
they will feel bound to respect and admire. 

" It will be seen by a reference to our proceedings, that we have 
again recommended the further prosecution of the cont^^mplated col- 
lege, proposed by the last Convention, to be established ai New Haven, 
under tlie rules and regulations then established. A place for its 
location will be selected in a cHniate and neighborhood where the 
inhabitants are less prejudiced to our rights and privileges. The 
proceedings of the citizens of New Haven, with regard to the erec- 
tion of the college, were a disgrace to them, and cast a stigma on 
the reputed fame of New England and tlie country. We are unwill- 
ing that the character of the whole country should sink by the pro- 
ceedings of a few. We are determined to present to another portion 
of the country not far distant, and at no very remote period, the 



ANTI-SLAVERY EFFORTS OF FREE NEGROES. jj 

ojiportunity of gaining for them the character of a truly philanthropic 
S])irit, and of retrieving tlic character of the country, by the disreputable 
jiroceedings of New Haven. We must have colleges and high-schools 
on the manual-labor system, where our youth may be instructed in all 
the arts of civilized life. If we ever e.xpect to see the influence of 
prejudice decrease, and ourselves respected, it must be by the bless- 
ings of an enlightened education. It must be by being in posses- 
sion of that classical knowledge which promotes genius, and causes man 
to soar up to those high intellectual enjoyments and acquirements, 
which place him in a situation to shed upon a country and a people 
that scientific grandeur which is imperisliable by lime, and drowns in 
oblivion's cup their moral degradation. Those who think that our pri- 
mary schools are ca[)able of effecting this, are a century behind the age 
when to have proved a question in the rule of three was considered 
a higher attainment than solving the most difficult problem in Euclid is 
now. They might have at that time performed what some people ex- 
pect of them now, in the then barren state of science ; but they are now 
no longer cajjable of reflecting brilliancy on our national character, 
which will elevate us from our present situation. If we wish to be re- 
spected, we must build our moral character on a base as broad and 
high as the nation itself ; our country and our character re<piire it ; we 
have performed all the duties from the menial to the soldier, — our 
fathers shed their blood in the great struggle for independence. In t,he 
late war between Great Britain and the United Slates, a proclama- 
tion was issued to the free colored inhabitants of Louisiana, Septem- 
ber 21, 1S14, inviting them to take up arms in defence of their coun- 
try, by Gen. Andrew Jackson. And in order that you may have an 
idea of the manner in which they acejuitted themselves on that peril- 
ous occasion, we will refer you to the proclamation of Thomas But- 
ler, .\id-de-Camp. 

" Vou there see that your country expects much from you, and that 
you have much to call you into action, morally, religiously, and scien- 
tifically. Pre|)are yourselves to occui)y the several stations to which 
the wisdom of your country may promote you. We have been told in 
this ("onvention, by the Secretary of the American Colonization Society, 
that there are causes which forbid our advancement in this country, 
which no humanity, no legislation, and no religion can control. Believe 
it not. Is not humanity susceptible of all the tender feelings of benev- 
olence ? Is not legislation supreme-^and is not religion virtuous ? Our 
oppressed situation arises from their opposite causes. There is an 
awakening spirit in our people to promote their elevation, which speaks 
volumes in their behalf. We antici[)ated at the close of the last Con- 
vention, a larger representation and an increased number of delegates ; 
we were not deceived, the number has been tenfold. And we have a 



78 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

right to expect (hat future Conventions will be increased by a geometri- 
cal ratio, until we shall present a body not inferior in numbers to our 
State Legislatures, and \.\\<i phenomenon of an oppressed people, deprived of 
the rigiits of citizenship, in the midst of an elightencd nation, devising 
plans and measures for their personal and mental elevation, by moral 
suasion alone. 

" In recommending you a path to pursue for our present good and 
future elevation, we have taken into consideration the circumstances of 
the free colored population, so far as it was possible to ascertain their 
views and sentiments, hoping that at a future Convention, you will all 
come ably represented, and that your wishes and views may receive that 
deliberation and attention for which this body is particularly associated. 

" Finally, before taking our leave, we would admonish you, by all 
that you hold dear, beware of that bewitching evil, that bane of society, 
that curse of the world, that fell destroyer of the best prospects and the 
last hope of civilized man, — Intemperance. 

" Be righteous, be honest, be just, be economical, be prudent, offend 
not the laws of your country, — in a word, live in that purity of life, by 
both precept and example, — live in the constant pursuit of that moral and 
intellectual strength which will invigorate your understandings and ren- 
der you illustrious in the eyes of civilized nations, when they will assert 
that all that illustrious worth which was once possessed by the Egyp- 
tians, and slept for ages, has now arisen in their descendents, the inhabi- 
tants of the New World." 

Excellent as was the work of these conventions of men of 
color, they nevertheless became the magazines from which the 
pro-slaver)- element secured dangerous ammunition with which to 
attack the anti-slavery movement. The white anti-slavery socie- 
ties were charged with harboring a spirit of race prejudice ; with 
inconsistency, in that while seeking freedom for the Negro by 
means of agitation, separate efforts were put forth by the white 
and black anti-slavery people of the North. And this had itsdue 
effect. iVtassachusetts and other States had abolition societies 
composed entirely of persons of Color. " Tlic Massacltiisctts Gen- 
eral Colored Association " organized in the early days of the agi- 
tation movement. It had among its leading men the most in- 
telligent and public-spirited Colored citizens of Boston. James G. 
Barbadoes, Coffin Pitts, John E. Scarlett, the Eastons, Hosea 
and Joshua ; Wm. C. Nell, Thomas Cole, Thomas Dalton, Fred- 
erick Brimley, Walker Lewis, and John T. Hilton were a few of 
" tlie faithful." In January, 1833, the following communication 
was sent to the white anti-slavery society of New England. 



A.\'Tf-SLAVERy EFFORTS OF FREE NEGRO J:S. 79 

" Boston, January 15, 1833. 
" Tu iJii Board of Managers of the Neiv- England Aiili-Slavery Society ; 

" 'l"hc Massachusetts General Colored Association, cordially apitrov- 
ing the objects and ijrinci|)les of the New-J'^nghind Anti-Slavery Socie- 
ty, would respectfully communicate their desire to become auxiliary 
thereto. They have accordingly chosen one of their members to attend 
the annual meeting of the Society as their delegate (Mr. Joshua Eas- 
TON, of North Bridgevvater), and solicit his acceptance in that capacity. 

" Thomas Dalton, President, 
"William C. Nell, Vice-President. 
"James G. Barbadoes, 5(r/-f/<7n'." 

The request was granted, but a few liints among friends on 
the outside sufTiced to demonstrate the folly and hurtfulness of 
anti-slavcry societies composed exclusively of men of color. 
Within the next two years Colored organizations perislied, and 
their members took their place in the white societies. Such Col- 
ored men as John B. Vashon and Robert Purvis, of Pennsyl- 
vania ; David Ruggles and Philip A. Hell, of New York ; and 
Charles Lenox Remond and Wm. Wells Brown, of Massachusetts, 
were soon seen as orators and presiding officers in the different 
anti-slavery societies of the free States. PVederick Douglass, the 
Rev. S.miuel Ringgold Ward, James McCunc Smith, M.D. : 
James W. C. Pennington, D.D. ; 1 lenry Highland (iarnett, D.D. : 
Alexander Crummell, D.D.; and other Colored men were eloquent, 
earnest, and effecti\'e in their denunciation of the institution 
that enslaved their brethren. In lingland and in Europe a 
corps of intelligent Colored orators was kept busy painting, to 
interested audiences, the cruelties and iniquities of American 
slavery. By association and sympathy these Colored orators 
took on the polish of Anglo-Saxon scholarship. Of the influence 
of the American Anti-slavery Society upon the Colored man, 
Maria Weston Chapman once said, it is " church and university, 
high school and common school, to all who need real instruction 
and true religion. Of it what a throng of authors, editors, law- 
yers, orators, and accomplislied gentlemen of color have taken 
their degree ! It has equally implanted hopes and aspirations, 
noble thoughts, and sublime purposes, in the hearts of both 
races. It has prepared the white man for the freedom of the 
black man, and it has made the black man scorn the thought of 
enslavement, as does a white man, as far as its influence has ex- 



io fl/STORy OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tended. Strcugtln-n tliat noble influence! Before its organiza- 
tion, the country only saw here and there in slavery some ' faith- 
ful Cudjoe or Dinah,' whose strong natures blossomed even in 
bondage, like a fine plant beneath a heavy stone. Now, under 
the elevating and cherishing influence of the American Anti- 
slavery Society, the colored race, like the white, furnishes Corin- 
thian capitals for the noblest temples. Aroused by the American 
Anti-slavery Society, the very white men who had forgotten and 
denied the claim of the black man to the rights of humanity, 
now thunder that claim at every gate, from cottage to capitol, 
from school-house to university, from the railroad carriage to the 
house of God. lie has a place at their firesides, a place in their 
hearts — the man whoin they once cruelly hated for his color. So 
feeling, they cannot send him to Coventry with a horn-book in 
his hand, and call it instruction ! They inspire him to climb to 
their side by a visible, acted gospel of freedom. Thus, instead 
of bowing to prejudice, they conquer it." 

In January, 1836, Rev. Mr. Follen offered the following reso- 
lution in a meeting of the New England Anti-slavery Society: 

"Resolved, Tiiat we consider the Anti-slavery cause the cause of 
philanthropy, with regard to which all human beings, white men and 
colored men, citizens and foreigners, men and women, have the same 
duties and the same rights." 

In support of his resolution, he said : 

" We have been advised, if we really wished to benefit the slave and 
the colored race generally, not unnecessarily to shock the feelings, 
though they were but prejudices, of the white people, by admitting col- 
ored persons to our Anti-slavery meetings and societies. We have been 
told that many who would otlierwise act in unison with us were kept 
away liy our disregard of the feeHngs of the community in this respect. 
But what, I would ask, is the great, the single object of all our 
meetings and societies ? Have we any other object than to iinpress 
upon the community this one principle, that the colored man is a man? 
And, on the other hand, is not the prejudice wliich would have us ex- 
clude colored people from our meetings and societies the same which, 
in our Soutliern States, dooms tliem to jierpetual bondage ? " 

I In May, 1837, the Anti-slavery Women of America met in 
convention in New York. In a circular issued by the authority 
of the convention, and signed by Mary S. Parker, President, 



ANTI-SLAVF.RY EFFORTS OF FRFF. NEGROES. 8i 

Angelina E. Grimkie, Secretary, another attack was made upon 
proscription in anti-slavery societies. There was a Colored lady 
named Sarah Douglass on the Central Committee. The follow- 
ing paragraphs from the circular are specimens sufficient to show 
the character of the circular; and the poetry at the end, written 
by a Colored member. Miss Sarah Forten, justified the hopes of 
her white sisters concerning the race : 

"Those Societies that reject colored mcmliers, or seek to avoid 
them, have never been active or efificient. The blessing of God does 
not rest upon them, because they 'keep back a part of the price of the 
land," — they do not lay all at the apostle's feet. 

" The abandonment of prejudice is rc(juired of us as a ])roof of our 
sincerity and consistency. How can we ask our Southern brethren to 
make sacrifices, if we are not even willing to encounter inconveniences? 
First cast the beam from thine own eye, then wilt thou see clearly to 
cast it from his eye. 

" We are ihy sisters. Gotl has truly said 
That of one blood the nations He has made. 
O Christian woman ! in a Christian land, 
Canst thou unblushing read this great command ? 
Suffer the wrongs which wring our inmost heart, 
To draw one throb of pity on thy part ? 
Our Skins may differ, but from thee we claim 
A sister's privilege and a sister's name." 

Every barrier was now broken down inside of anti-slavery 
organizations; and having conquered the prejudice that crippled 
their work, they enjoyed greater freedom in the prosecution of 
their labors. 

The Colored orators wrought a wonderful change in public 
sentiment. In the inland white communities throughout the 
Northern States Negroes were few, and the majority of them 
were servants ; some of them indolent and vicious. From these 
few the moral and intellectual photograph of the entire race was 
taken. So it was meet that Negro orators of refinement should go 
from town to town. The North needed arousing and educating on 
the anti-slavery question, and no class did more practical work in 
this direction than the little company of orators, with the peer- 
less Douglass at its head, that pleaded the cause of their brethren 
in the flesh before the cultivated audiences of New England, the 
Middle and Western States, — yea, even in the capital cities of 
conservative Europe. 



82 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER YII. 

NEGRO INSUKRECTIONS. 

The Negro not so Docile a': supposed. — The Reason why he was kept in Bondage. — 
Negroes possessed Courage but lacked Leaders. — Insurrection of Slaves. — Gen. 
Gabriel as a Leader. — Negro Insurrection planned in South Carolina. — Evils of 
Slavery revealed. — The "Nat. Turner'' Insurrection in South Hampton County, 
Virginia. — The Whites arm themselves to repel the Insurrectionists. — Capture and 
Trial of "Nat. Turner." — His Execution. — Effect of the Insurrection upon Slaves 
and Slave-holders. 

THE supposed docility of the American Negro was counted 
among the reasons why it was thought he could never gain 
his freedom on this continent. But this was a misinter- 
pretation of his real character. Besides, it was next to impossi- 
ble to learn the history of the Negro during the years of his 
enslavement at the South. The question was often asked : Why 
don't the Negroes rise at the South and exterminate their en- 
slavers ? Negatively, not because they lacked the courage, but 
because they lacked leaders [as has been stated already, they 
sought the North and their freedom through the Underground 
R. R.] to organize them. But notwithstanding this great disad- 
vantage the Negroes did rise on several different occasions, 
and did effective work. 

" Tliree times, at intervals of thirty years, has a wave of unutterable 
terror swept across the Old Dominion, bringing thoughts of agony to every 
Virginian master, and of vague hope to every Virginian slave. Each time 
has one man's name become a spell of dismay and a symbol of deliver- 
ance. Each time has that name eclipsed its predecessor, while recalling 
it for a moment to fresher memory ; John Brown revived the story 
of Nat. Turner, as in his day Nat. Turner recalled the vaster schemes 
of Gabriel." ' 

Mention has been made of the insurrection of slaves in .South 
Carolina in the last century. Upon the very threshold of the 

' .Atlantic Monthly, vol. .v. p. 337. 



NEGRO INSURRECTIONS. 83 

nineteenth century, "General Gabriel " made the master-class of 
Virginia quail with mortal dread. He was a man of more than 
ordinary intelligence ; and his plans were worthy of greater suc- 
cess. The following newspaper paragraph reveals the condition 
of the minds of Virginians respecting the Negroes : 

" For the week past, we have been under momentary expectation 
of a rising among the negroes, who have assembled to the number of 
nine hundred or a tiiousand, and threatened to massacre all the whites. 
They are armed with desperate weapons, and secrete themselves in the 
woods. God only knows our fate ; we have strong guards everv night 
under arms." 

The above was communicated to the " United States Gazette," 
printed in Philadelphia, under date of September 8, 1800, by a 
Virginia correspondent. The people felt that they were sleeping 
over a magazine. The movement of Gabriel was to ha\'e taken 
place on Saturday, September istj The rendezvous of the Negro 
troops was a brook, about six miles from Richmond. The force 
was to comprise eleven hundred men, divided into three divi- 
sions. Richmond — then a town of eight thousand inhabitants 
— was the point of attack, which was to be effected under cover 
of night. The right wing was to fall suddenly upon the peniten- 
tiary, Lately improvised into an arsenal ; the left wing was to 
seize the powder-house; and, thus equipped and supplied with the 
munitions of war, the two columns were to assign the hard fight- 
ing to the third column. This column was to have possession 
of all the guns, swords, knives, and other weapons of modern 
warfare. It was to strike a sharp blow by entering the town 
from both ends, while the other two columns, armed with shov- 
els, picks, clubs, etc., were to act as a reserve. The \\hite troops 
were scarce, and the situation, plans, etc., of the Negroes were 
admirable. 

the penitentiary held several thousand stand of arms ; 
che powder-house was well-stocked ; the capitol contained tlie State 
treasury ; the mills would give them bread ; the control of tlie bridge 
across James River would keep off enemies from beyond. Thus se- 
cured and provided, they planned to issue proclamations summoning to 
their standard ' their fellow-negroes and the friends of humanity 
throughout the continent.' In a week, it was estimated, they would 
have fifty thousand men on their side, with which force they could easily 



84 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

possess tbemseU'es of other towns ; and, indeed, a slave named John 
Scott — possibly the dangerous possessor of ten dollars — was already 
appointed to head the attack on Petersburg. But in case of final fail- 
ure, the project included a retreat to the mpuntains, with their new- 
found projierty. John Brown was therefore anticipated by Gabriel 
sixty years before, in believing the Virginia mountains to have been 
' created, from the foundation of the world, as a place of refuge for 
fugitive slaves.' " ' 

The plot failed, but everybody, and the newspapers also, said 
the plan was well conceived. 

In 1822 another Negro insurrection was planned in Charles- 
ton, S. C. The leader of this affair was Denmark Vesey." This 
plot for an insurrection extended for forty-five or fifty miles 
around Charleston, and intrusted its secrets to thousands. Den- 
mark Vesey, assisted by several other intelligent and trusty 
Negroes, liad conceived the idea of slaughtering the whites in and 
about Charleston, and thus securing liberty for the blacks. A 
recruiting committee was forrned, and every slave enlisted was 
sworn to secrecy. Household servants were rarely trusted. 
Talkative and intemperate slaves were not enlisted. Women 
were excluded from the aff.iir that they might take care of the 
children. Peter Poyas, it was said, had enlisted six hundred 
without assistance. There were various opinions respecting the 
number enlisted. Some put it at hundreds, others thousands; 
one witness at the trial said there were nine thousand, another 
six thousand. But no white person ever succeeded in gaining 
the confidence of the black conspirators. Never was a plot so 
carefully guarded for so long a time. 

'■ During the excitement and the trial of the supposed conspirators, 
rumor proclaimed all, and doubtless more than all, the horrors of the 
plot. The city was to be fired in every quarter, the arsenal in the im- 
mediate vicinity was to be broken open, and the arms distributed to 
the insurgents, and an universal massacre of the white inhabitants to 
take place. Nor did there seem to be any doubt in the mind of the 
people that such would actually have been the result, had not the plot 
fortunately been detected before the time appointed for the outbreak. 
It was believed, as a matter of course, that every black in the city would 
join in the insurrection, and that, if the original design had been at- 

' Atl.intic Monthly, vol. x. p. 339. 

' Atlantic Monthly, vol. vii. pp. 72S, 744. 



XF.GRO rXSCRRECr/ONS. 85 

tempted, and the city taken by surprise, the negroes would have 
achieved a complete and easy victory. Nor does it seem at all impos- 
sible that such might have been or yet may be the case, if any well- 
arranged and resolute rising should take place."' 

This bold plot failed because a Negro named William Pau. 1 
began to make enlistments without authority. He revealed the 
secret to a household servant, just the very man he should have 
left to the skilful manipulations of Peter Poyas or Denmark 
Vcsey. As an evidence of the perfection of the plot it should 
be stated that after a month of official investigation only fifteen 
out of the thousands had been apprehended ! 

" The leaders of this attempt at insurrection died as bravely 
as they had lived ; and it is one of the marvels of the remarkable 
affair, that none of this class divulged any of their secrets to the 
court. The men who did tlie talking were those who knew but 
little." 

The effect was to reveal the evils of slavery, to stir men to 
thought, and to hasten the day of freedom. 

" Nat." Turner combined the lamb and lion. He was a 
Christian and a man. He was conscious that he was a man and 
not a " thing " : therefore, driven by religious fanaticism, he 
undertook a difficult and bloody task. Nathaniel Turner was 
born in Southampton County, Virginia, October 2, 1800. His 
master was one Benjamin Turner, a very wealthy and aristocratic 
man. He owned many slaves, and was a cruel and exacting 
master. Young " Nat." was born of slave parents, and carried 
to his grave many of the superstitions and traits of his father 
and mother. The former was a preacher; the hitter a "mother 
in Israel." Both were unlettered, but, nevertheless, very pious 
people. The mother began when Nat. was cjuite young to teach 
him that he w'as born, like Moses, to be the deliverer of his race. 
She would sing to him snatches of wild, rapturous songs, and re- 
peat portions of prophecy she had learned from the preachers of 
those times. Nat. listened with reverence and awe, and believed 
every thing his mother said. He imbibed the deep religious 
character of his parents, and soon manifested a desire to preach. 
He was solemnly set apart to " the Gospel Ministry " by his 
father, the Church, and visiting preachers. He was quite low in 
stature, dark, and had the genuine African features. His eyes 

" Atlantic Monthly, vol. vii. p. 737. 



86 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE EV AMERICA. 

were small, but sharp, and gleamed like fire when he was talking 
about his " mission," or preaching from some prophetic passage 
of Scripture. It is said that he never laughed. He was a dreamy 
sort of a man, and avoided the crowd. Like Moses, he lived in 
the solitudes of the mountains and brooded over the condition 
of his people. There was something grand to him in the rugged 
scenery that nature had surrounded him with. He believed that 
he was a prophet, a leader raised up by God to burst the bolts 
of the prison-house and set the oppressed free. The thunder, 
the hail, the storm-cloud, the air, the earth, the stars, at which 
he would sit and gaze half the night, all spake the language of 
the God of the oppressed. He was seldom seen in a large com- 
pany, and never drank a drop of ardent spirits. Like John the 
Baptist, when he had delivered his message, he would retire to 
the fastness of the mountain, or seek the desert, where he could 
meditate upon his great work. 

At length he declared that God spake to him. He began to 
dream dreams and to see visions. His grandmother, a very old 
and superstitious person, encouraged him in his dreaming. But, 
notwithstanding, he believed that he had communion with God, 
and saw the most remarkable visions, he denounced in the 
severest terms the familiar practices among slaves, known as " con- 
juring," " gufering," and fortune-telling. The people regarded 
him with mixed feelings of fear and reverence. He preached 
with great power and authority. He loved the prophecies, and 
drew his illustrations from nature. He presented God as the 
" All-Pozn'crfiil" ; he regarded him as a great " IVarrior." His 
master soon discovered that Nat. was the acknowledged leader 
among the slaves, and that his fame as "prophet" and "leader" 
was spreading throughout the State. The poor slaves on distant 
plantations regarded the name of Nat. Turner as very little 
removed from that of God. Though having never seen him, 
yet they believed in him as the man under whose lead they 
would some time march out of the land of bondage. His in- 
fluence was equally great among the preachers, while many 
white people honored and feared him. His master thought it 
necessary to the safety of his property, to hire Nat. out to a 
most violent and cruel man. Perhaps he thought to have him 
"broke." If so, he was mistaken. Nat. Turner was the last 
slave to submit to an insult given by a white man. His new 
master could do nothing with him. He ran off, and spent thirty 



NEGRO INSL'KRI'.CTIONS. 87 

days in the swamps— but returned. He was upbraided by some 
of iiis fellow-slaves for not seeking, as he certainly could have 
done, "the land of the free." He answered by saying, that a 
voice said to him : " Return to your earthly master ; for he who 
knoweth his Master's will and doeth it not, shall be beaten with 
many stripes." It was no direction to submit to an earthly 
master, but to return to him in order to carry out the will of his 
Heavenly Master. He related some of the visions he saw during 
his absence. "About that time I had a vision, and saw white 
.-ipirits and black spirits engaged in battle ; and the sun was 
darkened, the thunder rolled in the heavens, and blood flowed in 
streams ; and I heard a voice saying : ' Such is your luck, such are 
you called on to see; and let it come, rough or smooth, you 
must surely bear it.' " It was not long after this when he saw 
another vision. He says a spirit appeared unto him and spake 
as follows: "The serpent is loosened, and Christ has laid down 
the yoke he has borne for the sins of men ; and you must take 
it up and fight against the serpent, for the time is fast approach- 
ing when the first shall be last, and the last shall be first." These 
visions and many others enthused Nat., and led him to believe 
that the time was near when the Blacks would be "first" and 
the whites " last." 

The plot for a general uprising was laid in the month of 
h'ebruary, 1831. He had seen the last vision. He says: " I was 
told I should arise and prepare myself, and slay my enemies with 
their own weapons." He was now prepared to arrange the de- 
tails of his plot. He appointed a meeting, to which he invited 
four trusted friends, Sam. Edwards, Hark Travis, Henry Porter, 
and Nelson Williams. A wild and desolate glen was chosen as 
the place of meeting, and night the time when they could per- 
fect their plans without being molested by the whites. They 
brought with them provisions, and ate while they debated among 
themselves the methods by which to carry out their plan of blood 
and death. The main difiSculty that confronted them was how 
to set arms. Nat. remembered that a spirit had instructed him 
to " slay my enemies with their own weapons," so they decided 
to follow these instructions. After they had decided upon a 
plan, " the prophet Nat." arose, and, like a great general, made a 
speech to his small but brave force. " Friends and brothers," 
said he, " we are to commence a great work to-night ! Our race 
is to be delivered from slavery, and God has appointed us as the 



88 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

men to do his bidding; and let us be worthy of our calling. I 
am told to slay all the whites we encounter, without regard to 
age or sex. We have no arms or ammunition, but we will find 
these in the houses of our oppressors; and, as we go on, others 
can join us. Remember, we do not go forth for the sake of 
blood and carnage ; but it is necessary that, in the commence- 
ment of this revolution, all the whites we meet should die, until 
we have an army strong enough to carry on the war upon a Chris- 
tian basis. Remember that ours'is not a war for robbery, nor to 
satisfy our passions; it is a struggle for freedom. Ours must be 
deeds, not words. Then let 's away to the scene of action !" 

The blow was struck on the night of the 2 1st of August, 
1831, in Southampton County, near Jerusalem Court-House. The 
latter place is about seventy miles from Richmond. Not only 
Southampton County but old Virginia reeled under the blow ad- 
ministered by the heavy hand of Nat. Turner. On their way to 
the first house they were to attack, that of a planter by the name 
of Joseph Travis, they were joined by a slave belonging to a 
neighboring plantation. We can find only one name for him, 
" Will." He was the slave of a cruel master, who had sold his 
wife to the " nigger traders." He was nearly six feet in height, 
well developed, and the most powerful and athletic man in the 
county. He was marked with an ugly scar, extending from his 
right eye to the extremity of the chin. He hated his master, 
hated slavery, and was glad of an opportunity to wreak his ven- 
geance upon the whites. He armed himself with a sharp broad- 
axe, under whose cruel blade many a white man fell. Nat.'s 
speech gives us a very clear idea of the scope and spirit of his 
plan. We quote from his confession at the time of the trial, and 
will let him tell the story of this terrible insurrection. 

"On returning to the house, Hark went to the door with an axe, for 
the purpose of breaking it open, as we knew we were strong enough to 
murder the family should they be awakened by the noise ; but, reflect- 
ing that it might create an alarm in the neighborhood, we determined to 
enter the house secretly, and murder them whilst sleeping. Hark got a 
ladder and set it against the chimney, on which I ascended, and, hoist- 
ing a window, entered and came down stairs, unbarred the doors, and 
removed the guns from their places. It was then observed that I must 
spill the first blood, on which, armed with a hatchet and accompanied 
by Will., I entered my master's chamber. It being dark, I could not 
give a death-blow. The hatchet glanced from his head ; he sprang 



NEGRO r.\'S(rj^RP.CTrONS. 89 

from his bed and called his wife. It was his last word. Will, laid him 
dead with a blow of his axe." 

After they had taken the lives of this family, they went from 
plantation to plantation, dealing death-blows to every white 
man, woman, or child they found. They visited vengeance upon 
every white household they came to. The excitement spread 
rapidly, and the whites arose and armed themselves in order to 
repel these insurrectionists. 

" The first news concerning the affair was in tlie shape of a letter 
from Col. Trezvant, which reached Richmond Tuesday morning, too 
late for the columns of the (Richmond) " Enejuirer," which was a tri- 
weekly. The letter was written on the 21st of August, and lacked 
definiteness, wliich gave rise to doubts in reference to the 'insurrection.' 
It was first sent to I'etersburgh, and was then immediately dispatched to 
the Mayor of Richmond. 

" Arms and auununition were dispatched in wagons to the county of 
Southampton. The four volunteer companies of Petersburgh, the 
dragoons and Lafayette artillery company of Richmond, one volunteer 
company from Norfolk and one from Portsmouth, and tfie regiments of 
Southampton and Sussex, were at once ordered out. The cavalry and 
infantry took up their line of march on Tuesday evening, while the ar- 
tillery embarked on the steamer ' Norfolk,' and landed at Smithfield. 
. . . A member of the Richmond dragoons, writing from Peters- 
burgh, under date of the 23d, after careful examination, thought that 
'about two hundred and fifty negroes from a cain]3-meeting about the 
Dismal Swamp had nmrdered about sixty i)ersons, ncme of them families 
much known.' " ' 

Will., the revengeful slave, proved himself the* most destruc- 
tive and cruel of Nat.'s followers. A hand to hand battle came. 
The whites were well armed, and by the force of their superior 
numbers overcame the army of the " Prophet,"- — five men. Will, 
would not surrender. He laid three white men dead at his feet, 
when he fell mortally wounded. His last words were : " ]5ury 
my axe with me," believing that in the ne.xt world he would need 
it for a similar purpose. Nat. fought with great valor and skill 
with a short sword, and finding it useless to continue the struggle, 
escaped with some of his followers to the swamps, where he de- 
fied the vigilance of the military and the patient watching of the 



' Richmond Enquirer, .\ugust 26, 1831. 



90 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

citizens for more than two months. He was finally compelled to 
surrender. When the Court asked : " Guilty or not guilty? " he 
pleaded : " Not guilty." He was sustained during his trial by his 
unfaltering faith in God. Like-Joan of Arc, he "heard the 
spirits," the "voices," and believed that God had "sent him to 
free His people." 

In the impression of the " Enquirer " of the 30th of August, 
1831, the first editorial, or leader, is under the caption of The 
B.\NUITTE. The editor says : 

" They remind one of a parcel of blood-thirsty wolves rushing down 
from the Alps ; or, ratlier like a former incursion of the Indians upon the 
white settlements. Nothing is spared : neither age nor se.x respected — 
the helplessness of women and children pleads in vain for mercy . . . 
The case of Nat. Turner warns us. No black-man ought to be per- 
mitted to turn a Preacher through the country. The law must be en- 
forced — or the tragedy of Soutliampton appeals to us in vain."' 

A remarkable prophecy was made by Nat. The trial was 
hurried, and, like a handle on a pitcher, was on one side only. 
He was sentenced to die on the gallows. He received the an- 
nouncement with stoic indifference, and was executed at Jeru- 
salem, the county scat of Southampton, in April, 1831. He 
died like a man, bravely, calmly ; looking into eternity, made 
radiant by a faith that had never faltered. He prophesied that 
on the day of his execution the sun would be darkened, and 
other evidences of divine disapprobation would be seen. The 
sheriff was much impressed by Nat.'s predictions, and conse- 
quently refused to have any thing to do with the hanging. No 
Colored man could be secured to cut the rope that held the trap. 
An old white man, degraded by drink and other vices, was 
engaged to act as executioner, and ■ was brought forty miles. 
Whether it was a fulfilment of Nat.'s prophecy or not, the sun 
was hidden behind angry clouds, the thunder rolled, the light- 
ning flashed, and the most terrific storm visited that county ever 
known. All this, in connection with Nat.'s predictions, made a 
wonderful impression upon the minds of the Colored people, and 
not a few white persons were frightened, and regretted the death 
of .the " Prophet." 

The results of this uprising, led by a lone man — he was alone, 

■Richmond Enquirer, August 26 and 30, 1S31. 



NEGRO IXSURRECTtONS. 91 

and yet he was not alone, — are apparent when we consider that 
fifty-seven wliites and seventy-three l?lacks were killed and many 
were wounded. 

The first reliable list of the victims of the " tragedy " was 
written on the 24th of August, 1831. 

" List of tlie dead tliat have been buried : — At Mrs. W'iiitelieads', 7 ; 
Mrs. Waller's. 13 ; Mr. Williams', 3 ; Mr. Barrows', 2 ; Mr. \'aughn's, 5 ; 
Mrs. Turner's, 3 ; Mr. 'I'ravis's, 5 ; Mr. J. WilHams^', 5 ; Mr. Rcicc's, 4 ; 
Names unknown, 10 ; Total, 57." 

Then there was a feeling of unrest among the slaves and a 
fear among the whites tliroughoufthe State. Even the proceed- 
ings of the trial of Nat. were suppressed for fear of evil conse- 
quences among the slaves. But now all are free, and the ex- 
planters will not gnash their teeth at this revelation. Nat. 
Turner's insurrection, like all other insurrections led by op- 
pressed people, lacked detail and method. History records but 
one successful uprising — San Doiningo has the honor. Even 
France failed in 1789, and in 1848. There is always a zeal for 
freedom, but not according to knowledge. No stone marks the 
resting-place of this martyr to freedom, this great religious 
fanatic, this l^l.ick John I^rown. And yet he has a prouder and 
more durable monument than was ever erected of stone or brass. 
The image of Nat. Turner is carved on the flesh}' tablets of four 
millinn he<uts. His histor\^ has been kept from the Colored peo- 
ple at tile South, but the women have handed the tradition to 
their ciiildren, and the " Prophet Nat." is still marching on. 

Of the character of this remarkable man, Mr. Gray, the gentle- 
man to whom he made his confession, had the following to say : — 

" It has been said that he was ignorant and cowardly, and tliat his 
object was to murder and rob, for the purpose of obtaining money to 
make his escape. It is notorious that he was never known to have a 
dollar in his life, to swear an oath, or drink a drop of sjiirits. .'Vs to 
his ignorance, he certainly never had the advantages of education ; 
but he can read and write, and for natiual intelligence and (luickness 
of apprehension, is surpassed by few men I have ever seen. As to his 
being a coward, his reason, as given, for not resisting Mr. I'hipps, 
shows the decision of his character. When he saw .Mr. I'hipps present 
his gun, he said he knew it was impossible for iiim to escape, as the 
woods were full of men ; he therefore thought it was better for him 
to surrender, and trust to fortune for his escape. 



92 niSTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" He is a complete fanatic, or plays his part most admirably. On 
other subjects he possesses an uncommon share of intelligence, with a 
mind capable of attaining any thing, but warped and perverted by the 
influence of early impressions. He is below the ordinary stature, 
though strong and active, having the true negro face, every feature 
of which is strongly marked. I shall not attempt to describe the effect 
of his narrative, as told and commented on by himself, in the con- 
demned hole of the prison ; the calm, deliberate composure with which 
he spoke of his late deeds and intentions ; the e.xpression of his 
fiend-Jike face, when excited by enthusiasm ; still bearing the stains 
of the blood of helpless innocence about him, clothed with rags and 
covered with chains, yet daring to raise his manacled hands to Heaven, 
with a spirit soaring above the attributes of man. I looked on him, 
and the blood curdled in my veins." 

In the "Richmond Enquirer," of September 2, 1831, appeared 
the following: " It is reported that a map was found, and said 
to have been drawn by Nat. Turner, with polk-bcrry juice, which 
was a description of the county of Southampton." 

The influence of this bloody insurrection spread beyond the 
Old Dominion, and for years afterward, in nearly every Southern 
State the whites lived in a state of dread. To every dealer in 
flesh and blood the " Nat. Turner Insurrection " was a stroke of 
poetic justice. 



THE '■ AM/STAjy CAPTll'ES. 93 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE " AMISTAD " CAPTIVES. 

The Spanish Slaver ''Amistau" sails from Havana, Cuba, fok Porto Principe. — Fiftt- 
FOUR Native Africans on Board. — Joseph Cinquez, the Son of an African Pklncf. — 
The "Amistad" captured and taken into New London, Conn. — Trial and Release 
of the Slaves. —Touk through the Umtf.d Staies. — Return to their Native Country 
in Company with Missionaries. —The Anti-slaverv Caise henefitfd iiv iheir Stay in 
the United States. — Their Appreciation of Christian Civilization'. 

ON the 28th of June, 1839, the " Amistad," a Spanish slaver 
(schooner), witli Captain Ramon Ferrer in command, sailed 
from Havana, Cuba, for Porto Principe, a place in the island of 
Cuba, about 100 leagues distant. The passengers were Don Pedro 
Monies and Jose Ruiz, with fifty- four Africans just from their native 
countr}-, Lemboko, as slaves. Among the slaves was one man, 
called in Spanish, Joseph Cinquez,' said to be the son of an ^Afri- 
can prince. He was possessed of wonderful natural abilities, and 
was endowed with all the elements of an intelligent and intrepid 
leader. The treatment these captives received was very cruel. 
They were chained down between the decks — space not more 
than four feet — by their wrists and ankles; forced to eat rice, 
sick or well, and whipped upon the slightest provocation. On 
the fifth nigiit out, Cinquez chose a few trust)- companions of his 
misfortunes, and made a successful attack upon the officers and 
crew. The captain and cook struck down, two sailors put ashore, 
tlie Negroes were in full possession of the vessel. Montes was 
compelled, under pain of death, to navigate the vessel to Africa. 
He steered eastwardly during the daytime, but at night put 
about hoping to touch the American shore. Thus the vessel 
wandered until it was cited off of the coast of the United States 
during the month of August. It was described as a " long, low, 
black schooner." Notice was sent to all the collectors of the 
ports along the Atlantic Coast, and a steamer and several revenue 

' Sometimes written Cinque. 



94 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

cutters were dispatched after her. Finally, on the 26th of Alk 
gust, 1839, Lieut. Gedney, U. S. Navy, captured the " Amistad,' 
and took her into New London, Connecticut. 

The two Spaniards and a Creole cabin boy were examined 
before Judge Andrew T. Judson, of the United States Court, 
who, without examining the Negroes, bound them over to be 
tried as pirates. The poor Africans were cast into the prison at 
New London. Public curiosity was at a high pitch ; and for a 
long time the '' Amistad captives" occupied a large place in pub- 
lic attention. The Africans proved to be natives of the Mendi 
country, and quite intelligent. The romantic story of their suf- 
ferings and meanderings was given to the country through a 
competent interpreter; and many Christian hearts turned toward 
them in their lonely captivit}- in a strange land. The trial was 
continued several months. During this time the anti-slavery 
friends provided instruction for the Africans. Their minds were 
active and receptive. They soon learned to read, write, and do 
sums in arithmetic. They cultivated a garden of some fifteen 
acres, and proved themselves an intelligent and industrious 
people. 

The final decision of the court was that the " Amistad cap- 
tives " were not slaves, but freemen, and, as such, were entitled to 
their liberty. The good and liberal Lewis Tappan had taken a 
lively interest in these people from the first, and now that they 
were released from prison, felt that they should be sent back to 
their native shores and a mission started amongst their country- 
men. Accordingly he took charge of them and appeared before 
the public in a number of cities of New England. An admission 
fee of fifty cents was required at the door, and the proceeds were 
devoted to leasing a vessel to take them home. Large audiences 
greeted them everywhere, and tiie impression they made was of 
the highest order. Mr. Tappan would state the desire of the 
people to return to their native land, appeal to the philanthropic 
to aid them, and then call upon the people to read the Script- 
ures, sing songs in their own language, and then in the English. 
Cinquez would then deliver an account of their capture, the 
horrors of the. voyage, how he succeeded in getting his mana- 
cles off, how he aided his brethren to loose their fetters, how he 
invited them to follow him in an attempt to gain their liberty, the 
attack, and their rescue, etc., etc. He was a man of magnificent 
physique, commanding presence, graceful manners, and effective 



THE " Aiir/sT.uy CA r rr i 'es. 9 5 

oratory. His speeches were delivered in Alendi, and translated 
into English by an interpreter. 

" It is impossible," wrote Mr. Tappan from Boston, "to describe the 
novel and deeply interesting manner in which he acquitted himself. 
The subject of his speecli was similar to that of his countrymen who 
had spoken in English ; but he related more minutely and graphically the 
occurrences on board the "Amistad." The easy manner of Cinquez, 
his natural, graceful, and energetic action, the rapidity of his utterance, 
and the remarkable and various e.xpressions of his countenance, ex- 
cited admiration and applause. He was i)ronounced a ]jowerful natural 
orator, and one born to sway the minds of his fellow-uien. Should he 
be converted and become a preacher of the cross in Africa what de- 
lightful results may be anticipated ! " 

A little fellow called Kali, only eleven years of age, pleased 
the audience everywhere he went by his ability not only to spell 
any word in the Gospels, but sentences, without blundering. For 
exainple, he would spell out a sentence like the following sen- 
tence, naming each letter and syllable, and recapitulating as he 
went along, until he pronounced the whole sentence : " Blessed are 
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 

Of their doings in Philadelphia, Mr. Joseph Sturge wrote: 

" On this occasion, a very crowded and miscellaneous assembly col- 
lected to see and hear the Mendians, although the admission had been 
fixed as high as half a dollar, with the view of raising a fund to carry 
them to their native country. Fifteen of them were jiresent, including 
one little boy and three girls. Cinque, their chief, sjxjke with great 
fluency in his native language ; and his action and manner w^ere very 
animated and graceful. Not much of his speech was translated, yet he 
greatly interested his audience. The little boy could speak our lan- 
guage with facility ; and each of them read, without hesitation, one or 
two verses in the New Testament, It was impossible for any one to go 
away with the impression, that in native intellect these people were in- 
ferior to the whites. The information which I j)rivately received from 
their tutor, and others who had fidl opportunities of appreciating their 
capacities and attainments, fully confirmed my own very favorable im- 
pressions." 

But all the while their sad hearts were turning toward their 
home and the dear ones so far away. One of them eloquently 
declared: " If Merica men offer me as much gold as fdl this cap 



96 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

full vip, and give me houses, land, and every ting, so dat 1 stay 
in this country, I say: 'No! no! I want to see my father, my 
mother, my brother, my sister.'" Nothing could have been more 
tender and expressive. They were willing to endure any hard- 
ships short of life that they might once more see their own, their 
native land. The religious instruction they had enjoyed made a 
wonderful impression on their minds. One of them said : " We 
owe every thing to God ; he keeps us alive, and makes us free. 
When we go to home to Mendi we tell our brethren about God, 
Jesus Christ, and heaven." Another one was asked : " What 
is faith ?" and replied : " Believing in Jesus Christ, and trusting 
in him." Reverting to the murder of the captain and cook of 
the " Amistad," one of the Africans said that if it were to be 
done over again he would pray for rather than kill them. Cinquez, 
hearing this, smiled and shook his head. When asked if he 
would not pray for them, said : '' Yes, I would pray for *em, an' 
kill 'em too." 

These captives were returned to their native country in the 
fall of 1841, accompanied by five missionaries. Their objective 
point was Sierra Leone, from whicli place the British Govern- 
ment assisted them to their homes. Their stay in the United 
States did the anti-slavery cause great good. Here were poor, 
naked, savage pagans, unable to speak English, in less than three 
years able to speak the English language and appreciate the 
blessings of a Christian civilization. 



I.10RTHERK SYMPATHY. 97 



THE PERIOD OF PRE PARA TION. 



CHAPTER IX. 

NORTHERN SVMPATHV AND SOUTHERN SUBTERFUGES. 
1850-1S60. 

Violent Treatment of Anti-slavery Orators. — The South misinterprets the Mohocratic 
Spirit uf the North. — The " Garrisonians*' and *'C.ai.hounites." — Slave PopuLATfiN 
OF 1830-1850. — The Thirty-first Congress. — Motion for the Admission op New Mexico 
AND California. — The Democratic and Whig Partifs on the Treatment of the Slave 
OcESTioN. — Convention of the Democr.vtic Party at Baltimorf., Maryland. — Nomi- 
nation of Franklin Pierce for President. — Whic, Party ('onvention. — Nominati"N 
of Gen. VVinfield Scoit for the Presidency by the \Vhi(;s. — Mr. Pierce elected 
President in 1853. — A Bill i.\troduced to repeal the " Missouri Compro.mise." — 
Speech by Stephen .\. Douglass. — Mr. Chase's Reply. — .\n Act to organi;^e the 
Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. — State Militia in the South make Preparations 
FOR War. — President Buchanan in Sympathy wrni the South. 

THE arguments of anti-slavery orators were answered 
everywhere throughout the free States by rotten eggs, 
clubs, and missiles. The public journals, as a rule, were 
unfriendly and intolerant. Even Boston could contemplate, 
with unruffled composure, a mob of her most " reputable citizens " 
dragging Mr. Garrison through the streets with a halter about 
his neck. Public meetings were broken up by pro-slavery mobs; 
owners of public halls required a moneyed guarantee against the 
destruction of their property, when such halls were used for 
anti-slavery meetings. Colored schools were broken up, the 
teachers driven away, and the pupils maltreated. 

The mobocratic demonstrations in the Northern States were 
the thermometer of public feeling upon the subject of slavery. 
The .South was, therefore, emboldened ; for the political leaders 
in that section thought the\- saw a liglit from the distance lliat 



gS HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

encouraged them to entertain the belief and indulge the hope 
that their present sectional institution could be made national. 
Southerners thought slavery would grow in the cold climate of 
the North, excited into a lively existence by the warmth of a 
generous sympathy. But the South misinterpreted the real 
motive that inspired opposition to anti-slavery agitation in the 
North. The violent opposition came from the mercantile class 
and foreign element who believed that the agitation of the slav- 
ery question was a practical disturbance of their business affairs. 
The next class, more moderate in opposition to agitation, be- 
lieved slavery constitutional, and, therefore, argued that anti- 
slavery orators were traitors to the government. The third 
class, conservative, did not take sides, because of the unpopular- 
ity of agitation on the one hand, and because of an harassing 
conscience on the other. 

There were two classes of men who were seeking the dissolu- 
tion of the Union. The Garrisonians sought this end in the 
hope of forming another Union rvitliout slavery. 

In an address delivered by Wm. Lloyd Garrison, July 20, 
i860, at the Framingham celebration, he declares: 

" Our object is the abolition of slavery throughout the land ; and 
whether in the proseciitipn of our object this party goes up or the other 
party goes down, it is nothing to us. We cannot alter our course one 
hair's breadth, nor accept a compromise of our principles for the hearty 
adoption of our principles. I am for meddling 7vith slavery every7vhere 
— attacking it by night and by day, in season and out of season (no, 
it can never be out of season) — in order to effect its overthrow. (Loud 
applause.) Higher yet will be my cry. Upward and onward ! No 
union with slave-holders ! Down with this slave-holding government ! 
Let this 'covenant with death and agreement with hell' be annulled ! 
Let there be a free, independent, Northern republic, and the speedy abo- 
lition of slavery will inevitably follow ! (Loud applause.) So I am 
laboring to dissolve this blood-stained Union as a work of paramount 
importance. Our mission is to regenerate public opinion." 

The Calhounites sought the dissolution of the Union in order 
that another Union might be formed zuith slaver\- as its chief 
corner-stone. Inspired by this hope and misguided by the appa- 
rent sympathy of the North, Southern statesmen began prcpara- 
lions to dissolve the Union of the United States. 

During these years of agitation and discussion, although the 



NOR TIIERN S } 'AT P. I Til ) ' 



99 



forcii^n slave-trade had been suppressed, the slave population in- 
creased at a wonderful ratio. 



CENSUS OF 1830. — SLAV!', I'OPL-LATION. 


District of Columbia 


6,119 


Delaware ...... 


3-292 


Florida 


15-5°' 


(Georgia 


217,531 


Illinois ...... 


747 


Kenuicky ...... 


165,213 


Louisi;ina 


109,588 


Maryland ...... 


102,994 


Alabama ...... 


. 117,549 


Mississi|.)pi 


65,659 


Missouri 


• 25,091 


New Jersey 


2,254 


North Carolina .... 


. 245,601 


South Carolina ..... 


315,401 


Tennessee 


• 14', 603 


Virginia 


469,757 


Arkansas ...... 


4.576 



Aggregate 



2,008,476 



Now, this was the year the agitation movement began. In- 
stead of the slave population decreasing during the first decade 
of anti-slavery discussion and work, it really increased 478,412!' 

CENSUS OF 1840. SLAVE POPULATION. 

Alabama 253,532 

Arkansas ....... 19, 935 

District of Columbia 4,694 

Delaware ....... 2,605 

Florida 25,717 

Georgia 280,944 

Illinois 331 

Kentucky ....... 182,258 

Louisiana ....... 168,452 

Maryland 89,737 

Mississippi ....... 195,211 

Missouri . . . . . . ' . 58,240 

New Jersey ....... 674 

New York ....... 4 



There were nearly 500 slaves held in Northern Slates not placed in this census. 



!00 HISTOR V OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

CENSUS OK 1S40. — SLAVE POPULATION. — {Continued.) 
Pennsylvania ....... 64 

North Carolina 245,817 

South Carolina ...... 327,038 

Tennessee 183,059 

Virginia ........ 449,087 



Aggregate . . 2,487,399 

During the next decade the slave population swept forward 
to an increase of 716,858. The entire population of slaves was 
3,204,313; 2,957,657 were unmixed Africans, and 246,656 were 
Mulattoes. The free Colored population amounted to 434,495, 
of whom 275,400 were unmixed, and 159,095 mixed or Mulatto. 
The total number of families owning slaves in 1850 was 347,525. 



CENSUS OF 185 


0. SLAVE POPULATION 




Alabama 


. 


342,844 


Arkansas 




47,100 


District of Columbia 


. . . . 


3,687 


Delaware 




2,290 


Florida 


. 


39.310 


Georgia 




381,682 


Kentucky 




210,981 


Louisiana 




244,809 


Maryland 


■ . . . 


90,368 


Mississippi 




309,878 


Missouri . 


. . • . 


87,422 


New Jersey . 




236 


North Carolina 


. • . . . 


288,548 


South Carolina 




384,984 


Tennessee 


a . . . . 


239,459 


Te.\as . 




58,161 


Vir<;inia 


. . . . . 


472,528 


Utah Territory 


Total 


26 




3.204.313 



The Thirty-first Congress was three weeks attempting an or- 
ganization, and at last effected it by the election of a Southerner 
to the Speakership, the Hon. Howell Cobb, of Georgia. Presi- 
dent Zachary Taylor had called the attention of Congress to the 
admission of California and New Mexico into the Union, in his 
message to that body upon its assembling. On the 4th of Janu- 
ary, 1850, Gen. -Sam. Houston, United States Senator from 
Texas, submitted the following proposition to the Senate : 



NORTHERN SYMPATHY. lOi 

"Whereas, The Congress of the United States, possessing only a 
delegated authority, has no power over the subject of negro slavery 
witiiin the limits of the United States, either to prohibit or to interfere 
with it in the States, territories, or districts, where, by municipal law, 
it now exists, or to establish it in any State or territory where it does 
not exist ; but as an assurance and guarantee to promote harmony, 
quiet apprehension, and remove sectional prejudice, which by jxjssi- 
bility might impair or weaken love and devotion to the Union in any 
part of the country, it is hereby 

" Resolved, That, as the people in territories have the same in- 
herent rights of self-government as the people in the States, if, in the 
exercise of such inherent rights, the people in the newly acquired ter- 
ritories, by the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of ('alifornia 
and New Mexico, south of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
minutes of north latitude, extending to the Pacific Ocean, shall estab- 
lish negro slavery in the formation of their State governments, it shall 
be deemed no objection to their admission as a State or States into the 
Union, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States." 

On the 29th of January, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, submitted 
to the United States Senate the following propositions looking 
toward an annicable adjustment of the entire slavery question : 

" I. Resolved, That California, with suitable lioundaries, ought, 
upon her application, to be admitted as one of the States of this Union, 
without the imposition by Congress of any restriction in respect to the 
exclusion or introduction of slavery within those lioundaries. 

" 2. Resolved, That as slavery does not exist by law, and is not 
likely to be introduced into any of the territory acquired by the United 
States from the republic of Mexico, it is inexpedient for Congress to 
provide by law either for its introduction into, or exclusion from, any 
part of the said territory ; and that approjiriate territorial governments 
ought to be established by Congress in all the said territory not as- 
signed as within the boundaries of the [iroposed State of California, 
without the adoption of any restriction or condition on the subject of 
slavery. 

" 3. Resolved, That the western boundary of the State of Texas 
ought to be fixed on the Rio del Norte, commencing one marine league 
from its mouth, and running up that river to the southern line of New 
Mexico, thence with that line eastwardly, and so continuing in the 
same direction to the line as established between the United States and 
Spain, excluding any portion of New Mexico, whether lying on the east 
or west of that river. 



102 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

" 4. Resolved, That it be proposed to the State of Texas, that tlie 
United States will provide for the payment of all that portion of the 
legitimate and bona- fide public debt of that State contracted prior to 
its annexation to the United States, and for which the duties on foreign 
imports were pledged by the said State to its creditors, not exceeding 

the sum of dollars, in consideration of the said duties so pledged 

having been no longer applicable to that object after the said annex- 
ation, but having thenceforward become payable to the United States ; 
and upon the condition, also, that the said State of Texas shall, by 
some solemn and authentic act of her Legislature, or of a convention, 
relinquish to the United States any claim which she has to any part of 
New Mexico. 

"5. j^cWf'iv/, That it is inexpedient to abolish slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia whilst that institution continues to exist in the State of 
Maryland, without the consent of that State, without the consent of the 
people of the District, and without just compensation to the owners of 
slaves within the District. 

"6. But Resolved, Thai it is expedient to prohibit within the Dis- 
trict, the slave-trade in slaves brought into it from States or places 
beyond the limits of the District, either to be sold therein as mer- 
chandise, or to be transported to other markets without the District of 
Columbia. 

" 7. Resolved, That more effectual provision ought to be made by 
law, according to the requirement of the Constitution, for the restitu- 
tion and delivery of persons bound to service or labor in any State, 
who may escape into any other State or territory in the Union. And 

'' 8. Resolved, That Congress has no power to prohibit or obstruct 
the trade in slaves between the slave-holding States, but that the admis- 
sion or exclusion of slaves brought from one into another of them, de- 
pends exclusively upon their own particular laws." 

Senator Bell, of Tennessee, offered a series of resolutions on 
the same question on the 28th of February, containing nine re- 
solves. As usual, on all propositions respecting slavery, the 
debate was protracted, earnest, and able. The Clay resolutions 
attracted most attention. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, said: 

" Sir, we are called upon to receive this as a measure of compro- 
mise ! As a measure in which we of the minority are to receive nothing. 
A measure of compromise ! I look upon it as but a modest mode of 
taking that, the claim to which has been more boldly asserted by others ; 
and, that I may be understood upon this question, and that my position 
may go forth to the country in the same columns that convey the senti- 



NOR TlIl'.KN S YMPA 77/ Y. 1 03 

merits of the Senator from Kentucky, I here assert, that never will I 
take less than the Missouri compromise line extended to the Pacific 
Ocean, with the specific recognition of the right to hold slaves in the 
territory below that line ; and that, before such territories are admitted 
into the Union as States, slaves may be taken there from any of the 
United States at the option of the owners. I can never consent to give 
additional power to a majority to commit further aggressions upon the 
minority in this Union, and will never consent to any proposition which 
will have such a tendency, without a full guaranty or counteracting 
measure is connected with it." 

A number of vef}' able speeches were made on the resolu- 
tions of Mr. Clay, but the most characteristic one — the one most 
thoroughly representing the sentiment of the South — was made 
by John C. Calhoun. He said : 

" The Union was in danger. The cause of this danger was the dis- 
content at the South. And what was the cause of this discontent ? It 
was found in the belief which prevailed among them that they could 
not, consistently with honor and safety, remain in the Union. .\nd 
what had caused this belief ? One of the causes was the long-continued 
agitation of the slave cjuestion at the North, and the many aggressions 
they had made on the rights of the South. lUit the ijrimary cause was 
in tlie fact, that the equilibrium between the two sections at the time 
of the adoption of the Constitution had been destroyed. The first of 
the series of acts by which this had been done, was the ordinance of 
1787, by which the South had been excluded from all the northwestern 
region. The next was the Missouri compromise, excluding them from 
all the Louisiana territory north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, 
except the State of Missouri, — in all 1,238,025 s(piare miles, leaving to 
the South the southern portion of the original Louisiana territory, with 
Florida, to which had since been added the territory acquired with 
Texas, — making in all but 609,023 miles. And now the North was en- 
deavoring to appropriate to herself the territory recently acquired 
from Mexico, adding 526,078 miles to the territory from whicii the South 
was, if possible, to be excluded. Another cause of the destruction of 
this equilibrium was our system of revenue (the tariff), the duties fall- 
ing mainly upon the Southern portion of the Union, as being the 
greatest exporting States, while more than a due proportion of the reve- 
nue had lieen disbursed at the North. 

'■ But while these measures were destroying tlie equilibrium between 
the two sections, the action of the government was leading to a radical 
change in its character. It was maintained that the government it- 



I04 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

self liad the riglit to decide, in the last resort, as to the extent of its 
powers, and to resort to force to maintain the power it claimed. The 
doctrines of General Jackson's proclamation, subsequently asserted and 
maintained by Mr. Madison, the leading framer and exjiounder of the 
Constitution, were the doctrines which, if carried out, would change 
the character of the government from a federal republic, as it came 
from the hands of its framers, into a great national consolidated de- 
mocracy." 

Mr. Calhoun also spoke of the anti-slavery agitation, which, if not 
arrested, would destroy the Union ; and he passed a censure upon 
Congress for receiving abolition petitions. Had Congress in the 
beginning adopted the course which he had advocated, which was to 
refuse to take jurisdiction, liy the united voice of all parties, the agita- 
tion would have been prevented. He charged the North with false 
professions of devotion to the Union, and with having violated the 
Constitution. Acts had been passed in Northern States to set aside 
and annul the clause of the slavery question, with the avowed purpose of 
abolishing slavery in the States, which was another violation of the Consti- 
tution. And during the fifteen years of this agitation, in not a single 
instance had the people of the North denounced these agitators. How 
then could their professions of devotion to the Union be sincere ? 

Mr. Calhoun disapproved both the plan of Mr. Clay and that of 
President Taylor, as incapable of saving the Union. He would pass 
by the former without remark, as Mr. Clay had been replied to by 
several Senators. The Executive plan could not save the Union, be- 
cause it could not satisfy the South that it could safely or honorably 
remain in the Union. It was a modification of the Wilmot proviso, 
proposing to effect the same object, the exclusion of the South from 
the new territory. The Executive proviso was more objectionable than 
the Wilmot. Both inflicted a dangerous wound upon the Constitution, 
by depriving the Southern States of equal rights as joint partners in 
these territories ; but the former inflicted others equally great. It 
claimed for the inhabitants the right to legislate for the territories, 
which belonged to Congress. The assumption of this right was utterly 
unfounded, unconstitutional, and without example. Under this as- 
sumed right, the jseople of California had formed a constitution and a 
State government, and appointed Senators and Representatives. If 
the people as adventurers had conquered the territory and established 
their independence, the sovereignty of the country would have been 
vested in them. In that case they would have had the right to form a 
State government, and afterward they might have applied to Congress 
for admission into the Union. But the United States had conquered 
and acquired California : therefore, to them belonged the sovereignty 



NOR TIIERN S ) -MP A THY. 105 

and the powers of government over the territory. Michigan was the 
first case of departure from the uniform rule of acting. Ilcrs, liowever, 
was a slight departure from established usage. The ordinance of 17S7 
secured to her the right of becoming a State when she should liave 
60,000 inhabitants. Congress delayed taking the census. The people 
be(-ame impatient ; and after her ])opulation had increased to twice 
that number, tliey formed a constitution without waiting for the taking 
of the census ; and Congress waived the omission, as there was no 
doubt of the retiuisite number of inhabitants. In other cases there had 
existed territorial governments. 

Having shown how the Union could not be saved, he then pro- 
ceeded to answer the question how it could be saved. There was 
but one way certain. Justice must be done to the South, by a full and 
final settlement of all the (juestions at issue. The North must con- 
cede to the South an equal rigiit to the acquired territory, and ful- 
fil the stipulations respecting fugitive slaves ; must cease to agitate 
the slave ipiestion, and join in an amendment of the Constitution, re- 
storing to the South the power she ]30ssessed of jirotecting lierself, 
before the equilibrium between the two sections had been destroyed 
by the action of the government. 

Merc was a clear statement of the position and feelings of the 
South respectiiiij slavery. The ordinance of 1787 and the Mis- 
souri compromise of 1S20 "were destroying the equilibrium be- 
tween the rwo srf/ioiis f " And the anli-shivery agitation, '" if 
not arrested, would destroy the Union !" The sophistry of Cal- 
lioun sought a reasonable excuse for tlie South to dissolve the 
Union. In a speech of his, written during a spell of sickness, and 
read by I\Ir. Mason, of Virginia, he referred to Washington as 
" the illustrious Southerner." When it was read in the Senate 
Mr. Cass said : 

" Our Washington — the Washington of our whole country — receives 
in this Senate the epithet of ' Southerner,' as if that great man, 
whose distinguished characteristic was liis attachment to his country, 
and his whole country, who was so well known, and who, more than 
any one, deprecated all sectional feeling and all sectional action, 
loved Georgia better than he loved New Hampshire, because he hap- 
pened to be born on the southern bank of the Potomac. I repeat, 
sir, that I heard with great [lain that expression from the distin- 
guished Senator from South Carolina." 

There was certainly no grounil for reasonable complaint on 
the i)art of the South. From the convention that framed thi; 



io6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Federal Constitution, through all Congressional struggle, and in 
national politics as well, the South had secured nearly all meas- 
ures asked for. And the discussion in Congress at this time was 
intended to divert attention from the real object of the South. 
Another fugitive-slave law was demanded by the South, and 
the Northern members voted them the right to hunt slaves 
upon free soil. The law passed, and was approved on the i8th 
of September, 1850. 

It was difificult to choose between the Democratic and Whig 
parties by reading the planks in their platforms referring to the 
subject of slavery. On the 1st of June, 1852, the Democratic 
Convention, at Baltimore, Maryland, nominated Franklin Pierce, 
of New Hampshire, for the Presidency, on the forty-ninth bal- 
lot. This plank defined the position of that party on the question 
of slavery. 

" Tiiat Congress has no power under the Constitution to inter- 
fere with or control the domestic institutions of the several States, 
and that such States are the sole and proper judges of every thing 
appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the Constitution ; 
that all efforts of the abolitionists, or others, made to induce Con- 
gress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps 
in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dan- 
gerous consequences ; and that all such efforts have an inevitable ten- 
dency to diminish tlie happiness of the people, and endanger the stabil- 
ity and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced 
by any friend of our political institutions. 

" That the foregoing proposition covers, and was intended to embrace, 
the whole subject of slavery agitation in Congress ; and thert-fore the 
Democratic party of the Union, standing on tliis national platform, will 
abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts known as the 
ccmpromise measures settled by the last Congress — the act for reclaim- 
ing fugitives from service or labor included ; which act being designed to 
carry out an express provision of the Constitution, can not with fidelity 
thereto be repealed, nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency. 

" That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at renewing, in 
Congress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question, under what- 
ever shape or color the attempt may be made." 

The Whig party, at the saine city, in convention assembled, 
on the i6th of June, 1852, nominated Gen. Winfield Scott, for 
the Presidency, on the fifty-third ballot. The Whig party de- 
clared its position on the slavery question as follows: 



NORTHERN SYMPATHY. 107 

" That the series of acts of the Thirty-first Congress — the act known 
as the fugitive-slave law inchided — are received and acquiesced in by 
the Whig party of the United States, as a settlement in principle and 
substance of the dangerous and exciting question which they embrace ; 
and so far as they are concerned, we will maintain them and insist on 
their strict enforcement, until time and experience shall demonstrate 
the necessity of further legislation, to guard against the evasion of the 
laws on tiie one hand, and the abuse of their powers on the other, not 
impairing their present efficiency ; and we deprecate all agitation of the 
cjuestion thus settled, as dangerous to our peace ; and will discounte- 
nance all efforts to continue or renew such agitation whenever, wher- 
ever, or however the attempt may be made ; and we will maintain this 
system as essential to the nationality of the Whig party of the Union." 

The political contest ended in tlie autuinn in favor of Mr. 
Pierce. The public journal.s in many parts of the country thought 
the end of the " slavery question " had come, and that as the 
Whigs were determined to " discountenance all efforts to con- 
tinue or renew " the agitation of the subject, tliere was no fear 
of sectional strife. 

In his inaugural address, March 4, 1853, ^'resident Pierce said: 

" I believe that involuntary servitude is recognized by the Constitu- 
tion. I believe that the States where it exists are entitled to efficient 
remedies to enforce the constitutional provisions. I hold that the 
compromise measures of 1850 are strictly constitutional, and to be un- 
hesitatingly carried into effect. And ncnv, I fervently hope that the 
question is at rest," etc. 

In the montli of December, upon the assernbling of Congress, 
the President, in liis message to that body, again referred to 
slavery as "a subject which had been set at rest by the deliber- 
ate judgment of the people." But on the 15th of December, 
nine days after the message of the President had been received 
by Congress, Mr. Dodge, of Iowa, submitted to the Senate a bill 
to organize the territory of Nebraska, which was referred to the 
Committee on Territories. After some discussion in the commit- 
tee, it was finally reported back to the Senate by Mr. Douglass, of 
Illinois, with amendments. The report was elaborate, and raised 
considerable doubt as to whether the amendments did not repeal 
the Missouri compromise. A special report was made on the 
4th of January, 1854, so amending the bill as to remove all doubt; 
and, contemplating the opening of all the vast territory secured 



loS HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

forever to freedom, startled the nation from the " repose " it had 
apparently taken from agitation on the slavery question, and 
opened an interminable controversy. 

On the 1 6th of January, Mr. Dixon, of Kentucky, gave notice 
that he would introduce a bill clearly repealing the Missouri 
compromise. The first champion of the repeal of the compro- 
mise of 1S20 was a Northern Senator, Stephen A. Douglass, of 
Illinois. He hung a massive argument — excelling rather in quan- 
tity than in quality — upon the following propositions: 

" From ihese provisions, it is apparent that the compromise measures 
of 1850 affirm, and rest upon, the following propositions : 

" Eiist. — That all (juesiions pertaining to slavery in the territories, 
and the new States to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the de- 
cision of the people residing therein, by their appropriate representa- 
tives, to be chosen by them for that purpose. 

" ScYiy/ii/. — That 'all cases involving title to slaves,' and ' questions 
of personal freedom,' are to be referred to tiie adjudication of the local 
tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United 
States. 

" Third. — That the provision of the Constitution of the United 
States in respect to fugitives from service, is to be carried into faithful 
execution in all ' the original territories,' the same as in the States. 

" The substitute for the bill which your committee have prepared, 
and which is commended to the favorable action of tiie Senate, pro- 
poses to carry these propositions and principles into practical opera- 
tion, in the precise language of the compromise measures of 1850." 

Mr. Douglass said : 

" The legal effect of this hill, if passed, was neither to legislate 
slavery into nor out of these territories, but to leave the people to do 
as they pleased. And why should any man. North or South, object to 
this principle ? It was by the operation of this principle, and not by 
any dictation from the Federal government, that slavery had l^een abol- 
ished in half of the twelve States in which it e.xisted at the time of the 
adoption of the Constitution." 

On the 3d of February, Mr. Chase, of Ohio, moved to amend 
by striking out the words, "was superseded by the principles of 
the legislation of 1S50, commonly called the compromise meas- 
ures, and," so that the clause would read : " That the Constitu- 
tion, and all laws of the United States which are not locally in- 



NOKTHERN SYiMPATHY. 109 

applicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said 
territory of Nebraska as elsewhere within the United States, ex- 
cept the eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission 
of Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 1820, which is 
hereby declared inoperative." 

Mr. Chase then proceeded to reply to Mi. Douglass. He 
called attention to tliat part of the I'resident's message which 
referred to the "repose" of the subject of slavery, and then said: 

" The agreement of the two old political parties, thus referred to by 
the Chief Magistrate of the country, was complete, and a large majority 
of the American people seemed to acquiesce in the legislation of which 
he spoke. A few of us, indeed, doubted the accuracy of these state- 
ments, and the permanency of this repose. We never believed that the 
acts of 1850 would prove to be a permanent adjustment of the slavery 
([uestion. But, sir, we only represented a small, though vigorous and 
growing party in the cotmtry. Our number was small in Congress. By 
some we were regarded as visionaries, by some as factionists; while almost 
all agreed in pronouncing us mistaken. And so, sir, the country was at 
])eace. As the eye swept the entire circumference of the horizon and 
upward to mid-heaven, not a cloud appeared ; to common observation 
there was no mist or stain upon tiie clearness of the sky. But suddenly 
all is changed ; rattling thunder breaks from the cloudless firmament. 
The storm bursts forth in fury. And now we find ourselves in the 
midst of an agitation, the end and issue of which no man can foresee. 

"Now, sir, who is responsible for this renewal of strife and contro- 
versy ? Not we, for we have introduced no question of territorial 
slavery into Congress ; not we, who are denounced as agitators and 
factionists. No, sir ; the quietists and the finalists have become agita- 
tors ; they who told us that all agitation was quieted, and that the 
resolutions of the political conventions [)ut a final period to the 
discussion of slavery. This will not escajie the observation of the 
country. It is slavery that renews the strife. It is slavery that again 
wants room. It is slavery with its insatiate demand for more slave terri- 
tory and more slave States. .Xnd what does slavery ask for now ? 
Why, sir, it demands that a time-honored and sacred com[)act shall be 
rescinded — a comi)act which has endured through a whole generation 
— a compact which has been universally regarded as inviolable. North 
and South — a compact, the constitutionality of which few have doubted, 
and by which all have consented to abide." 

But notwithstanding the able and eloquent speech of Mr. 
Chase, his amendment only received thirteen votes. The debate 



no HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

went on until the 3d of March, when the bill was placed upon 
its passage, and even then the discussion went on. When the 
vote was finally taken, the bill passed by a vote of 2)7 yeas to 14 
nays. The bill went to the House, where it was made a substi- 
tute to a bill already introduced, and passed by a vote of 1 13 yeas 
to 100 nays as follows: 

" Representatives from free States in favor of the bill, 44. 
" Representatives from slave States in favor of the bill, 69. 

" Representatives from free States against the bill, 91. 
" Representatives from slave States against the bill, 9. 

— 100." 

And thus, approved by the President, the measure became a 
law under the title of "-An Act to Organize the Territories of 
Kansas and Nebraska." 

Congress had violated the s'lblimest principles of law, had 
broken faith with the people; had opened a wide door to slavery; 
had blotted from the map of the United States the last asylum 
where the oppressed might seek protection ; had put the country 
in a way to be reddened with a fratricidal war, and made our 
flag a flaunting lie in the eyes of the civilized world. There was 
nothing to be done now but to let the leaven of sectional malice 
work, that had been hurled into the slavery discussions in Con- 
gress. The bloodless war of words was now transferred to the 
territory of Kansas, where a conflict of political parties, election 
frauds, and assassination did their hateful work. 

The South began to put her State militia upon a war footing, 
and to make every preparation for battle. The Administration 
of President Buchanan was in the interest of the South from 
beginning to end. He refused to give Gov. John W. Geary, of 
Kansas, the military support the "■border ruffians'" made neces- 
sary; allowed the public debt to increase, our precious coin to 
go abroad, our treasury to become depleted, our navy to go to 
the distant ports of China and Japan, our army to our extremest 
frontiers, the music of our industries to cease ; and the faith of 
a loyal people in the perpetuity of the republic was allowed to 
faint amid the din of mobs and the threats of secession. 



THE " BLACK LA WS " OF " BOKDKR ST A TES. " Hi 



CHAPTER X. 

THE " ULACK LAWS " t)F " HORDEK STATES." 
Stringrnt Laws enacted acaisst I'"ree Negroes and Mulattoes. — Fucitive-slave Law 

RESPECTED IN OhIO. — A LaW TO PREVENT KlUNAPl'lXC. — TllE FlKST CONSTITUTION OK 

Ohio. — HisTORv OF THE Dred Scott case.— Judge Tankv's Omnion in this Cask. — Ohio 
Constitution of 1851 denied Free Negroes the Right to vote.— The Estahi-Ish.meht of 
Colored Schools. — Law in Indiana Territory in Referencf. to Executions. — An Act 
for the Introduction of Negroes and Mulattoes into the Teruiiokv. — First Consti- 
tution of Indiana.— The Illinois Constitution of 1818. —Criminal Code knacted.— Illi- 
nois Legislature rASSrs an Act to Prevent the E.migration of Free Ne<;kof.s into the 
State. — Frrk Negroes of the Northern States endure Resiriction and Proscription. 

ALTHOUGH slavery was excluded from all the new States 
northwest of the Ohio River, tlie free Negro was but 
little better off in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois than in any of 
the Southern States. From the earliest moment of the organic 
existence of the border free States, severe laws were enacted 
against free Negroes and Mulattoes. At the second session of 
the fir.st Legislature of the State of Ohio, "yi« Act to Regulate 
Black and Mulatto Persons " ' was passed. 

Sec. I. That no black or mulatto person shall be j)ermitted to 
settle or reside in this State " without a certificate of his or her actual 
freedom." 

2. Resident blacks and mulattoes to have their names recorded, etc. 
(.\mended in 1S34, Jan. 5 i, Curwen, 126.) Pro-eiso, "That nothing in 
this act contained shall bar the lawful claim to any black or mulatto 
person." 

3. Residents prohibited from hiring black or mulatto persons not 
having a certificate. 

4. Forbids, under penalty, to " harbor or secrete any black or 
mulatto person the property of any person whatever," or to " hinder or 
prevent the lawful owner or owners from re-taking," etc. 

5. Black or mulatto persons coming to reside in the State with a 
legal certificate, to record the same. 



' I, Chase, p. 393. secis. 7-1. 



112 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

6. " That in case any person or persons, his or their agent or 
agents, claiming any black or mulatto person or persons that now are or 
hereafter may be in this State, may apply, upon making satisfactory proof 
that such black or mulatto person or persons are the property of him or 
her who applies, to any associate judge or justice of the peace within the 
State, the associate judge or justice is hereby empowered and required, 
by his precept, to direct the sheriff or constable to arrest such black 
or mulatto person or persons, and deliver the same, in the county or 
townshi]) where such officers shall reside, to the claimant or claimants, 
or his or their agent or agents, for which service the sheriff or con- 
stable shall receive such compensation as he is entitled to receive in 
other cases for similar services." 

7. " That any person or persons who shall attempt to remove or shall 
remove from this State, or who shall aid and assist in removing, con- 
trary to the provisions of this act, any black or mulatto person or per- 
sons, without first proving, as herein before directed, that he, she, or 
they is or are legally entitled so to do, shall, on conviction thereof be- 
fore any court having cognizance of the same, forfeit and ]3ay the sum 
of one thousand dollars, one half to the use of the informer and the 
other half to the use of the State, to be recovered by the action of debt 
quitain or indictment, and shall moreover be liable to the action of 
the party injured '* 

So here upon free soil, under a State government that did 
not recognize slavery in its constitution, the Negro was compelled 
to produce a certificate of freedom. Thus the fugitive-slave law 
was recognized, but at the same time an unlawful removal of 
free Negroes from the State was forbidden. 

At the session of 1806-7, " An Act to Anund the Act Entitled 
'an Act Regulating Black and Mulatto Persons,'" was passed 
amending the old law. The first act simply required " a certificate 
of freedom" ; the amended law required Negroes and Mulattoes 
intending to settle in Ohio to give a bond not to become a charge 
upon the county in which they settled. Section four reads as 
follows: 

" 4. That no black or mulatto person or persons shall hereafter be 
permitted to be sworn or give evidence in any court of record or else- 
where in this State, in any cause depending or matter of controversy 
where either party to the sale is a white person, or in any prosecution 
which shall be instituted in behalf of this State, against any white 
person." ' 

' I, Chase, p. 555. 



THE ''BLACK LAWS'' OF ■BORDER STATES." 1 13 

But this law did not apply to persons a shade nearer white 
than Mulatto [the seven-eighths law].' Their testimony was ad- 
missible, while that of Negroes and Mulattoes was not admitted 
against them. In Jordan vs. Smith [1846], 14, Ohio, p. 199: 
'• A black person sued by a white, may make affidavit to a plea 
so as to put the plaintiff to proof." 

Attention has been called to the fact that the fugitive-slave 
law was respected in Ohio. In 1818-19, a law was passed to 
prevent the unlawful kidnapping of free Negroes, which, in its 
preamble, recites the provisions of the law of Congress, passed 
February 12, 1793, respecting fugitives from service and labor.' 
And in 1839 the Legislature passed another act relating to 
" fugitives from labor," etc., paving the way by the following 
recital : 

" Whereas, The second section of the fourth article of tlie Constitu- 
tion of the United Stales declares that ' no jierson' [etc., reciting it]; 
and whereas the laws now in force within the State of Ohio are wholly 
inadcciuate to the protection pledged by this provision of the Constitu- 
tion to the Southern States of this Union ; and whereas it is the duty 
of those who reap tlie largest measure of benefits conferred by the Con- 
stitution to recognize to their full extent the obligations which that in- 
strument imposes ; and whereas it is the deliberate conviction of this 
Cicneral Assembly that the Constitution can only be sustained as it was 
framed by a spirit of just compromise ; therefore." 

Sec. 1. Authorizes judges of courts of record, " or any justice of 
the peace, or the mayor of any city or town corporate," on application, 
etc., of claimant, to bring the fugitive before a judge within the county 
where the warrant was issued, or before some State judge with certain 
cautions as to proving the official character of the officer issuing the 
warrrant ; gives tne lorm of warrant, directing the fugitive to be 
brought before, etc., " to be be dealt with as the law darecls " " 

J. Peck, Esq. [9, Ohio, p. 212], refers to the laws of 181S-19, 
and 1830-31, as a recognition by the State of Ohio of the power 
of Congress to pass the act of 1793, though that the act was not 
specially mentioned. 

The first constitution of Ohio [1802] restricted the right of 
suffrage to " all white male inhabitants." " In all elections, all 
white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, hav- 



'Jeffries vs. Ankeiiy, 11, Ohio, p. 375. '2, Clusc 1.., p. 1052 

' Cuiwen, p. 533. 



114 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACK TN AMERICA. 

ing resided in the State one year next preceding the election, and 
who have paid or are charged with a State or county tax, shall 
enjoy the right of an elector," etc. ' This was repeated in the 
Bill of Rights adopted in 185 i.' 

Article iv., Section 2, of the Constitution of the United 
States says : "The citizens of each State shall be entitled to 
all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States." 
The question as to whether free Negroes were included in the 
above was discussed at great length in the Dred Scott case, where 
Chief-Justice Taney took the ground that a Negro was not a 
citizen under the fourth article of the Constitution. But the 
fourth article of the Articles of Confederation [1778] recognized 
free Negroes as citizens. It is given here : 

'■ Art. 4. — The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship 
and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, 
the free inhabitants of each of these States — paupers, vagabonds, and 
fugitives from justice excepted — shall be entitled to all privileges and 
immunities of free citizens in the several States ; and the people of each 
State shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other State, 
and shall enjo)' therein all the privileges of trade and commerce, sub- 
ject to the same duties, impositions, and restrictions as the inhabitants 
thereof, respectively ; provided that such restrictions shall not extend 
so far as to prevent the removal of property imported into any State, 
from any other State, of which the owner is an inhabitant ; provided, 
also, that no imposition, duty, or restriction shall be laid by any State 
on the property of the United States, or either of them."^ 

B)' this it is evident that "paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives 
from justice" were the only persons excluded from the right of 
citizenship. The following is the liistory of the Dred Scott case.- 

" In the year 1S34, the plaintiff was a negro slave belonging to Dr. 
Emerson, who was a surgeon in the army of the Ignited States. In that 
year, ICS34, said Dr. Emerson took the jilaintiff from the State of INIis- 
souri to the military post at Rock Island, in the State of Illinois, and 
held him there as a slave until the month of A])ril or May, 1836. At 
the time last mentioned, said Dr. Emerson removed the ])laintiff from 
said military post at Rock Island to the military post at Fort Snelling, 
situate on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in the territory 
known as Upper Louisiana, acquired by the United States of France, 

'Revised .Statutes of Ohio, vol. i. p. 60. ' Ibid., p. iii. 

^ Elliot's Debates, vol. i. p. 79 



THE "BLACK LAWS'- OF -BOKPFR STArF.Sr I 15 

and situate north of the latitude of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes 
north, and north of the State of Missouri. Said Dr. Emerson held the 
plaintiff in slavery at said Fort Snelling, from said last-mentioned date 
until the year 1S38. 

" In the year 1835, Harriet, who is named in the second count of 
the plaintiff's declaration, was the negro slave of Major Taliaferro, 
who beloixged to the army of the Ignited States. In that year, 1835, 
said Major Taliaferro took said Harriet to said Fort Snelling, a military 
])0st, situated as herein before stated, and kept her there as a slave until 
the year 1S36, and then sold and delivered licr as a slave at said Fort 
Snelling unto the said Dr. Emerson herein before named. Said Dr. 
Emerson held said Harriet in sla\ery at said Fort Snelling until the 
year 1838. 

" In the year T836, the ])laintiff and said Harriet at said Fort Snell- 
ing, with the consent of said Dr. Emerson, who then claimed to be 
their master and owner, intermarried, and took each other for husband 
and wife. Eliza and Lizzie, named in the third count of the plaintiff's 
declaration, are the fruit of that marriage. Eliza is about fourteen 
years old, and was born on board the steamboat ' Gipsey,' north of the 
north line of the State of Missouri, and upon the river Mississippi. 
Lizzie is about seven years old, and was born in the State of Missouri, 
at the military post called Jefferson Barracks. 

" In the year 1838, said Dr. Emerson removed the plaintiff and said 
Harriet and their said daughter Eliza from said Fort Snelling to the 
State of Missouri, where they have ever since resided. 

" Before the commencement of this suit, said Dr. Emerson sold and 
conveyed the plaintiff, said Harriet, Eliza, and Lizzie to the defendant, 
as slaves, and iht defendant has ever since claimed to hold them and 
each of them as slaves. 

" At the time mentioned in the plaintiff's declaration, the defendant, 
claiming to be owner as aforesaid, laid his hands upon said plaintiff, Har- 
riet, Eliza, and Lizzie, and imprisoned them, doing in thi.<; respect, 
however, no more than what he might lawfully do if they were of right 
his slaves at such times. 

" It is agreed that Dred Scott brought suit for his freedom in the 
Circuit Court of St. Louis County ; that there was a verdict and judg- 
ment in his favor ; that on a writ of error to the Sujjreme Court the 
judgment below was reversed, and the same remanded to the Circuit 
Court, where it has been continued to await the decision of this case. 

" In May, 1S54, the cause went before a jury, who found the follow- 
ing verdict, viz. : 'As to the first issue joined in this case, we of the 
jury find the defendant not guilty ; and as to the issue secondly above 



Il6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

joined, we of the jury find that before and at the time when, etc., in the 
first count mentioned, the said Dred Scott was a negro slave, the lawful 
property of the defendant ; and as to the issue thirdly above joined, 
we, the jury, find that before and at the time when, etc., in the second 
and third counts mentioned, the said Harriet, wife of said Dred Scott, 
and Eliza and Lizzie, the daughters of the said Dred Scott, were negro 
slaves, the lawful property of the defendant.' 

"Whereupon, the court gave judgment for the defendant. 

"After an ineffectual motion for a new trial, the plaintiff filed the 
following bill of exceptions. 

" On the trial of this cause by tlie jury, the plaintiff, to maintain the 
issues on his part, read to the jury the following agreed statement of 
facts (see agreement above). No further testimony was given to the 
jury by either party. Thereupon the plaintiff moved the court to give 
to the jury the following instructions, viz. : 

" ' That, upon the facts agreed to by the parties, they ought to find 
for the plaintiff.' The court refused to give such instruction to the 
jury, and the plaintiff, to such refusal, then and there duly excepted. 

The court then gave tlie following instruction to the jury, on motion 
of the defendant : 

" ' The jury ate instructed, that upon the facts in this case, the law is 
with the defendant.' The plaintiff excepted to this instruction. 

" Upon these excei'tions, the case came up to the Supreme Court, 
December term, 1856."' i 

Judge Taney gave the following opinion: 

" The question is simply this : Can a negro, whose ancestors were 
imported into this country and sold as slaves, become a member of the 
political community formed and brought into existence by the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and as such become entitled to all the rights 
and privileges and immunities guaranteed by that instrument to the 
citizen ? One of which rights is the privilege of suing in a court of the 
United States in the cases specified in the Constitution. 

" It will be observed that the plea applies to that class of persons 
only whose ancestors were negroes of the African race, and imported 
into this country, and sold and held as slaves. The only matter in 
issue before the court, therefore, is, whether the descendants of such 
slaves, when they shall be emancipated, or who are born of parents who 
had become free before their birth, are citizens of a State, in the sense 
in which the word citizen is used in the Constitution of the United 
States. And this being the only matter in dispute on the pleadings, the 

' Sanfoid's Dred Scott Case, pp. 397-399. 



THE "BLACK LAWS" OF "BORDER STATES." \\^ 

court must be understood as speaking in this opinion of that class only, 
that is, of those persons who are tlie descendants of Africans who were 
imported into this country and sold as slaves. 

• •■•■•• 

■'We proceed to examine the case as ]iresented by the pleadings. 

" The words ' people of the United States' and ' citizens ' are synony- 
mous terms, and mean the same thing. They both describe the political 
body who, according to our republican institutions, form the sovereignty, 
and who hold the power and conduct the government through their 
representatives. They are what we familiarly call the ' sovereign 
peo|)le, and every citizen is one of this people, and a constituent 
member of this sovereignty. The question before us is, whether 
the class of persons described in tlie plea in abatement compose a 
portion of this jjcople, and are constituent members of this sover- 
eignty. We think, they are not. and that they are not included, and 
were not intended to be included, under the word "citizen' in the 
Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges 
which tiiat instrunirnt ])rovides for and secures to citizens of the United 
.States. On the contrary, they were at tliat time considered as a subor- 
dinate [405] and inferior class of beings, who had been subjugated by 
the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained sub- 
ject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those 
who held the power and the government might choose to grant them. 

" It is not the province of the court to decide ui)on the justice 01 
injustice, tiie policy or impolicy, of these laws. . . . 

'' In discussing this question, we must not confound the rights of 
citizenship which a State may confer within its own limits, and the 
rights of citizenship as a member of the Union. It does not by any 
means follow, because he has all the rights and privileges of a citizen 
of a State, that he must be a citizen of the United States. He may 
have all of the rights and privileges of the citizen of a State, and yet not 
be entitled to the rights and jirivileges of a citizen of any other State. 
For, jirevious to tlie adoption of the Constitution of the United States, 
every State had the undoubted right to ( onfer on whomsoever it pleased 
the character of citizen, and to endow him with all its rights. But this 
character of course was confined to the boundaries of tlie State, and 
gave him no rights or privileges in other States beyond those secured to 
him by the laws of nations and the comity of States. Nor have the 
several States surrendered the power of conferring these rights and 
privileges by adopting the Constitution of the United States. Each 
State may still confer them upon an alien, or any one it thinks proper, 
or upon any class or description of persons ; yet he would not be a citi- 
zen in the sense in which that word is used in the Constitution cf the 



II 8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

United States, nor entitled to sue as such in one of its courts, nor to 
the jirivileges and immunities of a citizen in the other States. The 
rights which he would accjuire would be restricted to the State which 
gave them. The Constitution has conferred on Congress the light to 
establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and this right is evidently 
exclusive, and has always been held by this court to be so. Conse- 
quently no State, since the adoption of the Constitution, can, by na- 
turalizing an alien, invest him with the rights and privileges secured to 
a citizen of a State under the Federal Government, although, so far as 
the State alone was concerned, he would undoubtedly be entitled to the 
rights of a citizen, and clothed with all the [406] rights and immunities 
which the Constitution and laws of the State attached to that char- 
acter. 

"It is very clear, therefore, that no State can, by any act or law of 
its own, passed since the adoption of the Constitution, introduce a new 
member into the political community created by the Constitution of the 
United States. It cannot make him a member of this community by 
making him a member of its own. And, for the same reason, it cannot 
introduce any person or description of persons who were not intended 
to be embraced in this new political family, which the Constitution 
brought into existence, but were intended to be excluded from it. 

■' The question then arises, whether the provisions of the Constitu- 
tion, in relation to the personal rights and privileges to which the citi- 
zen of a State should be entitled, embraced the negro African race, at 
that time in this country, or who might afterwards be imjiorted, who 
had then or should afterwards be made free in any State ; and to put it 
in the power of a single State to make him a citizen of the United States, 
and indue him with the full riglits of citizenship in every other State 
without their consent. Does the Constitution of the United States act 
upon him whenever he shall be made free under the laws of a State, 
and raised there to the rank of a citizen, and immediately clothe him 
with all the privileges of a citizen in every other State and in its own 
courts 'i 

" The court think the affirmative of these propositions cannot be 
maintained. And if it cannot, the plaintiff in error could not be a citi- 
zen of the State of Missouri, within the meaning of the Constitution of 
the United States, and, consequently, was not entitled to sue in its 
courts." ' 

This decision of the Supreme Court on the plea in abatement 
that the plaintiff (a Negro, Dred Scott) was not a citizen in the 
sense of the word in Article iii, Sec. 2 of the Constitution, was 

' Howard's Reports, vol. xix. pp. 403-405, sq. 



THE ''BLACK LAWS- OF ^ BORDER STATES." 119 

based upon an erroneous idea respecting the location of the word 
citiziH in the instrument. The premise of the court was wrong, 
and hence the feebleness of the reasoning and the false conclu- 
sions. Article iii, Section 2 of the Constitution, extends judicial 
power to all cases, in law and equity, "between citizens of differ- 
ent States, between citizens of the same State," etc. Ikit Article 
iv. Section 2, declares that "citizens of each State shall be enti- 
tled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several 
States." The plea in abatement was brought under Article 
iii, but all the judges, except Justice McLean, built their decision 
upon the word citizen as it stood in Article iv. 

By the constitution of Ohio, adopted in 185 1, free Negroes 
were not only denied the right to vote, but were excluded from 
the militia service. This law was not repealed until 187S. 

Neither the constitution of 1802, nor that of 185 1, discrimi- 
nated against free Negroes in matters of education ; but separate 
schools have been maintained in Ohio from the beginning down 
to the present time, by special acts of the Legislature. 

In the territory of Indiana there were quite a number of Ne- 
groes from the beginning of the century. Some were slaves. 
In 1806, the first Legislature, at its second session, passed a law 
in reference to executions, as follows: 

" Sec. 7. And whereas doubts have arisen whether the lime of ser- 
vice of negroes and nnikittoes, bound to service in this territory, may 
be sold on execution against ihe master, Be it therefore enacted that the 
time of service of such negroes or mulattoes may be sold on execution 
against the master, in the same manner as jiersonal estate, immediately 
from whicli sale the said negroes or mulattoes shall serve the purchaser 
or purchasers for the residue of their time of service ; and the said pur- 
chasers and negroes and mulattoes shall have the same remedies against 
each other as by the laws of the territory are mutually given them in 
the several cases therein mentioned, and the purchasers shall be obliged 
to fulfil to the said servants the contracts they made with the masters, 
as expressed in the indenture or agreetiient of servitude, and shall, for 
want of such contract, be obliged to give him or them their freedom due 
at the end of the time of service, as expressed in the second section of 
the law of the territory, entitled ' Law concerning servants," adopted 
the twenty-second day of September, eighteen hundred and three. This 
act shall commence and be in force from and after the first day of Feb- 
ruary next." ' 

' Hurd, vol ii. p. 123. 



I20 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Tins was bold legislation ; but it was not all. Negroes were 
required to carry passes, as in the slave States. And on the 17th 
of September, 1S07, "An Act for the Introduction of Negroes and 
Mitlattocs into" the territory was passed. 

" Sec. I. That it shall and may be lawful for any person being the 
owner or possessor of any negroes or mulattoes of and above the age 
of fifteen years, and owning service and labor as slaves in any of the 
States or territories of the United States, or for any citizens of the said 
States or territories purchasing the same to bring the said negroes 
and mulattoes into this territory. 

" Sec. 2. The owners or possessors of any negroes or mulattoes 
as aforesaid, and bringing the same into this territory, shall, within thirty 
days after such removal, go with the same before the clerk of Court of 
Common Pleas of proper county, and in presence of said clerk the said 
owner or possessor shall determine and agree to, and with his or her 
negro or mulatto, upon the term of years which the said negro or mu- 
latto will and shall serve his or her said owner or ])Ossessor, and the 
clerk shall make a record. 

"Sec. 3. If any negro or mulatto removed into this territory as 
aforesaid shall refuse to serve his or her owner as aforesaid, it shall and 
may be lawful for such person, within sixty days thereafter, to remove 
the said negro or mulatto to any place [to] which by the laws of the 
United States or territory from whence such owner or possessor may 
[have come] or shall be authorized to remove the same. (As quoted 
in Phoebe v. Jay, Breese, 111. R., 20S.) 

" Sec. 4. An owner failing to act as required in the preceding 
sections should forfeit all claim and right to the service of such negro 
or mulatto. 

" Sec. 5. Declares that any person removing into this territory and 
being the owner or possessor of any negro or mulatto as aforesaid, 
under the age of fifteen years, or if any person shall hereafter acquire 
a property in any negro or mulatto under the age aforesaid, and who 
shall bring them into this territory, it shall and may be lawful for such 
person, owner, or possessor to hold the said negro to service or labor — 
the males until they arrive at the age of thirty-five, and females until 
they arrive at the age of thirty-two years. 

" Sec, 6. Provides that any i>erson removing any negro or mulatto 
into this territory under the authority of the preceding sections, it shall 
be incumbent on such person, within thirty days thereafter, to register 
the name and age of such negro or mulatto with the clerk of the Court 
of Common Pleas for the proper county. 

" Sec. 7. Requires new registry on removal to another county." 



THE '-BLACK LAWS'' OF " BOKI^ER STATES." 121 

" Sees. 8, 9. Penalties by fine for breach of this act. 

" Sec. 10. Clerk to take security that negro be not chargeable when 
his term expires. 

" Sec. 12. Fees. 

" Sec. 13. That the children born in said territory of a parent of 
color owning service or labor, by indenture according to law, should 
serve the master or mistress of such parent— the males until the age of 
thirty, and the females until the age of twenty-eight years. (As 
quoted in Boon v. Juliet, 1836, r, Scammon, 258.) 

"Sec. 14. That an act respecting apprentices misused by their 
master or mistress should apply to such children. (See the statute 
cited in Rankin v. Lydia, 2, A. K. Marshall's Ky., 467 ; and in Jarrot v. 
Jarrot, 2, Oilman, 19.) This act was repealed in 1810." ' 

Under the first constitution of Indiana, adopted in 1 816, 
Negroes were not debarred from the elective franchise. In Ar- 
ticle i, Section i, of the Bill of Rights, this remarkable language 
occurs: " That all men are born equally free and independent, 
and have certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights," etc. 
But the very next year the primal rights of the Negro as a citi- 
zen were struck down by the following : " No negro, mulatto, 
or Indian shall be a witness, except in pleas of the State against 
negroes, mulattoes, or Indians, or in civil cases where negroes, 
mulattoes, or Indians alone shall be parties."' 

In 1819 [March 22d], an execution law was passed by which 
the time of service of Negroes could be sold on execution against 
the master, in the same manner as personal estate. From the 
time of the sale, such Negroes or Mulattoes were compelled to 
serve the buyeraintil the expiration of the term of service.' 

In 1831, an act regulating free Negroes and Mulattoes, ser- 
vants and slaves, declared : 

" Sec. I. Negroes and mulattoes emigrating into the State shall 
give bond, e'c. 

" Sec. 2. In failure of this, such negro, etc., may be hired out and 
the proceeds applied to his benefit, or removed from the State under 
the poor law. 

"Sec. 3. Penalty for committing such without authority. 

"Sec. 4. Penalty for harboring such who have not given bond. 

"Sec. 5. That the right of any persons to pass through this State, 

' Terr. laws 1807-8, p. 423. ^ Laws of 1S17, ch. 3, sec. 52. 

'See Huid, vol. ii. p. 129. 



122 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

witli his, her, or their negroes or mulattoes, servant or servants, when 
emigrating or travelling to any other State or territory or country, mak- 
ing no unnecessary delay, is hereby declared and secured." ' 

In 1S51 the new constitution limited the right of franchise to 
"white male citizens of the United States." "No negro or 
mulatto shall have the right of suffrage." 

"Art. xii.. Sec. i. The militia shall consist of all able-bodied white 
male persons, between, etc. 

" Art. xiii.. Sec. i. No negro or mulatto shall come into, or settle 
in the State after the adoption of this Constitution. 

" Sec. 2. .\11 contracts made with any negro or mulatto coming 
into the State contrary to the foregoing section shall be void ; and any 
person who shall employ such negro or mulatto or encourage him to 
remain in the State shall be fined not less than ten, nor more than five 
hundred dollars. 

" Sec, 3. All fines which may be collected for a violation of the pro- 
visions of this article, or of any law hereafter passed for the purpose of 
carrying the same into e.xecution, shall be set apart and appropriated 
for the coloniz.ition of such negroes and mulattoes and their descend- 
ants as may be in the State at the adoption of this Constitution and 
may be willing to emigrate. 

" Sec. 4. The General Assembly shall pass laws to carry out the pro- 
visions of this article." 

Other severe laws were enacted calculated to modify and limit 
the rights of free persons of color. 

The first constitution of the State of Illinois, adopted in 1818, 
limited the [Art. ii, Sec. 27] elective franchise to "free white" 
persons. Article v. Sec. i, exempted "negroes, mulattoes, and 
Indians" from service in the militia. In March, 1819, '"An Ad' 
Respecting Free Negroes, Mulattoes, Servants, and Slaves" passed. 
Sec. I required Negro and Mulatto persons coming into the State 
to produce a certificate of freedom. Sec. 2 required them to 
register tlieir family as well as themselves. Sec. 3 required per- 
sons bringing slaves into the State, for the purpose of emancipating 
them, to give bonds. Passes were required of Colored people, 
and many other hard exactions. The bill above referred to con- 
tained twenty-five sections.' 

' Revised L.ivvs of Indiana, 183S. 

' .Session Laws, 1819, p. 354. R. S., 1833, p 466. 



TJIE •■ BLACK LA WS " OF " BOKDKR ST A TES." 123 

On the 6th of January, 1827, a criminal code was enacted for 
offences committed by Negroes and servants, which contained 
many cruel features. On the 2(1 of I'\bruary a law was passed 
declaring that all Negroes, Mulattoes, and Indians were incom- 
petent to be witnesses in any court against a white person ; and 
that a person having one fourth part Negro blood shall be ad- 
judged a Mulatto. This law was re-enacted in 1845.' In 1853, 
February 1 2th, the Legislature of Illinois passed " ./;/ Act to Pre- 
vent tlic Iinniigration of Free Negroes into this State." 

"Sees. 1, 2, Fine and imprisonment for bringing slave, for any 
purpose, into the State. Prmnso : ' That this shall not be construed so 
as to affect persons or slaves, bona fide, travelling through this State from 
and to any other State in the United States.' 

" Sec. 3. Misdemeanor for negro or mulatto, hoiul or free, to come 
with intention of residing. 

'"Sec. .\. Such may be prosecuted and fined or sold, for time, for 
fine and costs. 

" Sees. 5, 6, 7. If sucli do not afterwards remove, increased fine 
and like proceedings, etc., etc. Appeal allowed to the circuit. 

" Sec. 8. If claimed as fugitive slave, after being thus arrested, a 
justice of the peace, ' after hearing the evidence, and being satisfied 
that the person or persons claiming said negro or mulatto is or are the 
owner or owners of and entitled to the custody of said negro or 
mulatto, in accordance with the laws of the United States passed upon 
this subject,' sliall give the owner a certificate, after his paying the costs 
and the negro's unpaid line, ' and the said owner or agent so claiming 
shall have a right to take and remove said slave out of the State.' 

" Sec. 9. Punishment of justice for nonfeasance, and of w-itness 
falsely accusing negro." ' 

While slavery had no legal, constitutional existence in the 
three border States, there were, in fact, quite a number of 
slaves within their jurisdiction during the first generation of 
their existence. And the free people of Color were, Jirst, de- 
nied the right of citizenship ; second, excluded from the militia 
•service; third, ruled out of the courts whenever their testimony 
was offered against a white person; fourth, could not come into 
the free border States without producing a certificate of freedom; 
and, fifth, were annoyed by many little, mean laws in the exer- 
cise of ' the few rights they were suffered to enjoy. A full 



R. S., 1845, p. 154. ' Kev. St. of iSj6, p. 780. 



124 HISTORY OF THE XEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

description of tlic infamous " Black Code " of these States would 
occupy too much space, and, therefore, the dark subject must be 
dismissed. Posterity shall know, however, how patiently the free 
Negroes of the Northern States endured the restrictions and pro- 
scriptions which law and public sentiment threw across their so- 
cial and political pathway! 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 123 



CHAPTER XL 

THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 
Nominal Rights of Negroes in the Si.avr States. — Fugitive Slaves sp.ek Refuge in Canada. 

— N'EtiROKS petition AGAINST TaXAHON WITHOUT ReI'KBSENTATION. — A I.AW IKEVKNTING 

Negroes from other States from settling in Massachusetts. — Notice to Blacks, 
Indians, and Mulattogs, warning them to leave the Commonwealih. — The Rights 
AND Privileges of the Negro restricted. — Colored Men turn their Attention to the 
Education of their own Race. — John V. De Grasse, the first Colored Man ad-mhted 
to the Massachusetts Medical Society. — Prominent Colored Men of New York and 
Philadelphia. — The Organization of the African Methodist Eiiscopai. and Colored 
Baptist Churches. — Coloeed Men distiniiuish themselves in the Pjlpit. — Report to 
THE Ohio Anti-slavery Society of Colored Peoile ln Cincinnati in 1833. — Many 
purchase their Freedom.— Henry Boyd, the Mechanic and Builder.— He becomes a 
Successful Manufacturer in Cinclnnati. — Samuel T. Wm-cox, the Grocer. — His Suc- 
cess in Business in Cincinnati.— Ball and Tho.mas, the Phoiographkrs. — Colored 
People of Cincinnati evince a Desire to take Care of themselves. — Lvdia P. Mott 
establishes a Home for Colored Orphans. —The Organization eikected in 1844.— Its 
Success. — Formation of a Colored Military Co.mpany called *' The .\ttucks Guards.'* 

— Emigration of Negroes to Liberia. — The Colored People live down much Preju- 
dice. 

IN 1850 there were 238,187 free Negroes in tlic slave States. 
Their freedom was merely nominal. They were despised 
beneath the slaves, and were watched with suspicious eyes, 
and disliked by their brethren in bondage. 

In 1850 there were 196,016 free Negroes in the Northern 
States. Their increase came from |chiefly] two sources, viz.: 
births and emancipated persons from the South. Fugitive slaves 
generally went to Canada, for in addition to being in danger of 
arrest under the fugitive-slave law, none of the State govern- 
ments in the North sympathized with Escaped Negroes. The 
Negroes in the free States were denied the rights of citizenship, 
and were left to the most destroying ignorance. In 1780, some 
free Negroes, of the town of Dartmouth, petitioned the General 
Court of Massachusetts for relief from taxation, because they 
were denied the privileges and duties of citizenship, 1 he peti- 
tion set forth the hardships free Negroes were obliged to endure, 
even in Massachusetts, and was in itself a proof of the fitness of 
the petitioners for the duties of citizenship. 



i::6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" To the Honorable Coimcil and House of Representatives., in General 
Court Assembled, for the State of Massachusetts Bay, in N'ew Eng- 
land : 

"The petition of several poor negroes and niulattoes, who are in- 
habitants of the town of Dartmouth, humbly showeth : 

"That we being chiefly of the African extract, and by reason of long 
bondage and hard slavery, we have been deprived of enjoying the profits 
of our labor or the advantage of inheriting estates from our parents, as 
our neighbors the white people do, having some of us not long enjoyed 
our own freedom ; yet of late, contrary to the invariable custom and 
practice of the country, we have been, and now are, taxed both in our 
polls and that small pittance of estate which, through much hard labor 
and industry, we have got together to sustain ourselves and families 
withall. We apjirehend it, therefore, to be hard usage, and will doubt- 
less (if continued) reduce us to a state of beggary, whereby we shall 
become a bunlien to others, if not timely prevented by the interposition 
of your justice and power. 

"Your ]3etitioners further show, that we apprehend ourselves to be 
aggrieved, in that, while we are not allowed the privilege of freemen of 
the State, having no vote or influence in the election of those tliat tax 
us, yet many of our color (as is well known) have cheerfully entered the 
field of battle in the defence of the common cause, and that (as we con- 
ceive) against a similar exertion of power (in regard to taxation) too well 
known to need a recital in this place. 

" We most liumble request, therefore, that you would take our un- 
happy case into your serious consideration, and, in your wisdom and 
power, grant us relief from taxation, while under our present depressed 
circumstances ; and your poor petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever 
pray, etc. 

" John Cuffe, 

" Adventur Child, 

" Paul Cuffe, 

" Samuel Gray, [his x mark.] 

" Pero Rowland, [his x mark.] 

" Pero Russell, [his x mark.] 

" Pero Coggeshall. 

"Dated at Dartmouth, the loth of February, 17S0. 
" Memorandum in the handwriting of John Cuffe : 

" This is the copy of the petition which we did deliver unto the 
Honorable Council and House, for relief from taxation in the days of 
our distress. But we received none. John Cuffe." ' 

' This is inserted in this volume as the more appropriate place. 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 127 

Not discouraged at the failure that attended the above peti- 
tion, the indefatigable Paul Cuffe, addressed the following to the 
selectmen of his town the next year. 

" A RKyUEST. 

" To the Selectmen of the Toti'ii of Darimoiith, Greeting : 

We, the subscribers, your humble petitioners, desire that you would, 
in 30ur capacity, put a stroke in your next warrant for calling a 
town meeting, so that it may legally be laid before said town, by way 
of vote, to know the mind of said town, whether all free negroes and 
mulattoes shall have the same privileges in this said Town of Dart- 
mouth as the white people have, respecting places of profit, choosing of 
officers, and the like, together with all other privileges in all cases that 
shall or may hap|)cn or be brought in this our said Town of Dart- 
mouth. We, your petitioners, as in duty bound, shall ever j)ray, 

[Signed.] " John Cufke, 

" Paul Cukfe, 
" Dated at Dartmouth, the 2 2d of the 4tli mo., 1781." 

As early as 178S Massachusetts passed a law requiring all 
Negroes who were not citizens, to leave the Commonwealth 
within two months from the date of the publication of the law. 
It has been said, upon good authority, that this law was drawn 
by several of the ablest lawyers in the Ba\^ State, and was in- 
tended to keep out all Negroes from the South who, being eman- 
cipated, might desire to settle there. It became a law on the 
26th of March, 1788, and instead of becoming a dead letter, was 
published and enforced in post-haste. The following section is 
the portion of the act pertinent to this inquiry. 

'' V. Re it further enacted by the authority aforesaid [the Senate and 
House of Representatives in General Court assembled], that no j)erson 
being an African or Negro, other than a subject of the Em])eror of 
Morocco, or a citizen of some one of the United States (to be evidenced 
by a certificate from the Secretary of the State of which he shall be a 
citizen), sliall tarry within this Commonwealth, for a longer time than 
two months, and upon complaint made to any Justice of the Peace 
within tliis Commonwealth, that any such person has been within 
the same more than two months, the said Justice shall order the said 
l)erson to depart out of this Commonwealth, and in case that the said 
African or Negro shall not depart as aforesaid, any Justice of the 



128 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Peace within this Commonwealth, upon complaint and proof made 
that such person has continued within this Commonwealih ten days 
after notice given him or her to depart as aforesaid, shall commit 
the said person to any house of correction within the county, there to 
be kept to hard labor, agreeable to the rules and orders of the said 
house, until the Sessions of the Peace, next to be holden within and for 
the said county ; and the master of the said house of correction is 
hereby required and directed to transmit an attested copy of the war- 
rant of commitment to the said Court on the first day of their said ses- 
sion, and if upon trial at the said Court, it shall be made to appear that 
the said person has thus continued within the Commonwealth, contrary 
to the tenor of this act, he or she shall be whipped not exceeding ten 
stripes, and ordered to depart «ut of this Commonwealth M-ithin ten 
days ; and if he or she shall not so depart, the same process shall be 
had and punishnienl inflicted, and so totics quotics." ' 

The fnllowin!^: notice, with the subjoined names, shows that 
the cruel law was enforced. 

NOTICE TO BLACKS. 

The Officers of Police having made return to the Subscriber of the 
names of the following persons, who are Africans or Negroes, not sub- 
jects of the Emperor of Morocco nor citizens of the United States, the 
same are hereby warned and directed to dejiart out of this Common- 
wealth before the loth day of October next, as they would avoid the 
pains and penalties of the law in that case provided, which was passed 

by the Legislature, March 26, 1788. 

Charles Bulfinch, 

Superintendent. 

By Order and Direction of the Selectmen. 

Portsmouth — Prince Patterson, Eliza Cotton, Flora Nash. 

Rhode Island— Thomas, Nichols and Philis Nichols, Hannah Champ- 
lin, Plato Alderson, Raney Scott, Jack Jeffers, Thomas Gardner, Julius 
Holden, Violet Freeman, Cuffy Buffum, Sylvia Gardner, Hagar Black- 
burn, Dolly Peach, Polly Gardner, Sally Alexander, Philis Taylor. 

Froridence—Timah Miller, Salvia Hendrick, Rhode Allen, Nancy 
Hall, Richard Freeman, Elizabeth Freeman, Nancy Gardner, Margaret 
Harrison. 

Connecticut — I'.ristol Morandy, John Cooper, Scipio Kent, Margaret 
Russell, Phoebe Seamore, Phoebe Johnson, Jack Billings. 



'blaveiy ill Massachuietts, pp. 22S, 229. 



THE yOR J IIKRN NEGROES. 1 29 

Ncio London — John Denny, Thomas Burdinc, Hannah Burdine. 

New York — Sally Evens, Sally Freeman, Cassar West and Hannah 
West, Thomas Peterson, Thomas Santon, Henry Sanderson, Henry 
Wilson, Robert Wiljct, Edward Cole. Mary Atkins, Polly Brown, Amey 
Spalding, John Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, George Homes, Prince 
Kilsbury, Abraham Fitch, Joseph Hicks, Abraham Francis, Elizabeth 
Francis, Sally Williams, William Williams, Rachel Pewinck, David Dove, 
Esther Dove, Peter Bayle, Thomas Bostick, Katy Bostick, Prince Hayes, 
Margaret Bean, Nancy Hamik, Samuel Benjamin, Peggy Ocamum, 
Primus Hutchinson. 

Philadelphia — Mary Smith, Richard Allen. Simon leffers, Samuel 
Posey, Peter Francies, Prince Wales, Elizabeth Branch, Peter Gust, 
William Brown, Buttcrfield Scotland, Clarissa Scotland, Cuffy Cum- 
mings, John Gardner, Sally Gardner, Fortune Gorden. Samuel Stevens. 

Baltimore — Peter Larkin and Jenny Larkin, Stepney Johnson, Anne 
Melville. 

Virginia — James Scott, John Evens, Jane Jackson, Cuffey Cook, 
Oliver Nash, Robert Woodson, Thomas Thompson. 

North Carolina — James Jurden, Polly Johnson, Janus Crage. 

South Carolina — .\nthony George, Peter Cane. 

Halifax — Catherine Gould, Charlotte Gould, Cato Small, Philis 
Cole, Richard M'Coy. 

West Indies — James Morfut and Hannah his wife, Mary Davis, 
George Powell, Peter Lewis, Charles Sharp, Peter Hendrick, William 
Shoppo and Mary Shoppo, Isaac Johnson, John Pearce, Charles Esings, 
Peter Branch, Newell Symonds, Rosanna Symonds, Peter George, 
Lewis Victor, Lewis Sylvester, John Laco, Thomas Foster, Peter 
Jeseniy, Rebecca Jesemy, David Bartlet, Thomas Grant, Joseph Lewis, 
Hamet Lewis, John Harrison, Mary Brown, Boston Alexander. 

Cape Francois — Casme Francisco and Nancy his wife, Mary Frace- 
way. 

Aux Cayes — Susannah Ross. 

Port-au-Prince — John Short. 

Jamaica — Charlotte Morris, John Robinson. 

Bermuda — Thomas Williams. 

New Providence — Henry Taylor. 

Liverpool — John Mumford. 

Africa — Francis Thompson, John Brown, Mary Joseph, James Mel- 
vile, Samuel Bean, Hamlet Earl, Cato Gardner, Charles Mitchel, Sophia 
Mitchel, Samuel Frazier, Samuel Blackburn, Timothy Philips, Joseph 
Ocamum. 

France — Joseph . 

Isle of France— Joseph Lovering, 



130 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

LIST OF INDIANS AND MULATTOES. 

The following persons from several of the United States, being peo- 
ple of colour, commonly called Mulattoes, are presumed to come within 
the intention of the same law, and are accordingly warned and directed 
to depart out of the Commonwealth before the loth day of October 
next. 

' Rhode Island — Peter Badger, Kelurah Allen, Waley Green, Silvia 
Babcock. 

Providence — Polly Adams, Paul Jones. 

Connecticut — John Brown, Polly Holland, John Way and Nancy 
Way, Peter Virgmia, Leville Steward, Lucinda Orange, Anna Sprague, 
Britton Doras, Amos Willis, Frank Francies. 

Nnv London — Hannah Potter. 

Neio York — Jacob and Nelly Cummings, James and Rebecca 
Smith, Judith Chew, John Schuraagger, Thomas Willouby, Peggy Wil- 
louby, John Reading, Mary Reading, Charles Brown. John Miles, Han- 
nah Williams, Betsy Harris, Douglass Brown, Susannah Foster, Thomas 
Burros, Mary Thomson, James and Freelove Buck, Lucy Glapcion, 
Lucy Lewis, Eliza Williams, Diana Bayle, Caesar and Sylvia Caton, 
'i'hompson, William Guin. 

Albany — Elone Virginia, Abijah Reed and Lydia Reed, Abijah 
Reed, Jr., Rebecca Reed and Betsy Reed. 

New ^cr^fcj'— Stephen Boadley, Hannah Victor. 

Philadelphia — Polly Boadley, James Long, Hannah Murray, Jere- 
miah Green, Nancy Principeso, David Johnson, George Jackson Will- 
iam Coak, Moses Long. 

Maryland — Nancy Gust. 

Baltimore — John Clark, Sally Johnson. 

Virginia— ^d\\-j Hacker, Richard and John Johnson, Thomas Stew- 
art, .'Vnthony Paine, Mary Burk, William Hacker, Polly Losours, Betsy 
Guin, Lucy Brown. 

Africa — Nancy Doras.' 

The constitutions of nearly all the States, statutes, or public 
sentiment drove the Negro from the ballot-bo.x, excused him 
from the militia, and excluded him from the courts. Although 
born on the soil, a soldier in two wars, an industrious, law- 
abiding person, the Negro, nevertheless, was not regarded as a 
member of political society. He was taxed, but enjoyed no 
representation ; was governed by laws, and yet had no voice in 
making the laws. 

' Massachusetts Mercury, vol. xvi. No. 22, Sept. l6, 17S0. 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. IJI 

The doors of nearly all the schools of the entire North were 
shut in his face ; and the few separate schools accorded him were 
civen grudgingly. They were usually held in the lecture-room 
of some Colored church edifice, or thrust off to one side in a 
portion of the city or town toward which aristocratic ambi- 
tion would never turn. These schools were generally poorly 
equipped ; and the teachers were either Colored persons whose 
opportunities of securing an education had been poor, or white 
persor.s whose mental qualifications would not encourage them 
to make an honest living among their own race; there were 
noble exceptions. 

A deeply rooted prejudice shut the Negro out from the 
trades. He could not acquire the art of setting type, civil en- 
gineering, building machinery, house carpentering, or any of the 
trades. The schools of medicine, law, and theology were not 
open to him : and even if he secured admission into some gen- 
tleman's office, or instruction from some divine, the future gave 
him no promise. The white wings of hope were broken in an 
ineffectu:;! attempt to move against the bitter winds of persecu- 
cution, under the dark sky of hate and proscription. Corpora- 
tions, churches, theatres, and political parties made the Negro a 
subject of official action. If a Negro travelled by stage coach, 
it was among the baggage in the "boot," or on top with the 
driver. If he were favored with a ride on a street car, it was in 
a separate car marked, "This car for Colored people." If he jour- 
neyed any distance by rail, he was assigned to the " Jim Crow " 
car, or " smoker," where himself and family were subjected to 
inconvenience, insult, and the society of the lowest class of white 
rowdies. If he were hungry and weary at the end of the jour- 
ney, there was " no room for him in the inn," and, like his 
Master, was assigned a place among the cattle. If he were so 
fortunate as to get into a hotel as a servant, bearing the baggage 
of his master, he slept in the garret, and took his meals in the 
kitchen. It mattered not who the Colored man was — whether 
it was Langston, the lawyer, McCunc Smith, the physician, or 
Douglass, the orator — he found no hotel that would give him 
accommodations. And forsooth, if some host had the temerity 
to admit a Negro to his dining-room, a dozen white guests would 
leave the hotel rather than submit to the " outrage ! " 

The places of amusements in all the large cities in the North 
excluded the Negro ; and when he did gain admission, he was 



132 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

shown to the gallery, where he could enjoy peanut-hulls, boot- 
blacks, and " black-legs." Occasionally the side door of a college 
was put ajar for some invincible Negro. But this was a per- 
formance of very rare occurrence ; and the instances are easily 
remembered. 

When courts and parties, corporations and companies had fe- 
fused to accord the Negro the rights that were his due as a man, 
he carried his case to the highest earthly court, the Christian 
Church. He felt sure of sympathy and succor from this source. 
The Church had stood through the centuries as a refuge for the 
unfortunate and afflicted. But, alas! the Church shrank from 
the Negro as if he had been a reptile. If he gained admission 
it was to the " Negro pew " in the "organ loft." If he secured 
the precious " emblems of the broken body and shed blood " of 
his Divine Master, it was after the " white folks " were through. 
If the cause of the Negro were mentioned in the prayer or ser- 
mon, it was in the indistinct whisper of the moral coward who 
occupied the sacred desk. And when the fight was on at fever 
heat, when it was popular to plead the cause of the slave and 
demand the rights of the free Negro, the Church was the last 
organization in the country to take a position on the question; 
and even then, her " moderation was known to all men." 

If the Negro had suffered from neglect only, had been left 
to solve the riddle of his anomalous existence without further 
embarrassment, it would have been well. But no, it was not so. 
Studied insolence jostled Colored men and women from the 
streets of the larger cities ; mobocratic violence broke up assem- 
blages and churches of Colored people; and malice sought them 
in the quiet of their homes — outraged and slew them in cold 
blood. Thus with the past as a haunting, bitter recollection, the 
present filled with fear and disaster, and the future a shapeless 
horror, think ye life was sweet to the Negro? Bitter? Bitter as 
death ? Ay, bitter as hell ! 

Driven down from the lofty summit of laudable ambitions 
into tlie sultry plains of domestic drudgery and menial toil, 
nearly every ray of hope had perished upon the strained vision 
of the Negro. The only thing young Colored men could aspire 
to was the position of a waiter, the avocation of a barber, the 
place of a house-servant or groom, and teach or preach to their 
own people with little or no qualifications. Denied the opportu- 
nities and facilities of securing an education, they were upbraided 



THE NOR THERN NEGROES. 1 33 

by the press and pulpit, in private gatherings and public meet- 
ings, for their ignorance, which was enforced by a narrow and 
contracted public prejudice. 

But " none of these things moved " the Negro. Undismayed 
he bowed to his herculean task with a complacency and courage 
worthy of any race or age of the world's history. The small 
encouragement that came to him from the conscientious minority 
of white men and women was as refreshing as the cool ocean 
breeze at even-tide to the feverish brow of a travel-soiled pilgrim. 
The Negro found it necessary to exert liiiusclf, to lift himself 
out of his social, mental, and political dilemma by the straps of 
his boots. Colored men turned their attention to the education 
of themselves and their children. Schools were begun, churches 
organized, and work of general improvement and self-culture en- 
tered into with alacrity and enthusiasm. Ikiston had among its 
teachers the scholarly Thomas Paul ; among its clergymen 
Leonard A. Grimes and John T. Raymond ; among its lawyers 
Robert Morris and E. (j. Walker; among its business men J. B. 
Smith and Coffin Pitts ; among its physicians John R. Rock and 
John V. DeGrasse ; among its authors Brown and Nell; and 
among its orators Remond and Hilton. . Robert Morris was ad- 
mitted to the bar in Boston, on Tliursday, June 27, i<S5o, at a 
meeting of the members of the Suffolk County ]5ar. The record 
is as follows : 

" Resolved, That Robert Morris, Esq., be recommended for ad- 
mittance to practice as a Counsellor and Attorney of the Circuit and 
District Courts of the United States. 

"(Signed) Ellis Gray Loring, Chairman. 

"Chas. Theo. Russicll, Secrelary." 

John V. DeGrasse, M.D.. an eminent physician of Boston was 
perhaps the most accomplished Colored gentleman in New Eng- 
land between 1850-1860. The following notice appeared in a 
Boston journal in August, 1854: 

" On the 24th of August, 1S54. Mr. DeGrasse was admitted in due 
form a member of the ' Massachusetts Medical Society.' It is the first 
instance of such honor being conferred upon a colored man in this 
State, at least, and probably in the country ; and therefore it deserves 
I)articular notice, both because the means by which he has reached this 
distinction are creditable to his own intelligence and perseverance, and 
because others of his class mav be stimulated to seek an elevation which 



134 in STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

has hitherto been supposed unattainable by men of color. The I^octor 
is a native of New York City, where he was born in June, 1825, and 
where he spent his time in private and public schools till 1840. He 
then entered the Oneida Institute, IJeriah Green, President, and spent 
one year ; but as I^atin was not taught there, he left and entered the 
Clinton Seminary, where he remained two years, intending to enter 
college in the fall of 1S43. He was turned from this purpose, however, 
by the persuJs:ons of a friend in France, and after spending two years 
in a college in that country, he returned to New York in November, 
1845, and commenced tlie study of medicine with Dr. Samuel R. Childs, 
of that city. There he spent two years in patient and diligent study, 
and then two more in attending the medical lectures of Bowdoin Col- 
lege, Me. Leaving that institution with honor in May, 1849, he went 
again to Europe in the autimin of that year, and spent considerable 
time in the hospitals of Paris, travelling, at intervals, through jiarts of 
France, England, Italy, and Switzerland. Returning home in the ship 
' S.amuel Fox,' in the capacity of surgeon, he was married in August, 
1852, and since that lime he has practised medicine in lioston. Earn- 
ing a good reputation here by his diligence and skill, he was admitted 
a member of the Medical Society, as above stated. Many of our most 
respectable physicians visit and advise with him whenever counsel is 
required. The Boston medical profession, it must be acknowledged, 
has done itself honor in thus discarding the law of caste, and gener- 
ouslv acknowledging real merit, without regard to the hue of the skin." 

The Colored population of New York was equal to the great 
emergency that required them to put forth their personal ex- 
ertions. Dr. Henry Highland Garnet, Dr. Charles B. Ray, and 
the Rev. Peter Williams in the pulpit ; Charles L. Reason and 
William Peterson as teachers; James McCune Smith and Philip 
A. White as physicians and chemists ; James Williams and Jacob 
Day among business men, did much to elevate the Negro in self- 
respect and self-support. 

Philadelphia early ranked among her foremost leaders of the 
Colored people, William Whipper, Stephen Smith, Robert Purvis, 
William Still, Frederick A. Hinton, and Joseph Cassey. From 
an inquiry instituted in 1837, it was ascertained that out of the 
18,768 Colored people in Philadelphia, 250 had paid for their 
freedom the aggregate sum of $79,612, and that the real and per- 
sonal property owned by them was near $1,500,000. There 
were returns of several chartered benevolent societies for the 
purpose of affording mutual aid in sickness and distress, and 



THE NORTIIF.RiX NEGROES. 1 35 

there were sixteen houses of public worsliii), witli over 4,000 com- 
municants. And in Western Pennsylvania there were John Peck, 
John B. Vashon, Geo. Gardner, and Lewis Woodson. Every 
State in the North seemed to produce Colored men of marked 
ability to whom God committed a great work. Their examples 
of patient fortitude, industry, and frugality, and their determined 
efforts to obtain knowledge and build up character, stimulated 
the youth of the Negro race to greater exertions in the upward 
direction. 

The African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized as 
early as 1816. Its churches grew and its ministr)- increased in 
numbers, intelligence, and piety, until it became the most powerful 
organization of Colored men on the continent. The influence of 
this organization upon the Colored race in America was excel- 
lent. It brought the people together, not only in religious sym- 
pathy, but by the ties of a common interest in all affairs of their 
race and condition. The men in the organization who possessed 
the power of speech, who had talents to develop, and an am- 
bition to serve their race, found this church a wide field of use- 
fulness. 

The Colored Baptists were organized before the Methodists, 
[in Virginia,] but their organization has always lacked strength. 
The form of government, being purely Democratic, was adapted 
to a people of larger intelligence and possessed of greater ca- 
pacity for self-government. But, notwithstanding this fact, the 
" independent " orfier of Colored Baptists gave the members and 
clergymen of the denomination exalted ideas of government, and 
abiding confidence in the capacity of the Negro for self-govern- 
ment. No organization of Colored people in America has pro- 
duced such able men as the Colored Baptist Church. 

In Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, Colored men dis- 
tinguished themselves in the pulpit, in the forum, in business, 
and letters. William Howard Day, of C^eveland, during this 
period [1850-1860] Librarian of the Cleveland Librar\^ and 
editor of a newspaper: John Mercer Langston, of Oberlin ; John 
Liverpool and John I. Gaines, of Cincinnati, Ohio, were good 
men and true. What they did for their race was done worthily 
and well. At the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention, held at Putnam 
on the 22d, 23d, and 24th of April, 1835, the committee on the 
condition of the " people of Color," made the following report 
from Cincinnati : 



136 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



The number of \ Colored people in Cincinnati is about 2,500. As 
illustrating their general condition, we will give the statistics of one or 
two small districts. The families in each were visited from house to 
house, taking them all as far as we went : 



Number of families in one of these districts 

" of individuals ...... 

" of heads of families ..... 

" of heads of families who are professors of religion 

" of children at school ..... 

" of heads of families who have been slaves 

" of individuals who have been slaves 
Time since they obtained their freedom, from i to 15 years ; 

average, 7 years. 
Number of individuals who have purchased themselves 
Whole amount paid for themselves 
Number of fathers and mothers still in slavery 

" of children ..... 

" of brothers and sisters 

" of newspapers taken .... 

" of heads of families who can read 



26 
125 
49 
19 
20 

39 

95 



23 
$9,112 

9 

18 
98 

o 



I 



EMPLOYMENT OF HEADS OF FAMILIES. 



^ 



Common laborers and porters 

Dealers in second-hand clothing 

Hucksters 

Carpenters 

Shoe-blacks 

Cooks and waiters 

Washer-women . 



(. 



7 
I 
I 

2 

6 

] I 

iS 



Five of these womai purchased themselves from slavery. One paid 
four hundred dollars for herself, and has since bought a house and lot 
worth six hundred dollars. All this she has done by washing. , 

Another individual had bargained for his wife and two children. 
Their master agreed to take four hundred and twenty dollars for them. 
He succeeded at length in raising the money, which he carried to their 
owner. " I shall charge you thirty dollars more than when you was 
here before," said the planter, "for your wife is in a family-way, and 
you may pay thirty dollars for that or not take her, just as you please." 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 



13; 



" And so," said he (patting tlie head of a little son, three years old, who 
hiinn upon his knee), " I had to pay liiirty dollars for this little fellow 
six months before he was born." 



Number of families in another district .... 6,5 

" of individuals ...... 

" , of heads of families ..... 

of families who are professors of religion 
" of heads of families at school 
" of newspapers taken ..... 

Amount of property in real estate .... 

Number of individuals who have been slaves 

of Iteads of families who have been slaves 
Age at which they obtained their freedom, from 3 months to 

60 years ; average, 2ii years. 
Time since they obtained their freedom, from 4 weeks to 27 

years ; average, 9 years. 
Number of heads of families who have purchased themselves, 36 

Whole amount paid for themselves .... $21,515.00 

Average price $597-64 

Number of children which the same families have already 



106 
16 

53 

7 

$9,850 

108 

69 



purchased ...... 

Whole amount paid for these children 
Average [irice . . . . 

Total amount paid for these parents and children 
Number of parents still in slavery 

of husbands or wives .... 

" of children ...... 

of brothers and sisters .... 



14 
§2,425-75 

SI73-27 

S23>94o.75 

16 

7 

35 

144 



These districts were visited without the least reference to their being 
exhibited separately. If they give a fair specimen of the whole popu- 
lation (and we believe that to be a fact), then we have the following re- 
sults : 1,129 of the Colored population of Cincinnati have been in 
slavery ; 476 have purchased themselves, at the total expense of 
$215,522.04, averaging for each, $452.77; 163 parents are still in 
slavery, 6S husbands and wives, 346 chiklren, 1,579 brothers and sisters. 

There are a large number in the city who are now working out their 
own freedom — their free papers being retained as security. One man 
of our actpiaintance has just given his master seven notes of one hun- 
dred dollars each, one of which he intends to pay every year, till he has 
paid them all ; his master promises then to give him his free papers. 
After paying for himself, he intends to buy his wife and then his chil- 



138 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

dren. Others are buying their husbands or wives, and others again 
their parents or children. To show that on this subject they have 
sympatliies like other people, we will state a single fact. A young man, 
after purchasing himself, earned three hundred dollars. This sum he 
supposed was sufficient to purchase his aged mother, a widow, whom 
he had left in slavery five years before, in Virginia. Hearing that she 
was for sale, he started immediately to purchase her. But, after trav- 
elling five hundred miles, and offering all his money, he was refused. 
Not because she was not for sale, nor because he did not offer lier full 
value. She had four sons and daughters with her, and the j^lanter 
thought he could do better to keep the family together and send them 
all down the river. In vain the affectionate son pleaded for his mother. 
The ]jlanter's heart was steel. He would not sell her, and with a 
heavy heart the young man returned to Cincinnati. He has since 
heard that they were sold in the New Orleans market " in lots to suit 
purchasers." 

Cincinnati produced quite a number of business men among 
her ColorcLl jiopulation. 

HENRY BOYD 

was born in the State of Kentucky, on the 14th day of May, 
l8o3. lie received some instruction in reading and writing. 
He was bound out to a gentleman, from whom he learned the 
cabinet-making trade. He developed at cjuite an early age a 
genius for working in all kinds of wood — could make any thing 
in the business. He came to Ohio in 1826, and located in Cin- 
cinnati. He was a fine-looking man of twenty-four years, and a 
master mechanic. He expected to secure employment in some 
of the cabinet shops in the city. Accordingly, lie applied at 
several, but as often as he applied he was refused employment 
on the ground of complexional prejudice. In some instances the 
proprietor was willing that a Colored man should work for him, 
but the white mechanics woidd not work by the side of a Colored 
man. In other cases it was quite different. The proprietors 
would not entertain the idea of securing the services of a " Black 
mechanic." So it was for weeks that Mr. Boyd sought an op- 
portunity to use his skill in the direction of his genius and train- 
ing; but he sought in vain. Disappointed, though not disheart- 
ened, he turned to the work of a stevedore, which he did for four 
months. At the expiration of this time he found employment 
with a house-builder. Within six months from the time he be- 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 139 

gan work as a builder he had so thoroughly mastered the trade 
that he quit working as a journeyman, formed a co-partnership 
with a white man, and went into business. The gentleman with 
whom he joined his fortunes was a mechanic of excellent abili- 
ties, and acknowledged the superior fitness of Boyd for the 
business. 

As a builder he succeeded first-rate for four years. But his 
color was against him. Mis white partner would make the con- 
tracts, secure the jobs, ant! then Bo\xl would come forward when 
the work was to be done. He had an abundance of work, and 
always finished it to the entire satisfaction of his patrons. It is 
impossible to estimate just how man)' houses he built, but the 
number is not small. lie had made a beginning, and secured 
some capital. He did not like the builder's trade, and only en- 
tered it at the first from necessity — as a stepping-stone to his 
own trade, for which he had a great deal of enthusiasm. In 
1836, ten years after his arrival in Cincinnati, he enga^^ed in the 
manufacture of bedsteads. For si.x years he carried on this busi- 
ness — found a ready market and liberal pa\'. He brought to his 
business some of the oldest buyers in the bedstead line, and had 
a trade that kept him busy at all seasons of the year. His very 
e.Kcellent business habits won for him many friends, antl through 
their solicitations he enlarged his business by manufacturing all 
kinds of furniture. He put up a building on the corner of Eighth 
Street and Broadway, where he carried on his manufacturing from 
iS36till 1S59, a period of twenty-three years. His business required 
four large buildings and a force of skilful workmen, never less 
than Iwent)-, frequently fift\'. He used the most approved ma- 
criincr\- and paid excellent wages. 

His manufactory presented, perhaps, what was never seen in 
this country before or since. His workmen represented almost 
all the leading races. There were Negroes, Americans, Irishmen, 
Scotchmen, Englishmen, l'"renchmcn, and men of other nation- 
alities. And they did n't bite each other ! Their relations were 
pleasant. 

He was burned out tliree times, but he rebuilt and went ahead. 
He was doing such an extensive business that some thought it 
advisable to destroy his buildings. His losses were very heavy, 
yet he kept right on, and kept up his business for some time : 
but finally had to yield at the last fire, when he had no insur- 
ance. 



I40 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

He invented a machine to turn the rails of a bed, but being a 
Colored man he could not take out a patent. He, therefore, had 
one taken out in the name of a white gentleman. "The Boyd 
bedstead " sold throughout the United States then, and was 
popular for many years after he quit the business. 

He has been engaged in several different businesses since he 
quit manufacturing, and for the last nine years has been in the 
employ of the city. 

SAMUEL T. WILCOX. 

In 1S50 Samuel T. Wilcox decided to embark in some busi- 
ness venture in Cincinnati. Accordingly he built a store on the 
northeast corner of Broadway and Fifth streets. He at once oc- 
cupied it as a grocer. In those days fancy groceries were not 
kept. But Mr. Wilco.x opened a new era in the business. He 
introduced fancy articles, such as all varieties of canned fruit, 
choice liquors, cigars, first quality of hams, all kinds of dried fruit, 
the best brands of sugars, molasses, and fine soaps. He made a 
specialty of these, and succeeded admirably. 

His trade was divided between two classes — the finest river 
packets and the best families of the city. His customers were 
the very best families — people of wealth and high standing. And 
perhaps no grocer of his times in Cincinnati did so large a busi- 
ness as Samuel T. Wilcox. 

His business increased rapidly until he did about $140,000 
of trade per year ! This continued for si.K years, when his social 
habits were not favorable to permanent success. He had been 
sole owner of the business up to this time. He sold out orte 
half of the store to Charles Roxboro, Sr. ; thus the firm name 
became " Wilcox & Roxboro." The latter gentleman was 
energetic and business-like in his habits. He cast his courage 
and marvellous tact against the high tide of business disaster 
that came sweeping along in the last days of the firm. He re- 
sorted to ever\' honorable and safe expedient in order to avert 
failure. But the handwriting was upon the wall. He failed. 
Wilcox had begun business with $25,000 cash. He had accumu- 
lated $60,000 in real estate, and had transacted $140,000 of 
business in a single year ! He failed because his life was im- 
moral, his habits extravagant, and his attention to business in- 
different. 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 14 1 

ALEX. S. THOMAS. 

This gentleman came to Cincinnati in 1852, where he made 
the acquaintance of a Colored gentleman of intelligence, J. P. 
Ball, who was in the daguerrian business at Nos. 28 and 30 West 
Fourth Street. Mr. Thomas became affianced to Miss Eliza- 
beth Ball, sister of J. P. Ball ; and after they were married, Mr. 
Thomas accepted the position of reception clerk for his brother- 
in-law. He filled this position with credit and honor for the 
space of one year. It was now 1S53. Daguerrotypes were all the 
"rage." Photography was unknown. Mr. Ball had an excellent 
run of custom, and was making money rapidly. 

As operator, Mr. Ball soon discovered that Mr. Thomas was 
a man of quick perception, thorough, and entirely trustworthy. 
He soon became familiar with the instrument, and in 1S54 began 
to " operate." He continued at the instrument during the re- 
mainder of the time he spent at 28 West Fourth Street. He 
shortly acquired the skill of an ok! and well-trained operator; 
and his success in this department of the business added greatly 
to the ah-eady well-established reputation of the gallery. 

Mr. Thomas was not satisfied with being a successful clerk 
and first-class operator. He wanted to go into business for him- 
self. Accordingly he opened a gallery at No. 120 West Fourth 
Street, near the "Commercial," under the firm name of " Ball & 
Thomas." The rooms were handsomely fitted up, and the 
building leased for five years. 

In May, i860, a severe tornado passed over thi; city, destroy- 
ing much pro[)erty and several lives. The roof of the Commer- 
cial [Potter's Building] was carried away; part passed over the 
gallery of Ball & Thomas, while part went through the operating 
room, and some fragments of timber, etc., penetrated a saloon in 
the rear of the photographic gallery, and killed a child and 
a woman. The gallery was a complete wreck, the instruments, 
chemicals, scenery, cases, pictures, carpets, furniture, and every 
thing else, were ruined. This was in the early days of the firm. 
All their available capital had been converted into stock, used 
in fitting up the gallery. Ball & Thomas were young men — 
they were Colored men, and were financially ruined. Apparently 
their business was at an end. But they were artists ; and many 
white families in Cincinnati recognized them as such. Their 
white friends came to the rescue. The gallery was fitted up 
again most elaborately, and was known as "the finest photo- 
graphic gallery west of the Alleghany Mountains." 



142 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

This marked a distinct era in the history of the firm, and 
many persons often remarked that the luckiest moment in their 
history was when tlie roof of the Commercial building sat down 
upon them. For years the best families of the city patronized 
the famous firm of Ball & Thomas. They had more business 
than they could attend to at times, and consequently had to en- 
gage extra help. These were years of unprecedented success. 
One hundred dollars a day was small money then. The firm be- 
came quite wealthy. After spending fifteen years at 120 they 
returned to 30 West Fourth Street, where they remained until 
May, 1874. 

Photographers move considerable, and it is seldom that men 
in this business remain in one street or building as long as Ball 
& Thomas. They passed twenty-one of the best years of the 
firm in Fourth Street. This is both a compliment to the public 
and themselves. It shows, on the one hand, that Colored men 
can conduct business like white men, and, on the other hand, if 
Colored men have ability to carry on any kind of business, white 
people will patronize them. 

The old stand at 30 West Fourth Street was fitted up anew, 
and business began with all the wonted zeal and desire to please 
the public which characterized the firm in former years. The 
rooms were at once elegant and capacious. Their motto was to 
do the best work at the cheapest rates. But as in all other busi- 
nesses, so in photographic art, there was competition. And rather 
than do poor work' at the low rates of competitors, they de- 
cided to remove to another locality. Accordingly, in May, 1874, 
they moved into No. 146 West Fifth Street. The building 
was leased for a term of years. It was in no wise adapted to the 
photographic business. The walls were cut out, doors made, 
stairs changed, skylight put in, chemical rooms constructed, gas- 
fixtures put in, papering, painting, and graining done, carpets 
and new furniture ordered. It cost the firm more than $2,8oo to 
enter this new stand. 

The first year at the new stand was characterized by liberal 
custom and excellent work. The old customers who were de- 
lighted with the work done at 30 West Fourth Street, were con- 
vinced that the firm had redoubled its artistic zeal, and was de- 
termined to outdo the palmy days of Fourth Street. The 
business, which at this time was in a flourishing condition, was 
destined to suffer an interruption in the death of Thomas Carroll 



THE NORTHERN NEGROES. 143 

i^all, the senior member of the firm. It was at a time when the 
trade demanded the energies of both gentlemen. But Death 
never tarries to consider the far-reach of results or the wishes of 
the friends of his subject. The business continued. Ball Thomas, 
the son of Mr. A. S. Thomas, who had grown up under the faith- 
ful tuition of his father, now became a successful retouching 
artist. For the last two years Mr. Thomas has conducted the 
business alone. He is now doing business at 166 West Fifth 
Street, and it is said that he is doing a good business. 

The Colored people of Cincinnati evinced not only an anxiety 
to take care of themselves, but took steps early toward securing 
a home for the orphans in their midst. 

' In antc-bclliim days there was no provision made for Colored 
paupers or Colored orphans. Where individual sympathy or 
charity did not intervene, they were left to die in the midst of 
squalid poverty, and were cast into the common ditch, without 
having medical aid or ministerial consolation. There was not 
simply studious neglect, but a strong prohibition against their 
entrance into institutions sustained by the county and State for 
white persons not more fortunate than they. At one time a 
good Quaker was superintendent of the county poorhouse. 
His heart was touched with kindest sympathy for the uncared- 
for Colored paupers in Cincinnati. He acted the part of a true 
Samaritan, and gave them separate quarters in the institution of 
which he was the official head. This fact came to the public ear, 
and the trustees of the poorhouse, in accordance with their 
own convictions and in compliance with the complexional preju- 
dices of the community, discharged the Quaker for this breach of 
the law. The Colored paupers were turned out of this lazar- 
housc on the Sabbath. The time to perpetuate this crime against 
humanity was indeed significant — on the Lord's day. The God 
of the poor ,uul His followers beheld the streets of Christian 
Cincinnati filled with the maimed, halt, sick, and poor, who were 
denied the common fare accorded the white paupers ! There 
was no sentiment in those days, either in the inilpit or press, to 
raise its voice against this act of cruelty and shame. 

Lydia P. Mott, an eminent member of the Society of Friends 
and an able leader of a conscientious few, espoused the cause 
of the motherless, fatherless, and homeless Colored children of 
this community. She attracted the attention and won the confi- 



144 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

deuce of the few Abolitionists of this city. She determined to 
establish a home for these little wanderers, and immediately set 
to work at a plan. The late Salmon P. Chase was then quite 
young, a man of brilliant abilities and of anti-slavery sentiments. 
He joined himself to the humane movement of Lydia P. Mott, 
with the following persons : Christian Donaldson, James Pullan, 
William Donaldson, Robert Buclianan, John Liverpool, Richard 
Phillips, John Woodson, Charles Satchell, Wm. W. Watson, 
William Darnes, Michael Clark, A. M. Sumner, Reuben P. Gra- 
ham, Louis P. Brux, Sarah B. McLain, Mrs. Eustis, Mrs. Dr. 
Stanton, Mrs. Hannah Cooper, Mrs. Mary Jane Gordon, Mrs. 
Susan Miller, Mrs. Rebecca Darnes, Mrs. Charlotte Armstrong, 
Mrs. Eliza Clark, Mrs. Ruth Ellen Watson, and others. Six of 
the gentlemen and four of the ladies were white. Only six of 
this noble company are living at this time. 

The organization was effected in 1844, and the act of incor- 
poration was drawn up by Salmon P. Chase. It was chartered 
in February, 1845, the passage of the act having been assured 
through the personal influence of Mr. Chase upon the members 
of the Legislature. 

The first Board of Trustees under the charter were William 
Donaldson, John Woodson, Richard Phillips, Christian Donald- 
son, Reuben P. Graham, Richard Pullan, Charles Satchell, Louis 
P. Brux, and John Liverpool. But one is alive — Richard Pullan. 

The first building the Trustees secured as an asylum was on 
Ninth Street, between Plum and Elm. They paid a rental of 
$12.50 per month. The building was owned by Mr. Nicholas 
Longworth, but the ground was leased by him from Judge Bur- 
net. The Trustees ultimately purchased the building for $1,500; 
and in 1 85 I the ground also was purchased of Mr. Groesbeck for 
$4,400 in cash. 

During the three or four years following, the institution had 
quite an indifferent career. The money requisite to run it was 
not forthcoming. The children were poorly fed and clothed, 
and many times there was no money in the treasury at all. The 
Trustees were discouraged, and it seemed that the asylum would 
have to be closed. But just at this time that venerable Aboli- 
tionist and underground railroader, Levi Cofifin, with his excellent 
wife, "Aunt Kitty," came to the rescue. He took charge of the 
institution as superintendent, and his wife assumed the duties of 
matron. Through their exertions and adroit management they 



rnE NORTHERN NEGROES. 145 

succeeded in enlisting the sympathy of many benevolent folk, 
and secured the support of many true friends. 

It was now 1866. The asylum building presented a forlorn 
aspect. It was far from being a comfortable shelter for the chil- 
dren. Hut a lack of funds forbade the Trustees from having it 
repaired. They began to look about for a more desirable and 
comfortable building. During the closing year of the Rebellion 
a large number of freedmen sought the shelter of our large 
Northern cities. Cincinnati received her share of them, and 
acted nobly toward them. The government authorities built a 
hospital for freedmen in a very desirable locality in Avondale. 
At this time (1866), the building, which was very capacious, was 
not occupied. The Trustees secured a change in the charter, 
permitting them, by consent of the subscribers, to sell the Ninth 
Street property, and purchase the hospital building and the ac- 
companying si.K acres in Avondale. The Ninth Street property 
brought $9,000; the purchase in Avondale, refitting, etc., cost 
$1 1,000, incurring a debt of §2,000. 

During the first twenty-two years of the institution much 
good was accomplished. Hundreds of children — orphans and 
friendless children — found shelter in the asylum, which existed 
only through the almost superhuman efiforts of the intelligent 
Colored persons in the community, and the unstinted charity of 
many generous white persons. The asylum has been pervaded with 
a healthy religious atmosphere ; and many of its inmates have gone 
forth to the world giving large promise of usefulness. An occa- 
sional letter from former inmates often proves that much good 
has been done; and that some of these children, without the 
kindly influence and care of the asylum, instead of occupying 
places of usefulness and trust in society, might have drifted into 
vagrancy and crime. 

Amidst the struggle for temporal welfare, the Colored people 
of Cincinnati were not unmindful of the interests and destinies 
of the Union. A military company was formed, bearing the 
name of Attiicks Guards. On the 25th of Julv, 1855, an associa- 
tion of ladies presented a flag to the company. The address, on 
the part of the ladies, was delivered by Miss Mary A. Darnes. 
Among many excellent things, she said : 

"Should the love of liberty .ind your country ever demand your ser- 
vices, may you, in imitation of that noble patriot whose name you bear, 



146 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

promptly respond to the call, and fight to the last for the great and 
noble principles of liberty and justice, to the glory of your fathers and 
the land of your birth. 

" The time is not far distant when the slave must be free ; if not by 
moral and intellectual means, it must be done by the sword. Remem- 
ber, gentlemen, should duty call, it will be yours to obey, and strike to 
the last for freedom or the grave. 

" But God forbid that you should be called upon to witness our 
peaceful homes involved in war. May our eyes never behold this flag 
in any conflict ; let the quiet breeze ever play among its folds, and the 
fullest peace dwell among you ! " 

While the great majority of the Colored people in the coun- 
try were bowing themselves cheerfully to the dreadful task of 
living among wolves, some of the race were willing to brave the 
perils of the sea, and find a new home on the West Coast of 
Africa. Between the years of 1850-1856, 9,502 Negroes went to 
Liberia, of whom 3,676 had been born free. In 1850, there were 
1,467 manumitted, while 1,011 ran away from their masters. 

Notwithstanding the many disadvantages under which the free 
Negroes of the North had to labor, they accomplished a great 
deal. In an incredibly short time they built schools, planted 
churches, established newspapers ; had their representatives in 
law, medicine, and theology before the world as the marvel of 
the centuries. Shut out from every influence calculated to incite 
them to a higher life, and provoke them to better works, never- 
theless, the Colored people were enabled to live down much 
prejudice, and gained the support and sympathy of noble men and 
women of the Anglo-Saxon race. 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS, 147 



CHAPTER XII. 

NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 
1619-1860. 

The Possibilities of thk Human Intellect. — Ignorance Favorable to Slavery — An Act bv 

THE LEGISLATrKK OP AlAUAMA LMl'OSIXG A PENALTY ON ANY ONL InSTKLCTING A CoLOKED 

Person. — Educational Privileges of the Creoles in the City of MotiiLE. — Prkjl'dice 
agmnst Colored Schools in Connecticut. — The Attkmit of Miss Prldencb Cbandall 
to admit Colored Girls into hek School at Canterbury, — The Indignation of the 
Citizens at this Attempt to Mix the Races in Edlcation. — The Lr.cisLATrRE of Con- 
necticut PASSES A Law auolishing the School. — The Building assaulted by a Mob. — 
Miss Crandall arrested and imtkisoned for teaching Colored Children against thb 
Law. — Great Excitement. — The Law finally repealed. — An Act by the Legislaturb 
of Delaware taxing Persons who urought into, oi; sold Slaves cur of, ihe State. — 
Under Act of i8s<) Money received for the Sale of Slaves in Florida was added to 
THE School Fund in that State. — Georgia prohibits the Education of Colored Per- 
sons UNDER Heavy Penalty. — Illinois establishes Separ.\te Schools for Colored Chil- 
dren. — The "Free Mission Institute'* at yuiNcv, Illinois, DESTRt)VED by a Missouri 
Mod. — Numerous and Cruel Slave Laws in Kentucky retard i he Enui ation of the 
Negroes. — An Act passed in Louisiana preventing the Negroes in any Way from 
PEING instructed. ^ Maine gives equal School 1*kivileges to Whites and Blacks. — St. 
Fr.ancis Academy for Colored Girls founded in Baltimore in 1S31. — The Wells 
School. — The First School for Colored Children established is Boston by Intelli- 
gent Colored Men in 1798. — A School-house for the Colored Children built and 

PAID FOR OUT OF A FUND LEFT IIY .\bIEL SmITH FOR THAT PlRl'OSE. — JoM\ B. KusSWORM 
ONE OF THE TeACHEKS AND AeTERWARO GOVERNOR OF THE CoLONY OF CaPE PaLMAS, 

LiuEKiA. — FiKSr Primary School for Colored Children established in 1S20. — Missouri 
PASSES Stringent Laws against the Instruction of Negroes. — New York provides for 
THE Education of Negroes. — Elias Neau opens a School in New York City for 
Negro Slaves i\" i704.^'*Ne\v York African Free School" in 17S6. —Visit of Lafay- 
ette TO the African Schools in- 1824. — His Address. — Public Schools for Colored 
Children in New York. — Colored Schools in Ohio. — '* Cincinnati High School" for 
Colored Youths foundfd in i!'44. — Oberi.in Collfce opfns it< Doors to ('oiored Stu- 
dents. — The Establishment of Colorkd Schools in Pennsylvania uv Anihony Henkzet 
in 1750. — His Will. — "Institute for Colored Youths'* established in 1S37. — "Averv 
College,** AT Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, founded in iS^o- — Ashmun Institute, or 
Lincoln University, .founded in October, 1856. — South Carolina takes Definite Action 

AGAINST the EDUCATION OR pROMOIION OF THE CoLOREU RaCK IN lSoo-18^3-1834. — TENNESSEE 
makes NO DiSCRIMINATIO.N AGAINST COLOR IN THE ScHOOL LaW OF 1840. — LiTTLE OPPORTU- 
NITY AFFORDED IN VIRGINIA FOR THE CoLORED MaN TO BE ENLIGHTENED. — STRINGENT LaWS 

enacted. — History of Schools kor the Colored Population in the District op 
Columbia. 

THE institution of American slavery needed protection from 
the day of its birth to the day of its death. Whips, thumb- 
screws, and manacles of iron were far less helpful to it than 
the thraldom of the intellects of its hapless victims. "Created a 
little lower than the angels/' "crowned with gloi}- and honor/' 



I48 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

armed with authority " over every living creature," man was in. 
tended by liis Maker to rule the world through his intellect. The 
homogcneousness of the crude faculties of man has been quite 
generally admitted throughout the world ; while even scientists, 
differing widely in many other things, have united in ascribing 
to the human mind everywhere certain possibilities. But one 
class of men have dissented from this view — the slave-holders of 
all ages. A justification of slavery has been sought in the alleged 
belief of the inferiority of the persons enslaved; while the broad 
truism of the possibilities of the human mind was confessed in 
all legislation that sought to prevent slaves from acquiring 
knowledge. So the slave-holder asserted his belief in the men- 
tal inferiority of the Negro, and then advertised his lack of faith 
in his assertion by making laws to prevent the Negro intellect 
from receiving those truths which would render him valueless as 
a slave, but equal to the duties of a freeman. 

ALABAMA 

had an act in 1S32 which declared that "Any person or persons 
who shall attempt to teach any free person of color or slave to 
spell, read, or write, shall, upon conviction thereof by indict- 
ment, be fined in a sum not less than $250, nor more than $500." 
This act also prohibited with severe penalties, by flogging, " any 
free negro or person of color" from being in company with 
any slaves without written permission from the owner or over- 
seer of such slaves ; it also prohibited the assembling of more 
than five male slaves at any place off the plantation to which 
they belonged ; but nothing in the act was to be considered as 
forbidding attendance at places of public worship held by white 
persons. No slave or free person of color was permitted to 
"preach, exhort, or harangue any slave or slaves, or free persons 
of color, except in the presence of five respectable slave-holders, 
or unless the person preaching was licensed by some regular 
body of professing Christians in the neighborhood, to whose 
society or church the negroes addressed properly belonged." 

In 1S33, the mayor and aldermen of the city of Mobile were 
authorized by an act of the Legislature to grant licenses to such 
persons as they deemed suitable to give instruction to the chil- 
dren of free Colored Creoles. This applied only to those who re- 
sided in the city of Mobile and county of Baldwin. The instruction 
was to be given at brief periods, and the children had to secure a 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 149 

certificate from the mayor and aldermen. The ground of this 
action was the treaty between France ami the United States in 
1803, by wiiich the rights and privileges of citizens had been 
secured to the Creoles residing in the above places at the time 
of the treaty. 

ARKANSAS, 

so far as her laws appear, did not prohibit the education of 
Negroes ; but a study of her laws leaves the impression that 
the Negroes there were practical!)' denied the right of instruc- 
tion. 

CONNECTICUT 



never legislated against educating Colored persons, but the preju- 
dice was so strong that it amounted to the same thing. The 
intolerant spirit of the whites drove the Colored people of 
Hartford to request a separate school in 1830. Prejudice was 
so great against the presence of a Colored school in a com- 
munity of white people, that a school, established by a very 
worthy white lady, was mobbed and then legislated out of ex- 
istence. 

" In the summer of 1832, Miss Prudence Crandall, an excellent, 
well-educated Quaker young lady, who had gained considerable repu- 
tation as a teacher in the neighboring town of Plainfield, purchased, at 
the solicitation of a number of families in the village of Canterbury, 
Connecticut, a commodious house in that village, for the pur|)ose of es- 
tablishing a boarding and day school for young ladies, in order that 
they might receive instruction in higher branches than were taught in 
the public district school. Her school was well conducted, but was in- 
terrupted early in 1833 in this wise : Not far from the village a worthy 
colored man was living, by the name of Harris, the owner of a good 
farm, and in comfortable circumstances. His daughter Sarah, a bright 
girl, seventeen years of age, had passed with credit through the public 
school of the district in which she lived, and was anxious to acquire a 
better education, to qualify herself to become a teacher of the colored 
])eople. She applied to Miss Crandall for admission to her school. 
Miss Crandall hesitated, for prudential reasons, to admit a colored per- 
son among her pupils ; but Sarah was a young lady of pleasing appear- 
ance and manners, well known to many of Miss Crandall's present 
pupils, having been their classmate in the district school, and was, more- 
over, a virtuous, pious girl, and a member of the church in Canterbury. 
No objection could be made to her admission, except on acount of her 
complexion, and Miss Crandall decided to receive her as a pupil. 



ISO HISTOJiV OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

No objection was made by the other pupils, but in a few days the 
parents of some of them called on Miss Crandall and remonstrated ; and 
although Miss Crandall pressed upon their consideration the eager de- 
sire of Sarah for knowledge and culture, and the good use she wished to 
make of her education, her excellent character, and her being an ac- 
cepted member of the same Christian church to which they belonged, 
they were too much prejudiced to listen to any arguments — ' they 
would not have it said that their daughters went to school with a nigger 
girl.' It was urged that if Sarah was not dismissed, the white pupils 
would be withdrawn ; but although the fond hopes of success for an 
institution which she had established at the risk of all her property, 
and by incurring a debt of several hundred dollars, seemed to be 
doomed to disaiipointment, she decided not to yield to the demand for 
the dismissal of Sarah ; and on the 2d day of March, 1833, she adver- 
tised in the ' Liberator ' that on the first Monday in April her school 
would be open for 'young ladies and little misses of color,' Her deter- 
mination having become known, a fierce indignation was kindled and 
fanned by prominent people of the village and pervaded the town. In 
this juncture, the Rev. Samuel J. May, of the neighboring town of 
Brooklyn, addressed her a letter of sympathy, expressing his readiness 
to assist her to the extent of his power, and was present at the town 
meeting held on the 9th of March, called for the express purpose of 
devising and adopting such measures as ' would effectually avert 
the nuisance or speedily abate it if it should be brought into the 
village.' 

" The friends of Miss Crandall were authorized by her to state to 
the moderator of the town meeting that she would give up her house, 
which was one of the most conspicuous in the village, and not wholly 
paid for, if those who were opposed to her school being there would 
take the property off her hands at the price for which she had pur- 
chased it, and which was deemed a reasonable one, and allow her time 
to procure another house in a more retired part of the town. 

" The town meeting was held in the meeting-house, which, though 
capable of holding a thousand people, was crowded throughout to its 
utmost capacity. After the warning for the meeting had been read, 
resolutions were introduced in whicli were set forth the disgrace and 
damage that would be brought upon the town if a school for colored 
girls should be set up there, protesting emphatically against the im- 
pending evil, and appointing the civil authority and select-men a com- 
mittee to wait upon 'the person contemplating the establishment of said 
school, and persuade her, if possible, to abandon the project.' 

"The resolutions were advocated by Rufus Adams, Esq., and Hon. 
Andrew T. Judson, who was then the most prominent man of the town, 
and a leading politician in the State, and much talked of as the Demo- 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 151 

cratic candidate for governor, and was a representative in Congress 
from 183J to 1839, when he was elected judge of the United States 
District Court, which position he held until his death in 1S53, adjudi- 
cating, among other causes, the libel of the ' Amistad ' and the fifty-four 
Africans on board. After his address on this occasion, Mr. May, in 
company with Mr. Arnold Buffum, a lecturing agent of the New England 
Anti-Slavery Society, applied for permission to'speak in behalf of Miss 
Crandall, but their application was violently opposed, and the resolu- 
tions being adopted, the meeting was declared, by the moderator, ad- 
journed. 

" Mr. May at once stepped upon the seat where he had been sitting, 
and ra]>idly vindicated Miss Crandall, replying to some of the mis- 
statements as to her purposes and the character of her expected pupils, 
when he gave way to Mr. Buffum, who had spoken scarcely five minutes 
before the trustees of the church ordered the house to be vacated and 
the doors to be shut. There was then no alternative but to yield. 

" Two days afterward Mr. Judson called on Mr. May, with whom he 
had been on terms of a pleasant acquaintance, not to say of friendship, 
and expressed regret that he had applied certain epithets to liini ; and 
went on to speak of the disastrous effect (;n tlie village from the estab- 
lishment of 'a school for nigger girls.' Mr. May replied that his 
])urpose was, if he had been allowed to do so, to state at the town 
meeting Miss Crandall's proposition to sell her house in the village at 
its fair valuation, and retire to some other part of the town. To this 
Mr. Judson replied '■ ' Mr. May, we are not merely opposed to the es- 
tablishment of that school in Canterbury, we mean there shall not be 
such a school set up anywhere in the State.' 

" Mr. Judson continued, declaring that the colored people could 
never rise from their menial condition in our country, and ought not 
to be permitted tc rise here ; that they were an inferior race and should 
not be recognized as the equals of the whites ; that they should be 
sent back to Africa, and improve themselves there, and civilize and 
Christianize the natives. To tliis Mr. May replied that there never 
would be fewer colored people in this country than there were then ; 
that it was unjust to drive them out of the country ; that we must ac- 
cord to them their rights or incur the loss of our own ; that education 
was the primal, fundamental right of all the children of men ; and that 
Connecticut was the last place where this should be denied. 

" The conversation was continued in a similar strain, in the course 
of which Mr. Judson declared with warmth: 'That nigger school 
sliall never be allowed in Canterbury, nor in any town of this State"; 
and he avowed his determination to secure the passage of a law by the 
Legislature then in session, forbidding the institution of such a school in 
any part of the State. ~^ 



152 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Undismayed liy the opposition and the threatened violence of her 
neighbors, Miss Crandall received, early in April, fifteen or twenty colored 
young ladies and misses from Philadelphia, New York, Providence, and 
Boston, and the annoyances of her persecutors at once commenced : 
all accommodations at the stores in Canterbury being denied her, her 
pupils being insulted whenever they appeared on the streets, the doors 
and door-steps of her house being besmeared, and her well filled with 
filth ; under all of which, both she and her pujsils remained firm. 
Among other means used to intimidate, an attempt was made to drive 
away those innocent girls by a process under the obsolete vagrant law, 
which provided that the select-men of any town might warn any person, 
not an inhabitant of the State, to depart forthwith, deinanding $1.67 for 
every week he or she remained after receiving such warning ; and in 
case the fine was not paid and the person did not depart before the 
expiration of ten days after being sentenced, then he or she should be 
whipped on the naked body, not exceeding ten stripes. 

"A warrant to that effect was actually served upon Eliza Ann Ham- 
mond, a fine girl from Providence, aged seventeen years ; but it was 
finally abandoned, and another method was resorted to, most disgrace- 
ful to the State as well as the town. Foiled in their attempts to frighten 
away Miss Crandall's pupils by their proceedings under the obso- 
lete ' pauper and vagrant law,' Mr. Judson and those who acted with 
him pressed upon the Legislature, then in session, a deinand for the 
enactment of a law which should enable them to accomplish t-licir pur- 
pose ; and in that bad purpose they succeeded, by securing the follow- 
ing enactment, on the 24th of May, 1S33, known as the ''black law.' 

"'Whereas, attempts have been made to establish literary institu- 
tions in this State for the instruction of colored persons belonging to 
other States and countries, which would tend to the great increase of 
the colored population of the State, and thereby to the injury of the 
people : therefore, 

" ' Bf it enacted., etc.. That no person shall set up or establish in this 
State any school, academy, or other literary institution for the instruc- 
tion or education of colored persons, who are not inhabitants of this 
State, or harbor or board, for the purpose of attending or being taught 
or instructed in any such school, academy, or literary institution, any 
colored person who is not an inhabitant of any town in this State, with- 
out the consent in writing, first obtained, of a majority of the civil au- 
thority, and also of the select-men of the town in which such school, 
academy, or literary institution is situated,' etc. 

" ' And each and every person who shall knowingly do any act for- 
bidden as aforesaid, or shall be aiding or assisting therein, shall for the 
first offense forfeit and pay to the treasurer of this State a fine of $100, 
and for the second offense $200, and so double for every offense of 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 153 

which he or she sliall be convicted ; and all informing officers are re- 
<liiired to make due presentment of all breaches of this act.' 

" On the receipt of the tidings of the passage of this law, the people 
of Canterbury were wild with exultation ; the bells were rung and a 
cannon was fired to manifest the joy. On the 27th of June, Miss 
Crandall was arrested and arraigned before Justices Adams and IJacon, 
two of those who had been the earnest ojjponents of her enterprise ; 
and ihe lesult being predetermined, the trial was of course brief, and 
Miss Crandall was ' committed ' to take her trial at the ne.xt session of 
the Supreme Court at 15rooklyn, in August. A messenger was at once 
dispatched by the ])arty opposed to Miss Crandall to Brooklyn, to in- 
form Mr. May, as her friend, of tlic result of the trial, stating that she 
was in the hands of the sheriff, and would be put in jail unless he or 
some of her friends would ' give bonds ' for her in a certain sum." 

The denouement may be related mcst appropriately in the 
language of Mr. May: 

" I calmly told the messenger that there were gentlemen enougii in 
Canterbury whose bond for that amount would be as good or better 
than mine, and I should leave it for them to do Miss Crandall that 
favor. ' But,' said the young man, 'are you not her friend?' 'Cer- 
tainly,' I replied, ' too sincerely her friend to give relief to her enemies 
in their present embarrassment, and 1 trust ynu will not find any one 
of her friends, or the jjatrons of her school, who will step forward to 
help them any more than myself.' ' But, sir,' he cried, 'do you mean 
to allow her to be put in jail ?' ' Most certainly,' was my answer, 'if 
her persecutors are unwise enough to let such an outrage be commit- 
ted.' He turned from me in blank surprise, and hurried back to tell 
Mr. Judson and the justices of his ill success. 

'' A few days before, when I first heard of the passage of the law, 
I had visited Miss Crandall witii my friend, Mr. George W. Benson, 
and advised with her as to the course she and her friends ought to 
pursue when she should be brought to trial. She ap])reciated at once 
and fully the importance of leaving her persecutors to show to the 
world how base they were, and how atrocious was the law they had in- 
duced the Legislature to enact — a law, by the force of which a woman 
might be fined and imprisoned as a felon in the State of Connecticut 
for giving instruction to colored girls. She agreed that it would be 
best for us to leave her in the hands of those with whom the law origi- 
nated, hoping that, in their madness, they would show forth all their 
hideous features. 

" Mr. Benson and I, therefore, went diligently around to all who he 
knew were friendly to Miss Crandall and her school, and counselled 



154 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

them by no means to give bonds to keep her from imprisonment, be- 
cause nothing would expose so fully to the public the egregious wicked- 
ness of the law and the virulence of her persecutors as the fact that 
they had thrust her into jail. 

" When I found that her resolution was equal to the trial which 
seemed to be impending, that she was ready to brave and to bear 
meekly the worst treatment that her enemies would venture to subject 
her to, I made all the arrangements for her comfort that were practi- 
cable in our prison. It fortunately hajipened that the most suitable 
room, unoccupied, was the one in which a man named Watkins had re- 
cently been confined for the murder of his wife, and out of which he 
had been taken and executed. This circumstance we foresaw would 
add not a little to the public detestation of the black law. The jailer, 
at my request, readily put the room in as nice order as was possible, 
and permitted me to substitute for the bedstead and mattrass on which 
the murderer had slept, fresh and clean ones from my own house and 
Mr. Benson's. 

" About 2 o'clock, P.M., another messenger came to inform me that 
the sheriff was on the way from Canterbury to the jail with Miss Cran- 
dall, and would imprison her unless her friends would give the required 
bail. Although in sym])athy with Miss Crandall's persecutors, he saw 
clearly the disgrace that was about to be brought upon the State, and 
begged me and Mr. Benson to avert it. Of course we refused. I 
went to the jailer's house and met Miss Crandall on her arrival. We 
stepped aside. I said : ' If now you hesitate — if you dread the gloomy 
place so much as to wish to be saved from it, I will give bonds for 
you even now.' ' Oh, no,' she promptly replied, ' I am only afraid they 
will not put me in jail. Their evident hesitation and embarrassment 
show plainly how much they deprecated the effect of this part of their 
folly, and therefore I am the more anxious that they should be exposed, 
if not caught in their own wicked devices. 

" We therefore returned with her to the sheriff and the company 
that surrounded him, to await his final act. He was ashamed to do it. 
He knew it would cover the persecutors of Miss Crandall and the 
State of Connecticut with disgrace. He conferred with several about 
him, and delayed yet longer. Two gentlemen came and remonstrated 

with me in not very seemly terms : ' It would be a shame, an 

eternal disgrace to the State, to have her put into jail — into the very 
room that Watkins had last occupied.' 

"' Certainly, gentlemen,' I rejjlied, 'and this you may prevent if 
you please.' 

" ' Oh I ' they cried, ' we are not her friends ; we are not in favor of 

her school ; we don't want any more niggers coming among us. It 

is your jjlace to stand by Miss Crandall and help her now. You and 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 155 

your abolition brethren have encouraged her to bring this nuisance 

into Canterbury, and it is mean in you to desert her now.' 

" I rejoined : ' She knows we iuive not deserted her, and do not 
intend to desert her. The law whicli her persecutors have persuaded 
our legislators to enact is an infamous one, worthy of the dark ages. 
It would be just as bad as it is whether we would give bonds for her or 
not. But the people generally will not so soon realize how bad, how 
wicked, how cruel a law it is unless we suffer her persecutors to inflict 
upon her all the penalties it prescribes. She is willing to bear them for 
the sake of the cause she has so nobly es]3oused. If you see fit to keep 
her from imprisonment in the cell of a murderer for having jjroffered 
the blessings of a good education to those who in our country need it 
most, you may do so ; toe shall not.' 

"They turned from us in great wrath, words falling from their lips 
which I shall not repeat.) 

" The sun had descended nearly to tlie horizon ; the shadows of 
night were beginning to fall around us. (The sheriff could defer the 
dark deed no longer. With no little emotion, and with words of earnest 
deprecation, he gave that e.xcellent, heroic, Christian young lady into 
the hands of the jailer, and she was led into the cell of Watkins. So 
soon as I had heard the bolts of her prison door turned in the lock, and 
saw the key taken out, I bowed and said : ' The deed is done, com- 
pletely done. It cannot be recalled. It has jjassed into the history of 
our nation and our age.' I went away with my steadfast friend, George 
W. Benson, assured that the legislators of the State had been guilty of a 
most unrighteous act, and that Miss Crandall's jiersecutors had also com- 
mitted a great blunder ; that they all would have much more reason to be 
ashamed of her imprisonment than she or her friends could ever have. ' 
(" The next day we gave the required bonds. Miss Crandall was 
released from the cell of the murderer, returned home, and quietly re- 
sumed the duties of her school until she should be summoned as a 
culprit into court, there to be tried by the infamous ' lUuck La-w of 
Coiiiiccliiiit' 1 And, as we expected, so soon as the evil tidings could be 
carried in tlrat day, before Professor Morse had given to Rumor her tele- 
grajjliic wings, it was known all over the country and the civilized world, 
that an excellent young lady had been imprisoned as a criminal— yes, jjut 
into a murderer's cell — in the State of Connecticut, for opening a school 
for the instruction of colored girls. The comments that were made 
upon the deed in almost all the newspapers were far from grateful to 
the feelings of her persecutors. Even many who, under the same cir- 
cumstances, would probably have acted as badly as Messrs. .\. T. Jud- 
son & Co., denounced their procedure as " un-Christian, inhuman, anti- 
Democratic, base, mean.' 

"On the 23d of .August, 1S33, the first trial of Miss Crandall was 



156 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

had in Brooklyn, the seat of the county of Windham, Hon. Joseph 
Eaton presiding at the county court. 

" The prosecution was conducted by Hon. A. T. Judson, Jonathan 
A. Welch, Esq., and I. Bulkley, Esq. Miss Crandall's counsel was Hon. 
Calvin Goddard, Hon. W. W. Elsworth, and Henry Strong, Esq. 

"The judge, somewhat timidly, gave it as his opinion 'that the 
lav,' was constitutional and obligatory on the people of the State.' 

"The jury, after an absence of several hours, returned into court, 
not having agreed upon a verdict. They were instructed and sent out 
again, and again a third time, in vain ; ihey stated to the judge that 
there was no probability that they could ever agree. Seven were for 
conviction and five for acquittal, so they were discharged. 

" The second trial was on the 3d of October, before Judge Daggett 
of tlie Siqircnie Court, who was a strenuous advocate of the black law. 
His iutluence with the jury was overpowering, insisting in an elaborate 
and able charge that the law was constitutional, and, without much 
hesitation, the verdict was given against Miss Crandall. Her counsel 
at once filed a bill of exceptions, and took an appeal to the Court of 
Errors, which was granted. Before that, the highest legal tribunal in 
the State, the cause was argued on the 22d of July, 1834. Both the 
Hon. W. W. Elsworth and the Hon. Calvin Goddard argued with great 
ability and eloquence against the constitutionality of the black law. 
The Hon. A. T. Judson and Hon. C. F. Cleaveland said all they could 
to prove such a law consistent with the Magna Cliarta of our republic. 
(The court reserved a decision for some future time ; and that decision 
was never given, it being evaded by the court finding such defects in 
the information prepared by the State's attorney that it ought to be 
quashed. ■' 

(" Soon after this, an attempt was made to set the house of Miss 
Crandall on fire, but without effect. The question of her duty to risk 
the lives of her pu|)ils against this mode of attack was then considered, 
and upon consultation with friends it was concluded to hold on and 
bear a little longer, with the hope that this atrocity of attempting to 
fire the house, and thus expose the lives and property of her neigh- 
bors, would frighten the instigators of the persecution, and cause some 
restraint on the 'baser sort.' But a few nights afterward, about 12 
o'clock, being the night of the 9th of September, her house was assaulted 
by a number of persons with heavy clubs and iron bars, and windows 
were daslied to pieces. Mr. May was summoned the next morning, 
and after consultation it was determined that the school should be 
abandoned." ) 

Mr. May thus concluded liis account of this event, and of the 
enterprise : 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 157 

"The pupils were called together and I was requested to announce 
to them our decision. Never before had I felt so dee|)ly sensible of 
the cruelty of the persecution which had been carried on for eighteen 
months in that New England village, against a family of defenseless 
females. /Twenty harmless, well-behaved girls, whose only offense 
against tlre-ileace of the community was that they had come together 
there to obtain useful knowledge and moral culture, were to be told that 
they had better go away, because, forsooth, the house in which they 
dwelt would not be protected by the guardians of the town, the conser- 
vators of the peace, the officers of justice, the men of influence in the 
village where it was situated. The words almost blistered my lips. My 
bosom glowed with indignation. I felt ashamed of Canterbury, ashamed 
of Connecticut, ashamed of my country, ashamed of my color." ' 

Thus ended the generous, disinterested, philanthropic Chris- 
tian enterprise of Prudence Crandall, but the law under which 
her enterprise w;is defeated was repealed in 1838. 

It is to be regretted that Connecticut earned sucii an unenvi- 
able place in history as this. It seems strange, indeed, that such 
an occurrence could take place in the nineteenth century in a 
free State in a republic in North America! But such is "the 
truth of history." 

DELAWARE 

never passed any law against the instruction of Negroes, but in 
1833 passed an act ta.xing every person wlio sold a slave out of 
tlie State, or brought one into the State, five dollars, which went 
into a school fuiul for the education of lu/iite children alone. In 
1S52, the Revised Statutes provided for the taxation of all the 
property of the State for the support of the schools for white 
children alone. So, by implication, Delaware prohibited the 
education of Colored children. 

In 1840, the Friends formed the African School Association 
in Wilmington ; and under its management two excellent schools, 
for boys and girls, were established. 

FLORIDA. 

On the 28th of December, 1848, an act was passed providing 
" for the establishment of common schools." The right to vote 
at district meetings was conferred upon every person whose 
property was liable to taxation for school purposes; but only 
white children were allovi'ed school privileges. 

' Recollcclions of the Ami-Slavery Conflict, by Rev. Samuel J. .May. 



158 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In the same year an act was passed providing that the school 
funds should consist of "the proceeds of the school lands," and 
of all estates, real or personal, escheating to the State, and " the 
proceeds of all property found on the coast or shores of the 
State." In 1850 the counties were authorized to provide, by 
taxation, not more than four dollars for each child within their 
limits of the proper school age. In the same year the amount 
received from the sale of any slave, under the act of 1S29, was 
required to be added to the school fund. The common school 
law was revised in 1853, and the county commissioners were 
authorized to add from the county treasury any sum they 
thought proper for the support of common schools.' 

GEORGIA 

passed a law in 1770 (copied from S. C. .Statutes, passed in 1740), 
fixing a fine of £20 for teaching a slave to read or write. In 
1829 the Legislature enacted the following law: 

" If any slave, negro, or free person of color, or any white person, 
shall teach any other slave, negro, or free person of color to read or 
write either written or printed characters, the said free person of color 
or slave shall be punished by fine and whi|)|)ing, or fine or whipping, at 
the discretion of the court ; and if a white jierson so offend, he, she, or 
they shall be punished with a fine not exceeding $500, and imprison- 
ment in the common jail at the discretion of the court." 

In 1833 the above law was consolidated into a penal code. A 
penalty of $100 was provided against persons who employed 
any slave or free person of Color to set type or perform any other 
labor about a printing-office requiring a knowledge of reading or 
writing. During the same year an ordinance was passed in the 
city of Savannah, " that if any person shall teach or cause to be 
taught any slave or free person of color to read or write within 
tile city, or who shall keep a school for that purpose, he or she 
shall be fined in a sum not exceeding $100 for each and every 
such offense; and if the offender be a slave or free person of 
color, he or she may also be whipped, not exceeding thirty-nine 
lashes." 

In the summer of 1S50 a series of articles by Mr. F. C. Adams 
appeared in one of the papers of Savannah, advocating the edu- 
cation of the Negroes as a means of increasing their value and 

' Biirnard, p. 337. 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 159 

of attaching them to their masters. The subject was afterward 
taken up in the Acjricultiiral Convention which met at Macon in 
September of the same year. The matter was again brought up in 
September, 185 I, in the Agricultural Convention, and after being 
debated, a resolution was passed that a petition be presented to 
the Legislature fora law granting permission to educate the slaves. 
The petition was presented to the Legislature, and Mr. Ilarlston 
introduced a bill in the winter of 1S52, which was discussed and 
passed in the lower House, to repeal the old law, and to grant to 
the masters the privilege of educating their slaves. The bill was 
lost in the senate by two or three votes.' 

ILLINOIS' 

school laws contain the word "white" from beginning to end. 
There is no prohibition against the education of Colored persons ; 
but there being no mention of them, is evidence that they were 
purposely omitted. Separate schools were established for Col- 
oretl children before the war, and a few white schools opened 
their doors to them. The Free Mission Institute at Ouincy 
was destroyed by a mob from Missouri in anic-bcUum days, be- 
cause Colored persons were admitted to the classes. 

INDIAN.V 

denied the right of suffrage to her Negro population in the con- 
stitution of 1851. No provision was made for the education of 
the Negro children. And the cruelty of the laws that drove the 
Negro from the State, and pursued him while in it, gave the poor 
people no hope of peaceful habitation, much less of education. 

KENTUCKY 

never put herself on record against the education of Negroes. 
By an act passed in 1 830, all the inhabitants of each school dis- 
trict were taxed to support a common-school system. The 
property of Colored persons was included, but they could not 
vote or enjoy the privileges of the schools. And the slave laws 
were so numerous and cruel that there was no opportunity left 
the bondmen in this State to acquire any knowledge of books 
even secretly. 

' Barnard, p. 339. 



i6o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

LOUISIANA 

passed an act in 1830, forbidding free Negroes to enter the State. 
It provided also, that whoever should " write, print, publish, or 
distribute any thing having a tendency to produce discontent 
among the free colored population, or insubordination among 
the slaves," should, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned " nt 
hard labor for life, or suffer death, at the discretion of the court." 
And whoever used language calculated to produce discontent 
among the free or slave population, or was " instrumental in 
bringing into the State any paper, book, or pamphlet having 
such tendency," was to " suffer imprisonment at hard labor, not 
less than three years nor more than twenty-one years, or death, 
at the discretion of the court." "All persons," continues the act, 
" who shall teach, or permit, or cause to be taught, an)' slave to 
read or write, shall be imprisoned not less than one month nor 
more than twelve months." 

In 1847, a system of common schools for " the education of 
white youth was established." It was provided that " one mill 
on the dollar, upon the ad valorem amount of the general list of 
taxable property," should be levied for the support of the schools. 

MAINE 

gave the elective franchise and ample school privileges to all her 
citizens, without regard to race or color, by lier constitution of 
1820. 

MARYLAND 

alwa\-s restricted the right of suffrage to her " white male inhabi- 
tants," and, therefore, always refused to make any provisions for 
the education of her Negro population. There is nothing upon 
her statute-books prohibiting the instruction of Negroes, but the 
law that designates her schools for " white children" is sufficient 
proof that Negro children were purposely omitted and excluded 
from the benefits of the schools, 

f St. Frances Academy for Colored girls was founded in connec- 
tion with the Oblate Sisters of Providence Convent, in Baltimore, 
June 5, 1829, under the hearty approbation of the Most Rev. 
James Whitfield, D.D., the Archbishop of Baltimore at that time, 
and receiving the sanction of the Holy See, October 2, 1831. 
The convent originated with the French Fathers, who came to 
Baltimore from San Domingo as refugees, in the time of the 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. l6i 

revolution in that island in the latter years of last ccntur\'. 
There were many Colored Catholic refugees who came to Balti- 
more during that period, and the French Fathers soon opened 
schools there for the benefit of the refugees and other Colored 
people. The Colored women who formed the original society 
which founded the convent and seminary, were from San Do- 
mingo, though they had, some of them, certainly, been educated 
in France. The schools which preceded the organization of the 
convent were greatly favored by Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, 
D.D., who was a French Father, and Archbishop of Baltimore 
from 1817 to 182S, Archbishop Whitfield being his successor. 
The Sisters of Providence is the name of a religious society of 
Colored women who renounced the world to consecrate tliem- 
selves to the Christian education of Colored girls. The follow- 
ing extract from the announcement which, under the caption of 
" Prospectus of a School for Colored Girls under the Direction 
of the Sisters of Providence," appeared in the columns of the 
"Daily National Intelligencer," October 25, 183 1, shows the 
spirit in which the school originated, and at the same time 
shadows forth the predominating ideas pertaining to the prov- 
ince of the race at that period. 
The prospectus says : 

" The object of this institute is one of great importance, greater, in- 
deed, than might at first appear to tliose wiio would only glance at the 
advantages which it is calculated to directly impart to the leading ])or- 
tion of the human race, and through it to society at large. In fact, 
these girls will either become mothers of families or household servants. 
In the first case the solid virtues, the religious and moral principles 
which they may have acquired in this school will be carefully trans- 
ferred as a legacy to their cliildren. Instances of the Iiapi)y influence 
which the example of virtuous parents has on the remotest lineage in 
this humble and naturally dutiful class of society are numerous. .\s to 
such as are to be employed as servants, they will be intrusted with 
domestic concerns and tlie care of young cliildren. How important, 
then, it will be that these girls shall have imbibed religious principles, 
and have been trained uj) in habits of modesty, honesty, and in- 
tegrity." * ] 

The Wells School, established by a Colored man by the name 
of Nelson Wells, in 1835, gave instruction to free children of 



' Barnard, pp. 205, 206. 



i62 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

color. It was managed by a board of trustees who applied tlie 
income of $7,000 (the amount left by Mr. Wells) to the support 
of the school. It accomplished much good. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

A separate school for Colored children was established in 
Boston, in 1798, and was held in the house of a reputable Colored 
man named Primus Hall. The teacher was one Elislia Sylvester, 
whose salary was paid b}' the parents of the children whom he 
taught. In 1800 sixty-six Colored citizens presented a petition 
to the School Committee of Boston, praying that a school might 
be established for their benefit. A sub-committee, to whom the 
petition had been referred, reported in favor of granting the 
prayer, but it was voted down at the next town meeting. How- 
ever, the school taught by Mr. Sylvester did not perish. Two 
young gentlemen from Harvard University, Messrs. Brown and 
Williams, continued the school until 1806. During this year the 
Colored Baptists built a church edifice in Belknap Street, and 
fitted up the lower room for a school for Colored children. From 
the house of Primus Hall the little school was moved to its new 
quarters in the Belknap Street church. Here it was continued 
until 1S35, when a school-house for Colored children was erected 
and paid for out of a fund left for the purpose by Abiel Smith, 
and was subsequently called " Smith School-house." The au- 
thorities of Boston were induced to give $200.00 as an annual 
appropriation, and the parents of the children in attendance paid 
12^ cents per week. The school-house was dedicated with 
appropriate exercises, Hon. William Minot delivering the dedi- 
catory address. 
/ The African school in Belknap Street was under the con- 
trol of the school committee from 1812 to 1S21, and from 
1 82 1 was under the charge of a special sub-committee. Among 
the teacliers was John B. Russworm, from 1821 to 1824, who 
entered Bowdoin College in the latter year, and afterward be- 
came governor of the colony of Cape Palmas in Southern Li- 
beria. 

The first priniar)- school for Colored children in Boston was es- 
tablished in 1820, two or three of which were subsequently kept 
until 1855, when they were discontinued as separate schools, in 
accordance with the general law passed by the Legislature in 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 163 

that year, which provided tliat, " in determining tlie quahfica- 
tions of scholars to be admitted into any public school, or any 
district school in this commonwealth, no distinction shall be 
[ made on account of the race, color, or religious opinions of the 
applicant or scholar." "Any child, who, on account of his race, 
color, or religious o|)inions should be excluded from any public 
or district school, if otherwise qualified," might recover damages 
in an action of tort, brought in the name of the child in any 
court of competent jurisdiction, against tlie city or town in which 
the school was located.' 

MISSISSIPPI 

passed an act in 1823 providing against the meeting together of 
slaves, free Negroes, or Mulattoes above the number of five. 
They were not allowed to meet at any public house in the night; 
or at any house, for teaching, reading, or writing, in the day or 
night. The penalty for the violation of this law was whipping, 
" not exceeding thirty-nine " lashes. 

In 183 1 an act was passed making it " unlawful for any slave, 
free negro, or mulatto to preach the Gospel," upon pain of re- 
ceiving thirty-nine lashes upon the naked back of the presump- 
tuous preacher. If a Negro received written permission from 
his master he might preach to the Negroes in his immediate 
neighborhood, providing six respectable white men, owners of 
slaves, were present. 

In 1846, and again in 1S48, school laws were enacted, but 
in both instances schools and education were prescribed for 
"white youth between the ages of six and twenty years." 

MISSOURI 

ordered all free persons of color to move out of the State in 
1845. In 1847 ^" 'ict was passed providing that "no person shall 
keep or teach any school for the instruction of negroes or mu- 
lattoes in reading or writing in this State." 

NKW YORK 

had the courage and patriotism, in 1777, to extend the right of 
suffrage to every male inhabitant of full age. But by the revised 
constitution, in 1821, this liberal provision was abridged so that 

' Bainard. p. 357. 



i64 ///syOA']- OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" no man of color, unless he shall have been for three years a 
citizen of this State, and for one year next preceding any elec- 
tion, shall be seized and possessed of a freehold estate of $250 
over and above all debts and encumbrances charged thereon, 
and shall have been actually rated and paid a tax thereon, 
shall be entitled to vote at any such election. And no person of 
color shall be subject to direct taxation unless he shall be seized 
and possessed of such real estate as aforesaid." In 1S46, and 
again in 1850, a Constitutional amendment conferring equal 
privileges upon the Negroes, was voted down by large majorities. 

A school for Negro slaves was opened in the city of New 
York in 1704 by Elias Neau, a native of France, and a catechist 
of the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts." After a long imprisonment for his public profession of 
faith as a Protestant, he founded an asylum in New York. His 
sympathies were awakened by the condition of the Negroes in 
slavery in that city, who numbered about 1,500 at that time. 
The difficulties of holding any intercourse with them seemed al- 
most insurmountable. At first he could only visit them from 
house to house, after his day's toil was over ; afterward he was 
permitted to gather them together in a room in his own house 
for a short time in the evening. As the result of his instructions 
at the end of four years, in 1708, the ordinary number under his 
instruction was 200. Many were judged worthy to receive the 
sacrament at the hands of Mr. Vesey, the rector of Trinity 
Churcli, some of whom became regular and devout communi- 
cants, remarkable for their orderly and blameless lives. 

But soon after this time some Negroes of the Carmantee and 
Pappa tribes formed a plot for setting fire to the city and mur- 
dering the English on a certain night. The work was commenced 
but checked, and after a short struggle the English subdued the 
Negroes. Immediately a loud and angry clamor arose against 
Elias Neau, his accusers saying that his school was the cause of 
the murderous attempt. He denied the charge in vain ; and so 
furious were the people that, for a time, his life was in danger. 
The evidence, however, at the trial proved that the Negroes most 
deeply engaged in this plot were those whose masters were most 
opposed to any means for their instruction. Yet the offence of 
a few was charged upon the race, and even the provincial gov- 
ernment lent its authority to make the burden of Neau the 
heavier. The common council passed an order forbidding 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 165 

Negroes "to appear in the streets after sunset, without ianthorns 
or candles" ; and as they could not procure tliesc, the result was 
to break up the labors of Neau. But at this juncture Governor 
Hunter interposed, and went to visit the school of Neau, accom- 
panied by several officers of rank and by the society's mission- 
aries, and he was so well pleased that he gave his full approval 
to the work, and in a public proclamation called upon the clergy 
of the province to exhort their congregations to extend their 
approva also. Vesey, the good rector of Trinity Church, had 
long watched the labors of Neau and witnessed the progress of 
his scholars, as well as assisted him in them ; and finally the gov- 
ernor, the council, mayor, recorder, and two chief justices of New 
York joined in declaring that Neau "in a very eminent degree 
deserved the countenance, favor, and protection of the society." 
He therefore continued his labors until 1722, when, " amid the 
unaffected sorrow of his negro scholars and the friends who hon- 
ored him for their sake, he was removed by death." 

The work was then continued by " Huddlestone, then school- 
master in New York" ; and he was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Wet- 
more, who removed in 1726 to Rye; whereupon the Rev. Mr. 
Colgan was appointed to assist the rector of Trinity Church, and 
to carry on the instruction of the Negroes. A few years after- 
ward Thomas Noxon assisted Mr. Colgan, and their joint success 
was very satisfactory. Rev. R. Charlton, who had been en- 
gaged in similar labor at New Windsor, was called to New York 
in 1732, where he followed up the work successfully for fifteen 
years, and was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Auchmuty. Upon 
the death of Thomas Noxon, in 1741, Mr. Hildreth took hi.s 
place, who, in 1764, wrote that "not a single black admitted by 
him to the holy communion had turned out badly, or in any way 
disgraced his profession." Both Auchmuty and Hildreth received 
valuable support from Mr. Barclay, who, upon the death of Mr. 
Vesey, in 1746, had been appointed to the rectory of Trinity 
Church. 

/The frequent kidnapping of free persons of color excited 
pubHc alarm and resulted in the formation of "The New York 
Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves, and Protect- 
ing such of them as have been or may be Liberated." These 
are the names of the gentlemen who organized the society, 
and became the board of trustees of the " Nciv York African 
Free School" : 



l66 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Melancthon Smith, Jno. Bleeker, James Cogswell, Lawrence 
Embree, Thomas Burling, Willett Leaman, Jno. Lawrence, Jacob 
Leaman, White Mattock, Mathew Clarkson, Nathaniel Lawrence, 
Jno. Murray, Jr. ) 

i Their school, located in Cliff Street, between Beekman and 
Ferry, was opened in 1786, taught by Cornelius Davis, attended 
by about forty pupils of both sexes, and appears, from their book 
of minutes, to have been satisfactorily conducted. In the year 
1 79 1 a female teacher was added to instruct the girls in needle- 
work, the expected advantages of which measure were soon 
realized and highly gratifying to the society. ^ In 1808 the 
society was incorporated, and in the preamble it is recorded that 
"a free school for the education of such persons as have been 
liberated from bondage, that they may hereafter become useful 
members of the community," has been established. It may be 
proper here to remark that the good cause in which the friends 
of this school were engaged, was far from being a popular one. 
The prejudices of a large portion of the community were against 
it; the means in the hands of the trustees were often very in- 
adequate, and many seasons of discouragement were witnessed ; 
■but they were met by men who, trusting in the Divine support, 
were resolved neither to relax their exertions nor to retire from 
the field. 

Through the space of about twenty years they struggled on ; 
the number of scholars varying from forty to sixty, until the 
year 1809, when the Lancasterian, or monitorial, system of in- 
struction was introduced (this being the second school in the 
United States to adopt the plan), under a new teacher, E. J. 
Cox, and a very favorable change was pro^luced, the number of 
pupils, and the ef^ciency of their instruction being largely in- 
creased. 

Soon after this, however, in January, 1814, their school-house 
was destroyed by fire, which checked the progress of the school 
for a time, as no room could be obtained large enough to ac- 
commodate the whole number of pupils. A small room in 
Doyer Street was temporaril)' hired, to keep the school together 
till further arrangements could be made, and an appeal was made to 
the liberality of the citizens and to the corporation of the city, 
which resulted in obtaining from the latter a grant of two lots of 
ground in William Street, on which to build a new school-house; 
and' in January, 181 5, a commodious brick building, to accommo- 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 167 

date 200 pupils, was finished on this lot, and the school was re- 
sumed with fresh vigor and increasing interest. In a few months 
the room became so crowded that it was found necessary to en- 
gage a separate room, next to the school, to accommodate such 
of Uie pupils as were to be taught sewing. This branch had been 
for many years discontinued, but was now resumed under the 
direction of Miss Lucy Turpcn, a young lady whose amiable dis- 
position and faithful discharge of her duties rendered her greatly 
esteemed both by her pupils and the trustees. This young 
lady, after serving the board for several years, removed with 
her parents to Ohio, and her place was supplied by Miss Mary 
Lincruni, who was succeeded by Miss Eliza J. Cox, and the latter 
by Miss Mary Ann Cox, and she by Miss Carolina Roe, under each 
of whom the school continued to sustain a high character for 
order and usefulness. 

The school in William Street increasing in numbers, another 
building was found necessary, and was built on a lot of ground 
50 by 100 feet square, on Mulberry Street, between Grand and 
Hester streets, to accommodate five hundred pupils, and was 
completed and occupied, with C.C.Andrews for teacher, in May, 

1820. 

General Lafayette visited this school September 10, 1824, an 
abridged account of which is copied from the "Commercial Ad- 
vertiser" of that date: 

Visit of Lakavktte to the Afric.\n School in 1S24. 

"At I o'clock the general, witii the company invited for the occa- 
sion, visited the .\frican free school, on Mulberry Street. This school 
embraces about 500 scholars ; about 450 were present on this occasion, 
and they are certainly the best disciplined and most interestins:! school 
of children we have ever witnessed. As the general was conducted to 
a seat, Mr. Ketchum adverted to the fact that as long ago as 1788 the 
general had been elected a member of the institution (Manumission So- 
ciety) at the same time with Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson, 
of England. Tiie general perfectly remembered the circumstances, and 
mentioned particularly the letter he had received on that occasion from 
the Hon. John Jay, then president of the society. One of the pupils, 
Master James M. Smith, aged eleven years, then stepped forward and 
gracefully delivered the following address : 

'"Gener.m, Lafayette : In behalf of myself and fellow-school- 
mates may I be jlermitted to e.\|)ress our sincere and respectful grati- 



1 68 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tude to you for the condescension you have manifested this day in 
visiting this institution, which is one of the noblest specimens of New 
York phihintiiropy. Here, sir, you behold liundreds of the poor 
children of Africa sharing with those of a lighter hue in the blessings 
of education ; and while it will be our pleasure to remember the great 
deeds you have done for America, it will be our delight also to cherish 
the memory of General Lafayette as a friend to African emancipation, 
and as a member of this institution.' 

" To which the general replied, in his own characteristic style, ' I 
thank you, my dear child.' 

"Several of the inipils underwent short examinations, and one of 
them explained the use of the globes and answered many questions in 
geograjjhy." 

Public Schools for Colored Children. 
These schools continued to flourish under the same manacre- 

o 

ment, and with an attendance varying from 600 in 1824 to 862 in 
1832, in the latter part of which year the Manumission Society, 
whose schools were not in part supported by the public fund, ap- 
plied to the Public School Society for a committee of conference 
to effect a union. It was felt by the trustees that on many ac- 
counts it was better that the two sets of schools should remain 
separate, but, fearing further diversion of the school fund, it was 
desirable that the number of societies participating should be 
as small as possible, and arrangements were accordingly made for 
a transfer of the schools and property of the elder society. After 
some delay, in consequence of legislative action being found 
necessary to give a title to their real estate, on the 2d of May, 
1834, tlie transfer was effected, all their schools and school 
property passing into the hands of the New York Public School 
Societ>\ at an appraised valuation of $12,130.22. 

The aggregate register of these schools at the time of the 
transfer was nearly 1,400, with an average attendance of about 
one half that number. They were placed in charge of a com- 
mittee with powers similar to the committee on primary schools, 
but their administration was not satisfactory, and it was soon 
found that the schools had greatly diminished in numbers, effi- 
ciency, and usefulness. A committee of inquiry was appointed, 
and reported that, in consequence of the great anti-slavery riots 
and attacks on Colored people, many families had removed from 
the city% and of those that remained many kept their children at 
home; they knew the Manumission Society as their special friends. 



NEGRO SCHOOL LA WS. 169 

hut iviicw notliinq; of the Public Scliool Society ; tlic reduction of 
ail tiie schools liut one to the grade of primary had given great 
offence; also the discharge of teachers long employed, and the 
discontinuance of rewards, and taking home of spelling books ; 
strong prejudices had grown up against the Pubh'c School So- 
ciety. The committee recommended a prompt assimilation of the 
Colored schools to the white ; the establishment of two or more 
upper schools in a new building; a normal school for Colored 
monitors ; and the appointment of a Colored man as school agent, 
at $150 a year. The school on Mulberry Street at this time, 
1835, was designated Colored Grammar School No. i. A. 
Libolt was principal, and registered 317 pupils ; there were also 
six primaries, located in different parts of the cit}% with an ag- 
gregate attendance of 925 pupils. 

In 1836 a new school building was completed in Laurens 
Street, o[)ened with 210 pupils, R. F. Wake (colored), principal, 
and was designated Colored Grammar School No. 2. Other 
means were taken to improve the schools, and to induce the 
Colored people to patronize them ; the principal of No. 1, Mr. 
Libolt, was replaced by Mr. John Peterson, colored, a sufficient 
assurance of wliose ability and success we have in the fact that 
lie has been continued in the position ever since. A "Society 
for the Promotion of Education among Colored Children " was 
organized, and established two additional schools, one in Thomas 
Street, and one in Centre, and a marked improvement was mani- 
fest ; but it required a long time to restore the confidence and 
interest felt before the transfer, and even uj) to 1848 the aggregate 
attendance in all the Colored schools was only 1,375 pupils. 

\\\ the winter of 1852 the first evening schools for Colored 
pupils were opened; one for males and one for females, and were 
attended by 379 pupils. In the year 1853 the Colored schools, 
with all the schools and school property of the Public School 
Society, were transferred to the " Board of Education of the 
Cit)' and County of New York," and still further improvements 
were made in them ; a normal school for Colored teachers was 
established, with Mr. John Peterson, principal, and the schools 
were graded in the .same manner as those for white children. 
Colored Grammar School No. 3, was opened at '"6 West Fortieth 
Street, Miss Caroline W. Simpson, principal, and in the ensuing 
year three others were added ; No. 4 in One Hundred and 
Twentieth Street (Harlem), Miss Nancy Thompson, principal; 



I70 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

No. 5, at lOi Hudson Street, P. W. Williams, principal ; and No. 
6, at 1,167 Broadway, Prince Leveridge, principal. Grammar 
Schools Nos. 2, 3, and 4, had primary departments attached, and 
there were also at this time three separate primary schools, and 
the aggregate attendance in all was 2,047. Since then the at- 
tendance in these schools has not varied much from these figures. 
The schools themselves have been altered and modified from 
time to time, as their necessity seemed to indicate ; though under 
the general mangement of the Board of Education, they have 
been in the care of the school officers of the wards in which they 
are located, and while in some cases they received the proper 
attention, in others they were either wholly, or in part, neglected. 
A recent act has placed them directly in charge of the Board of 
Education, who have appointed a special committee to look after 
their interests, and measures are being taken by them which will 
give this class of schools every opportunity and convenience pos- 
sessed by any other, and, it is hoped, will also improve the grade 
of its scholarship.' 

NORTH CAROLINA 

suffered her free persons of color to maintain schools until 
1835, when they were abolished by law. During the period re- 
ferred to, the Colored schools were taught by white teachers, but 
after 1835 the few teachers who taught Colored children in pri- 
vate houses were Colored persons. The public-school system of 
North Carolina provided that no descendant from Negro an- 
cestors, to the fourth generation inclusive, should enjoy the 
benefit thereof. 

OHIO. 

The first schools for Colored children in Ohio were established 
at Cincinnati in 1820, by Colored men. These schools were not 
kept up regularly. A white gentleman named Wing, who taught 
a night school near the corner of Vine and Sixth Streets, ad- 
mitted Colored pupils into his school. Owen T. B. Nickens, a 
public-spirited and intelligent Colored man, did much to establish 
schools for the Colored people. 

In 1835 a school for Colored children was opened in the Bap- 
tist Church on Western Row. It was taught at different periods 
by Messrs. Barbour, E. Fairchild, W. Robinson, and Augustus 

' Baviiavd, pp. 364-366. 



NEGRO SCHOOL L.lllS. i-| 

Wattles; and by the following-named ladies: Misses Bishop, Mat- 
thews, Lowe, and Mrs. Merreil. Although excellent teachers as 
well as upright ladies and gentlemen, they were subjected to great 
persecutions. They were unable to secure board, because the spirit 
of the whites would not countenance the teachers of Negro 
schools, and they spelled the word with two g's. And at times 
the teachers were compelled to close the school on account of 
the violence of the populace. The salaries of the teachers were 
paid partly by an educational society of white philanthropists, 
and partly by such Colored persons as had means. Of the latter 
class were John Woodson, John Liverpool, Baker Jones, Dinnis 
Hill, Joseph Fowler, and William O'Hara 

In 1844, the Rev. Hiram S. Gilmore, founded the "Cincinnati 
High School" for Colored youth. Mr. Gilmore was a man 
rich in sentiments of humanity, and endowed plenteously with 
executive ability and this world's goods. All these he conse- 
crated to the elevation and education of the Colored people. 

This school-house was located at the east end of Harrison 
Street, and was in every sense a model building, comprising five 
rooms, a chapel, a gymnasium, and spacious grounds. The 
pupils increased yearly, and the character of the .school made 
many friends for the cause. The following persons taught in 
this school: Joseph H. Moore, Thomas L. Boucher, David P. 
Lowe, Dr. A. L. Childs, and W. F. Colburn. Dr. Childs became 
principal of the school in 1848. 

In 1849, the Legislature passed an act establishing schools 
for Colored children, to be maintained at the public expense. 
In 1850, a board of Colored trustees was elected, teachers em- 
ployed, and buildings hired. The schools were put in opera- 
tion. The law of 1849 provided that so much of the funds be- 
longing to the city of Cincinnati as would fall to the Colored 
youth, by a per capita division, should be held subject to the 
order of the Colored trustees. But their order was not honored 
by the city treasurer, upon the ground that under the constitu- 
tion of the State only electors could hold office ; that Colored 
men were not electors, and, therefore, could not hold office. 
After three months the Colored schools were closed, and the 
teachers went out without their salaries. 

John I. Gaines, an intelligent and fearless Colored leader, 
made a statement of the case to a public meeting of the Col- 
ored people of Cincinnati, and urged the employment of counsel 



172 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

to try the case in the courts. Money was raised, and Flamen 
Ball, Sr., was secured to make an application for viaiuianms. The 
case was finally carried to the Supreme Court and won by the 
Colored people. 

In 1 85 I, the schools were opened again ; but the rooms were 
small and wretchedly appointed, and the trustees unable to pro- 
vide better ones. Without notice the Colored trustees were de- 
posed. The management of the Colored schools was vested in a 
board of trustees and school visitors, who were also in charge of 
the schools for the white children. This board, under a new 
law, had authority to appoint six Colored men who were to 
manage the Colored schools with the exception of the school 
fund. This greatly angered the leading Colored men, and, there- 
fore, they refused to endorse this new management. 

The law was altered in 1856, giving the Colored people the 
right to elect, by ballot, their own trustees. 

In 1858, Nicholas Longworth built the first school-house for 
the Colored people, and gave them the building on a lease of 
fourteen years, in which time they were to pay for it — $14,000. 
In 1859, a large building was erected on Court Street. 

Oberlin College opened its doors to Colored students from 
the moment of its existence in 1833, and they have never been 
closed at any time since. It was here that the incomparable 
Finney, with the fierceness of John Baptist, the gentleness of 
John the Evangelist, the logic of Paul, and the eloquence of 
Isaiah, pleaded the cause of the American slave, and gave instruc- 
tion to all who sat at his feet regardless of color or race. George 
B. Vashon, William Howard Day, John Mercer Langston, and 
many other Colored men graduated from Oberlin College before 
any of the other leading colleges of the country had consented 
to give Colored men a classical education. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Anthony Benezet established, in 1750, the first school for 
Colored people in this State, and taught it himself without 
money and without price. He solicited funds for the erection of 
a school-house for the Colored children, and of their intellectual 
capacities said : " I can with truth and sincerity declare that I 
have found among the negroes as great variety of talents as 
among a like number of whites, and I am bold to assert that 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 173 

the notion entertained by some, tliat the blacks arc inferior in 
their capacity, is a vulgar prejudice, founded on the pride or ig- 
norance of their lordly masters, who have kept their slaves at 
such a distance as to be unable to form a right judgment of 
them." 

He died on the 3d of May, 17S4, universally beloved and 
sincerel\- mourned, especially by the Negro population of Penn- 
sylvania, for whose education he had done so much. The follow- 
ing clause in his will illustrates his character in resi)ect to public 
instruction : 

" I give my above said house and lot, or ground-rent proceeding 
from it, and the resL and residue of my estate which shall remain un- 
disposed of after my wife's decease, both real and personal, to the 
])ublic school of Philadelphia, founded by charter, and to their succes- 
sors forever, in trust, that tiiey shall sell my house and lot on perpetual 
ground-rent forever, if the same be not already sold by my executors, 
as before mentioned, and that as speedily as may be they receive and 
take as much of my personal estate as may be remaining, and there- 
with purchase a yearly ground-rent, or ground-rents, and with the in- 
come of such ground-rent proceeding from the sale of my real estate, 
hire and employ a religious-minded person, or persons, to teach a num- 
ber of negro, mulatto, or Indian children to read, w.rite, arithmetic, plain 
accounts, needle-work, etc. And it is my particular desire, founded on 
the experience I have had in that service, that in the choice of such 
tutors, special care may be htd to prefer an industrious, careful person 
of true piety, who may be or become suitably qualified, who would 
undertake the service from a principle of charity, to one more highly 
learned, not equally disposed ; this I desire may be carefully attended 
to, sensible that from the number of pu[)ils of all ages, the irregularity 
of attendance their situation subjects them to will not admit of that 
particular inspection in their im[)rovement usual in other scliools, but 
that the real well-doing of the scholars will very much depend upon the 
master making a special conscience of doing his duty ; and shall like- 
wise defray such other necessary expense as may occur in tliat service ; 
and as the said remaining income of my estate, after my wife's decease, 
will not be sufficient to defray the whole expense necessary for the sup- 
port of such a school, it is my request tliat the overseers of the said 
jiublic school shall join in the care and expense of such school, or 
schools, for the education of negro, mulatto, or Indian children, with 
any committee which may be appointed by the monthly meetings of 
Friends in Philadelphia, or with any other body of benevolent persons 
who may join in raising money and employing it for the education and 



174 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

care of such children ; my desire being that as such a school is now 
set up, it may be forever maintained in this city." 

Just before his death he addressed the following note to 
tlie " overseers of the school for the instruction of the black 

people." 

" My friend, Joseph Clark, having frequently observed to me his 
desire, in case of my inability of continuing the care of the negro 
school, of succeeding me in that service, notwithstanding he now has a 
more advantageous school, by the desire of doing good to the black 
people makes him overlook these pecuniary advantages, I much wish 
tiie overseers of the school would take his desires under their peculiar 
notice and give him such due encouragement as may be projier, it be- 
ing a matter of the greatest consecpience to that school that the master 
be a person who makes it a principle to do his duty." 

The noble friends were early in the field as the champions of 
education for the Negroes. It was Anthony Benezet, who, on 
the 26th of January, 1770, secured the appointment of a com- 
mittee by the monthly meeting of the Friends, " to consider on 
the instruction of negro and mulatto children in reading, writing, 
and other useful learning suitable to their capacity and circum- 
stances." On the 30th of May, 1770, a special committee of 
Friends sought to employ an instructor " to teach, not more at 
one time than thirty children, in the first rudiments of school 
learning and in sewing and knitting." Moles Paterson was first 
employed at a salary of ;^8o a year, and an additional sum of 
£\\ for one half of the rent of his dwelling-house. Instruction 
was free to the poor ; but those who were able to pay were re- 
quired to do so " at the rate of los. a quarter for those who 
write, and 7s. 6d. for others." 

In 1784, William Waring was placed in charge of the larger 
children, at a salary of ^loo; and Sarah Dougherty, of the 
younger children and girls, in teaching spelling, reading, sewing, 
etc., at a salary of ^'50. In 1787, aid was received from David 
Barclay, of London, in behalf of a committee for managing a 
donation for the relief of Friends in America; and the sum of 
i^500 was thus obtained, which, with the fund derived from the 
estate of Benezet, and ^^300 from Thomas Shirley, a Colored man, 
was appropriated to the erection of a school-house. In 1819 a 
committee of "women Friends," to have exclusive charge of the 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. i75 

admission of girls and the general superintendence of the girls' 
school, was associated with the overseers in the charge of the 
school. In 1830, in order to relieve the day school of some of 
the male adults who had been in the habit of attending, an even- 
ing school for the purpose of instructing such persons gratui- 
tously was opened, and has been continucii to the present time. 
In 1844, a lot was secured on Locust Street, extending along 
Shield's Alley, now Aurora Street, on which a new house was 
erected in 1847, the expense of which was paid for in part from 
the proceeds of the sale of a lot bequeathed by John Pcmber- 
ton. Additional accommodations were made to this building, 
from time to time, as room was demanded by new classes of 
pupils. 

In 1849, '1 statistical return of the condition of the people of 
color in the city and districts of Philadelphia shows that there 
were then one grammar school, with 463 pupils; two public 
primary schools, with 339 ; and an infant school, under the charge 
of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, of 70 puiiils, in Clifton 
Street ; a ragged and a moral-reform school, with 81 pupils. 
In West Philadelphia there was also a public school, with 67 
pupils ; and, in all, there were about 20 private schools, with 300 
pupils ; making an aggregate of more than 1,300 children receiv- 
ing an education. 

In 1859, according to Bacon's " Statistics of the Colored Peo- 
ple of Philadelphia," there were 1,031 Colored children in public 
schools, 748 in charit}' schools of various kinds, 21 I in benevolent 
and reformatory schools, and 331 in private schools, making an 
aggregate of 2,321 pupils; besides four evening schools, one for 
adult males, one for females, and one for young apprentices. 
There were 19 Sunday-schools connected with the congrega- 
tions of the Colored people, and conducted by their own 
teachers, containing 1,667 pupils, and four Sunday-schools gath- 
ered as mission schools by members of white congregations, with 
215 pupils. There was also a "Public Library and Reading- 
room " connected with the " Institute for Colored Youth," es- 
tablished in 1853, having about 1,300 volumes; besides three 
other small libraries in different parts of the city. The same 
pamphlet shows that there were 1,700 of the Colored population 
engaged in different trades and occupations, representing every 
department of industry.' 

' Barnard, jip. 377, 378. 



176 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In 1794, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society established a 
school for children of the people of color, and in 1809 erected a 
school building at a cost of four thousand dollars, which they 
designated as " Clarkson Hall," in 1815. In 1813, a board of 
education was organized consisting of thirteen persons, with a 
visiting committee of three, whose duty it was to visit the schools 
once each week. In 1818, the school board, in their report, 
speak very kindly and encouragingly of the Clarkson Schools, 
which, they say, " furnish a decided refutation of the charge that 
the mental endowments of the descendants of Africa are inferior 
to those possessed by their white brethren. We can assert, with- 
out fear of contradiction, that the pupils of this seminary will 
sustain a fair comparison with those of any other institution in 
which the same elementary branches are taught." 

In 1S20, an eiTort was made to have the authorities of the 
white schools provide for the education of the Colored children 
as well as the whites, because the laws of the State required the 
education of all the youth. The comptrollers of the public 
schools confessed that the law provided for the education of 
" poor and indigent children," and that it extended to those of 
persons of color. Accordingly, in 1822, a school for the educa- 
tion of indigent persons of color of both sexes, was opened in 
Lombard Street, Philadelphia. In 1841, a primary school was 
opened in the same building. In 1S33, the " Unclassified School" 
in Coates Street, and at frequent intervals after this several 
schools of the same grade, were started in West Philadelphia. 

In 1837, by the will of Richard Humphreys, who died in 
1832, an " Institute for Colored Youth " was started. The sum 
of ten thousand dollars was devised to certain trustees who were 
to pay it over to some society that might be disposed to estab- 
lish a school for the education of the " descendants of the Afri- 
can race in school learning in the various branches of the me- 
chanic arts and trade, and in agriculture." Thirty members of 
the society.- of Friends formed themselves into an association 
for the purpose of carrying out the wishes and plans of Mr. 
Humphreys. In the preamble of the constitution they adopted, 
their ideas and plans were thus set forth: 

" We believe that the most successful method of elevating the 
moral and intellectual character of the descendants of Africa, as well 
as of improving their social condition, is to extend to them tiie benefits 



NEGRO SCHOOL LA WS. 1 77 

of a good education, and to instruct thcni in the knowledge of some 
useful trade or business, whereby they may be enabled to obtain a com- 
fortable livelihood by their own industry ; and through these means to 
])rei)are them for fulfilling the various duties of domestic and social 
lite witli reputation and fulelity, as good citizens ami pious men." 

In order to carry out the feature of agricultural and mc- 
clianic arts, tlie association purchased a farm in ]5ristol town- 
ship, Philadelphia County, in 1839, where boys of the Colored 
race were taught farming, shoemaking, and other useful trades. 
The incorporation of the institution w^as secured in 1842, and in 
1844 another friend dying— Jonathan Zanc — added a handsome 
sum to the treasury, which, with several small legacies, made 
$18,000 for this enterprise. But in 1S46 the work came to a 
standstill ; the farm with its equipments was sold, and for six 
years very little was done, except through a night scliool. 

r In 185 I, a lot for a school building was purchased on Lom- 
b;u"d Street, and a building erected, and the school opened in tlie 
autumn of 1852, for boys, under the care of Charles L. Reason, 
an accomplished young Colored teacher from New York. A 
girls' school was opened the same year, and, under Mr. Reason's 
excellent instruction, many worthy and competent teachers and 
leaders of the Negro race came forth. ) 

Avery College, at Allegheny City, was founded by the Rev. 
Charles Avery, a native of New York, but for the greater part 
of a long and useful life adorne<l by the noblest virtues, a resi- 
dent of Pennyslvania. By will he left $300,000 for the christiani- 
zation of the African race; $130,000 to be used in Africa, and 
$150,000 in America. lie left $25,000 as an endowment fund for 
Avery College. 

At a stated meeting during the session of the Presbytery at 
New Castle, Pa., October 5, 1853, it was resolved that "there 
shall be established within our bounds, and under our super- 
vision, an institution, to be called the Ashum Institute, for the 
.scientific, classical, and theological education of colored youth 
of the male sex." 

Accordingly, J. M. Dickey, A. Hamilton, R. P. Dubois, minis- 
ters ; and Samuel J. Dickey and John M. Kelton, ruling elders, 
were appointed a committee to perfect the idea. They were to 
solicit and receive funds, secure a charter from the State of 
Pennsylvania, and erect suitable buildings for the institute. On 



178 HISTORY OF THjE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA.. 

the 14th of November, 1853, they purchased thirty acres of land 
at the cost of $1,250. At the session of the Legislature in 1854, 
a charter was granted establishing "at or near a place called 
Hinsonville, in the county of Chester, an institution of learning 
for the scientific, classical, and theological education of colored 
youth of the male sex, by the name and style of Ashum Insti- 
tute." The trustees were John M. Dickey, Alfred Hamilton, 
Robert P. Dubois, James Latta, John 15. Spottswood, James M. 
Crovvell, Samuel J. Dickey, John M. Kelton, and William Wilson. 

By the provisions of the charter the trustees were empowered 
"to procure the endowment of the institute, not exceeding the 
sum of §100,000; to confer such literary degrees and academic 
honors as are usually granted by colleges"; and it was required 
that " the institute shall be open to the admission of colored 
pupils of the male sex, of all religious denominations, who ex- 
hibit a fair moral character, and are willing to yield a ready 
obedience to the general regulations prescribed for the conduct 
of the pupils and the government of the institute." 

The institute was formally dedicated on the 31st of Decem- 
ber, 1S56. It is now known as Lincoln University. 

kllODK ISLAND 

conferred the right of elective franchise upon her Colored citi- 
zens by her constitution in 1843, ^""^ ever since equal privileges 
nave been afforded them. In 1828 the Colored people of Provi- 
dence petitioned for a separate school, but it was finally abolished 
oy an act of the Legislature. 

SOUTH CAROLINA 

took the lead in legislating against the instruction of the Colored 
race, as she subsequently took the lead in seceding from the 
Union. In 1740, while yet a British province, the Legislature 
passed the following law : 

" Whereas the having of slaves taught to write, or suffering them 
to.be employed in writing, may be attended with inconveniences, Beit 
enacted, That all and every person and persons whatsoever, who shall 
hereafter teach, or cause any slave or slaves to be taught, or shall use 
or employ any slave as a scribe in any manner of writing whatever, 
hereafter taught to write, every such person or persons shall for every 
such offense forfeit the sum of ;^ioo current money." 



NEGRO SCHOOL I^AWS. , 179 

In 1800 the State Assembly passed an act, embracinf; free Col- 
ored people as well as slaves in its shameful provisions, enacting 
"that assemblies of slaves, free negroes, mulattoes, and mes- 
tizoes, whether composed of all or any such description of persons, 
or of all or any of the same and a [proportion of white persons, 
met together for the purpose of mental instruction in a confined 
or secret place, or with the gates or doors of such place barred, 
bolted, or locked, so as to prevent the free ingress to and from 
the same," are declared to be unlawful meetings ; the officers dis- 
persing such unlawful assemblages being authorized to " inflict 
such corporal punishment, not exceeding twenty lashes, upon 
such slaves, free negroes, mulattoes, and mestizoes, as they may 
judge necessary for deterring them from the like unlawful assem- 
blage in future." Another section of the same act declares, 
"tliat it shall not be lawful for any number of slaves,_frce negroes, 
mulattoes, or mestizoes, even in company with white persons, to 
meet together and assemble for the purpose of mental instruc- 
tion or religious worship before the rising of the sun or after the 
going down of the same." This section was so oppressive, that 
in 1803, in answer to petitions from certain religious societies, an 
amending act was passed forbidding any person before 9 o'clock 
in the evening " to break into a place of meeting wherever shall 
be assembled the'members of any religious society of the State, 
provided a majority of them shall be white persons, or other to 
disturb their devotions unless a warrant has been procured from 
a magistrate, if at the time of the meeting there should be a 
magistrate within three miles of the place ; if not, the act of 1800 
is to remain in full force." 

On the 17th of December, I834, definite action was taken 
against the education of free Colored persons as well as slaves. 
The first section is given : 

" Section i. If any person shall hereafter teach any slave to 
read or wirite, or shall aid or assist in teaching any slave to read or 
write, or^ause or procure any slave to be tauglit to read or write, 
such person, if a free white person, upon conviction thereof shall, for 
each and every offense against this act, be fined not exceeding §100 
and imprisonment not more tlian six months ; or, if a free person 
of color, shall be whipped not exceeding fifty lashes, and fined not 
e.xceeding §50, at the discretion of the court of magistrates and free- 
holders before which such free person of color is tried ; and if a 
slave, to he whipped, at the discretion of the court, not e.xceeding 



I So HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

fifty lashes, the informer to be entitled to one-half the fine and to 
be a competent witness. And if any free person of color or slave 
shall keep any school or other place of instruction for teaching any 
slave or free person of color to read or write, such free person of 
color or slave shall be liable to the same fine, imprisonment, and 
corporal punishment as by this act are imposed and inflicted on free 
persons of color and slaves for teaching slaves to write." 

The second section forbids^ under pain of severe penalties, 
the employment of any Colored persons as " clerks or salesmen 
in or about any shop, store, or house used for trading." 

TENNESSEE 

passed a law in 1838 establishing a system of common schools by 
which the scholars were designated as " white children over the 
age of six years and under sixteen." In 1840 an act was passed 
in which no discrimination against color appeared. It simply 
provided that "all children between the ages of six and twenty- 
one j'cars shall have the privilege of attending the public 
schools." And while there was never afterward any law prohib- 
iting the education of Colored children, the schools were used 
exclusively by the whites. 

TEXAS 

never put an\- legislation on her statute-books withholding the 
blessings of the schools from the Negro, for the reason, doubt- 
less, that she banished all free persons of color, and worked her 
slaves so hard that they had no hunger for books when night 
came. 

VIRGINIA, 

under Sir William Berkeley, was not a strong patron of education 
for the masses. For the slave there was little opportunity to 
learn, as he was only allowed part of Saturday to rest, and kept 
under the closest surveillance on the Sabbath day. The free 
persons of color were regarded with suspicion, and little chance 
was given them to cultivate their minds. 

On the 2d of March, 1S19, an act was passed prohibiting 
"all meetings or assemblages of .slaves, or free negroes, or mulat- 
toes, mixing and associating with such slaves, at any meeting- 
house or houses, or any other place or places, in the night, or at 
any school or schools for teaching them reading and writing 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. iSi 

either in the day or niglit." Hut not\vithstandin<:j this hiw, 
schools for free persons of color were kept up until the Nat. 
Turner insurrection in 183 1, when, on the Jth of vVpril following, 
the subjoined act was passed: 

" Sf.c. 4. And be it cnaclcd. That all meetings of free negroes or 
niulattoes at any school-house, church, meeting-house, or other place, 
for teaching them reading or writing, either in the day or night, under 
whatsoever pretext, shall be deemed and considered an unlawful as- 
sembly ; and any justice of the county or corporation wherein such 
assemblage shall be, eitiier from his own knowledge, or on the informa- 
tion of others of such unlawful assemblage or meeting, shall issue his 
warrant directed to any sworn officer or officers, authorizing him or 
tiiem to enter the house or houses where such unlawful assemblage or 
meeting may be, for the purpose of apprehending or dis|)ersing such 
free negroes or mulatloes, and to inllict corporal punishment on the 
offender or offenders, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not 
exceeding 20 lashes. 

" Sec. 5. And be it enacted. That if any person or persons as- 
semble with free negroes or mulattoes at any school-house, church, 
meeling-Iiousc, or other place, for the purpose of instructing such free 
negroes or mulattoes to read (jr write, such persons or persons shall, 
on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not exceeding §50, and, more- 
over, may be imprisoned, at the discretion of a jury, not exceeding two 
months. 

" Skc. 6. And he it enaeted, Tliat if any white person, for pay or 
compensation, shall assemble with any slaves for the purpose of leach- 
ing, and shall teach any slave to read or write, such person, or any 
white person or persons contracting with such teacher so to act, who 
shall offend as aforesaid, shall, for each offense, be fined, at the discre- 
tion of a jury, in a sum not less than §ro, nor exceeding §100, to be re- 
covered on an information or indictment." 

This law was rigidly- enforced, and in 185 1, Mrs. Margaret 
Douglass, a white lady from .South Carolina, was cast into the 
Norfolk jail for violating its provisions. 

West Virginia was not admitted into the Union until 1863. 
Wisconsin, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey did not 
prohibit the education of their Colored children. 

THK DISTRICT (JK COI.t'Ml!I.\ 

presents a more pleasing and instructive field for the examina- 
tion of the curious student of history. 



1 82 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In 1807, the first school-house for the use of Colored pupils 
was erected in Washington, D. C, by three Colored men, named 
George Bell, Nicholas Franklin, and Moses Liverpool. Not one 
of this trio of Negro educators knew a letter of the alphabet ; 
but having lived as slaves in Virginia, they had learned to ap- 
preciate the opinion that learning was of great price. They 
secured a white teacher, named Lowe, and put their school in 
operation. 

At this time the entire population of free persons amounted 
to 494 souls. After a brief period the school subsided, but was 
reorganized again in 18 18. The announcement of the opening 
of the school was printed in the " National Intelligencer" on the 
29th of August, 1818. 

"^ School, 

Founded by an association of free people of color, of the city of 
Washington, called the ' Resolute Beneficial Society,' situate near the 
Eastern Public School and the dwelling of Mrs. Fenwick, is now open 
for the reception of cliildren of free people of color and others, that 
ladiL-s or gentlemen may think proper to send lo be instructed in read- 
ing, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, or other branches of educa- 
tion apposite to their capacities, by a steady, active, and experienced 
teacher, whose attention is wholly devoted to tlie jiiirposes described. 
It is presumed tliat free colored families will embrace the advantages 
thus presented to them, either by subscribing to the funds of the so- 
ciety, or by sending their children to the school. An improvement of 
the intellect and morals of colored youth being the objects of this 
institution, the patronage of benevolent ladies and gentlemen, bv dona- 
tion or subscription, is humbly solicited in aid of the fund, the demands 
thereon being heavy and the means at present much too limited. For 
the satisfaction of the jjublic, the constitution and articles of associatiorv 
are printed and ])ublished. And to avoid disagreeable occurrences, no 
writings are to be done by the teacher for a slave, neither directly nor 
indirectly, to serve the purpose of a slave on any account whatever. 
Further particulars may be known by applying to any of the under- 
signed officers. 

"William Costin, President. 

"George Hicks, ]'iee-President. 

"James Harris, Secretary. 

" Georce Bell, Treasurer. 

"Archibald Johnson, Marshal. 

" Fred. Lewis, Chairman of the Committee. 

" Isaac Tohnson, ) „ 
,, _ • - Com?mttee. 

Scipio Beens, ) 



NEGRO SCJfOOL LAWS. 1S3 

" N. B. — An evening school will commence on tlie premises on the 
first Monday of October, and continue throughout tlie season. 

" C-?^ 'W\^ managers of Sunday-schools in the eastern district are 

thus most dutifully informed that on Sabbath-days the school-house 

belonging to this society, if re()uired for the tuition of colored youth, 

will be uniformly at their service. 

August 29, 3/." 

This school was first taught by a Mr. Pierpont, of Massachu- 
setts, a relative of the poet, and after several years was succeeded 
by a Colored man named John y\.dams, the first teacher of his 
race in the District of Columbia. The average attendance of this 
school was about sixty-five or seventy. 

MR. liliNRV I'DTTKR's SCHOOL. 

The third school for Colored children in Washington was 
established by Mr. Henry Potter, an Englishman, who opened 
his school about iSoy, in a brick building whicli then stood on 
the southeast corner of h' and Seventh streets, opposite the block 
where the post-office building now stands. He continued tliere 
for several years and luul a large school, moving subsequently to 
what was then known as Clark's Row on Thirteenth Street, west, 
between G and 1 1 'streets, north. 

I .MRS. M.M.l's school. 

During this period Mrs. Anne Maria Hall started a school on 
Capitol Hill, between the old Capitol and Carroll Row, on First 
Street, east. After continuing there with a full school for some 
ten \'ears, she moved to a building which .stood on what is now 
the vacant portion of the Casparis House lot on A Street, close 
to the Capitol. -Some years later she went to the First Bethel 
Church, ancj after a \ear or two she moved to a house still 
standing on E Street, north, between Eleventh and Twelfth, 
west, and there taught many years. She was a Colored woman 
from Prince George's County, Maryland, and had a respectable 
education, which she obtained at schools with white children in 
Alexandria. Her husband died early, leaving her with children 
to support, aiul she betook herself to the work of a teacher, 
which she loved, and in which, for not less than twenty-five 
years, she met with uniform success. Her schools were all quite 
large, and the many who remember her as their teacher speak of 
her with great respect. 



1 84 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

MRS, MARY billing's SCHOOL. 

Of the early teachers of Colored schools in this district there 
is no one whose name is mentioned with more gratitude and re- 
spect by the intelligent Colored residents than that of Mrs. Mary 
Billing, who established the first Colored .school that was gath- 
ered in Georgetown. She was an English woman ; her husband, 
Joseph Hilling, a cabinet-maker, coming from England in iSoo, 
settled with his family that year in Washington, and dying in 
1807, left his wife with three children. She was well educated, 
a capable and good woman, and immediately commenced teach- 
ing to support her family. At first, it is believed, she was con- 
nected with the Corporation School of Georgetown. It was while 
in a white school certainly that her attention was arrested by the 
wants of the Colored children, whom she was accustomed to re- 
ceive into her schools, till the opposition became so marked that 
she decided to make her school exclusively Colored. She was a 
woman of strong religious convictions, and being English, with 
none of the ideas peculiar to slave society, when she saw the 
peculiar destitution of the Colored children in the community 
around her, she resolved to give her life to the class who seemed 
most to need her services. She established a Colored school 
about 1810, in a brick house still standing on Dunbarton Street, 
opposite the Methodist church, between Congress and High 
streets, remaining there till the winter of I 820-'2l, when she came 
to Washington and opened a school in the house on H Street, 
near the Foundry Church, then owned by Daniel Jones, a Col- 
ored man, and still owned and occupied by a member of that 
family. She died in 1826, in the fiftieth year of her age. She 
continued her school till failing he.dth, a year or so before her 
death, compelled its relinquishment. Her school was always 
large, it being patronized in Georgetown as well as afterward by 
the best Colored families of Washington, many of whom sent 
their children to her from Capitol Hill and the vicinity of the 
Navy Yard. Most of the better-educated Colored men and 
women now living, who were school children in her time, re- 
ceived the best portion of their education from her, and they all 
speak of her with a deep and tender sense of obligation. Henry 
Potter succeeded her in the Georgetown school, and after him 
Mr. Shay, an Englishman, who subsequently came to Washing- 
ton and for many years had a large Colored school in a brick 
building known as the Round Tops, in the western part of the 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 185 

city, near the Circle, and still later removing to the old Western 
Academy building, corner of I and Seventeenth streets. He was 
there till about 1830, when he was convicted of assisting a slave 
to his freedom, and sent a term to the penitentiary. Mrs. Billing 
had a night school in which she was greatly assisted by Mr. Mon- 
roe, a government clerk and a Presbyterian elder, whose devout 
and benevolent cliaracter is still remembered in the churches. 
Mrs. Billing had scholars from Bladensburg and the surrounding 
country, who came into Georgetown and boarded with her and 
with others. About the time when Mrs. Billing relinquished her 
school in 1822 or 1823, what may be properly called 

THE SMOTHERS SCHOOL-HOUSE, 

w-as built by Menry Smothers on the corner of Fourteenth and 
H streets, not far from the Treasury building. Smothers had a 
small dwelling-house on this corner, and built his school- 
house on the rear of the same lot. He had been long a pupil of 
Mrs. Billing, and hatl subsequently taught a school on Washing- 
ton Street, opposite the Union Hotel in Georgetown. He 
opened his school in Washington in the old corporation school- 
house, built in 1806, but some years before this period abandoned 
as a public school-house. It was known as the Western Acad- 
emy, and is still standing and used as a school-house on the cor- 
ner of I and Nineteenth streets, west. When his school-house on 
Fourteenth and H streets was finished, his school went into the 
new quarters. This school was very large, numbering always 
more than a hundred and often as high as a hundred and fifty 
scholars. He taught here about two years, and was succeeded 
by John W. Prout about the year 1825. Prout was a man of 
ability. In 1831, May 4, there was a meeting, says the "National 
Intelligencer " of that date, of "the colored citizens, large and 
very respectable, in the African Methodist Episcopal Church," to 
consider the question of emigrating to Liberia. John W. Prout was 
chosen to preside over the assemblage, and the article in the " In- 
telligencer" represents him as making " a speech of decided force 
and well adapted to the occasion, in support of a set of resolu- 
tions which he had drafted, and which set forth views adverse to 
leaving the soil that had given them birth, their true and verita- 
ble home, ivithout the benefits of edueation." The school under 
Prout was governed by a board of trustees and was organized as 



i86 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

A FREE SCHOOL, 

and so continued two or three years. The number of scholars 
was very large, averaging a hundred and fifty. Mrs. Anne Maria 
Hall was the assistant teacher. It relied mainly for support upon 
subscription, twelve and a half cents a month only being e.xpected 
from each pupil, and this amount was not compulsory. The 
school was free to all Colored children, without money or price, 
and so continued two or three years, when failing of voluntary 
pecuniary support (it never wanted scholars), it became a regular 
tuition school. The school under Mr. Prout was called the 
"Columbian Institute," the name being suggested by John 
McLeod, the famous Irish school-master, who was a warm friend 
of this institution after visiting and commending the scholars 
and teachers, and who named his new building, in 1835, the 
Columbian Academy. The days of thick darkness to the Col- 
ored people were approaching. The Nat. Turner insurrection in 
Southampton County, Virginia, which occurred in August, 1831, 
spread terror everywhere in slave communities In this district, 
immediately upon that terrible occurrence, the Colored children, 
who had in very large numbers been received into the Sabbath- 
schools in the white churches, were all turned out of those 
schools. This event, though seeming to be a fiery affliction, 
proved a blessing in disguise. It aroused the energies of the 
Colored people, taught them self-reliance, and they organized 
forthwith Sabbath-schools of their own. It was in the Smothers 
school-house that they forined their first Sunday-school, about 
the year 1832, and here they continued their very large school 
for several y6ars, the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church ulti- 
mately springing from the school organization. It is important 
to state in this connection that 

THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL, 

always an extremely important means of education for Colored 
people in the days of slavery, was emphatically so in the gloomy 
times now upon them. It was the Sabbath-school that taught 
the great mass of the free people of color about all the school 
knowledge that was allowed them in those days, and hence the 
consternation which came upon them when they found them- 
selves excluded from the schools of the white churches. Lind- 
say Muse, who has been the messenger for eighteen Secretaries 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 187 

of the Navy, successively, during fifty-four years, from 1828 to the 
present time, John Brown, Benjamin M. McCoy, Mr. Smallwood, 
Mrs. Charlotte Norris, afterward wife of Rev. Eli Nugent, and 
Siby McCoy, are the only survivors of the resolute little band of 
Colored men and women who gathered with and guided that 
Sunday-school. They had, in the successor of Mr. Prout, a man 
after their own heart, 

JOHN F. COOK, 

who came into charge of this school in August, 1834, about 
eight years after his aunt, Alcthia Tanner, had purchased his 
freedom. He learned the shoemaker's trade in his boyhood, and 
worked diligently, after the purchase of his freedom, to make 
some return to his aunt for the purchase-money. About the 
time of his becoming of age, he dislocated his shoulder, which 
compelled him to seek other employment, and in 183 1, the year 
of his majority, he obtained the place of assistant messenger in 
the Land Office. Hon. John Wilson, now Third Auditor of the 
Treasury, was the messenger, and was Cook's firm friend till the 
day of his death. Cook had been a short time at school under 
the in.struction of Smothers and Prout, but when he entered the 
Land Office his education was at most only the ability to stumble 
along a little in a primary reading-book. He, however, now gave 
himself in all his leisure moments, early and late, to study. Mr. 
Wilson remembers his indefatigable application, and affirms that 
it was a matter of astonishment at the time, and that he has seen 
nothing in all his observations to surpass and scarcely to equal 
it. He was soon able to write a good hand, and was employed 
with his pen in clerical w-ork by the sanction of the commissioner, 
Elisha Hayward, w^ho was much attached to him. Cook was 
now beginning to look forward to the life of a teacher, which, 
w-ith the ministry, was the only work not menial in its nature 
then open to an educated Colored man. At the end of three 
years he resigned his place in the Land Office, and entered upon 
the work which he laid down only with his life. It was then that 
he gave himself wholly to study and the business of education, 
working with all his might ; his school numbering quite a hun- 
dred scholars in the winter and a hundred and fifty in the sum- 
mer. He had been in his work one year when the storm which 
had been, for some years, under the discussion of the slavery 
question, gathering over the country at large, burst upon this 
district. 



1 88 HIST'ORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



THE SNOW RIOT, 



or " Snow storm," as it has been commonly called, which oc- 
curred in September, 1835, is an event that stands vividly in the 
memory of all Colored people who lived in this community at 
that time. Benjamin Snow, a smart Colored man, keeping a 
restaurant on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth 
Street, was reported to have made some remark of a bravado 
kind derogatory to the wives of white mechanics; whereupon this 
class, or those assuining to represent them, made a descent upon 
his establishment, destroying all his effects. Snow himself, who 
denied using the offensive language, with difficulty escaped un- 
liarmed, through the management of white friends, taking refuge 
in Canada, where he still resides. The military was promptly 
called to the rescue, at the head of which was General Walter 
Jones, the eminent lawyer, who characterized the rioters, greatly 
to their indignation, as " a set of ragamuffins," and his action was 
thoroughly sanctioned by the city authorities. 

At the same time, also, there was a fierce excitement among 
the mechanics at the Navy Yard, growing out of the fact that a 
large quantity of copper bolts being missed from the yard and 
found to have been carried out in the dinner-pails by the hands, 
the commandant had forbid eating dinners in the yard. This 
order was interpreted as an insult to the white mechanics, and 
threats were made of an assault on the yard, which was put in a 
thorough state of defence by the commandant. The rioters 
swept through the city, ransacking the houses of the prominent 
Colored men and women, ostensibly in search of anti-slavery 
papers r»nd documents, the most of the gang impelled un- 
doubtedly by hostility to the Negro race and by motives of plunder. 
Nearly all the Colored school-houses were partially demolished 
and the furniture totally destroyed, and in several cases they 
were completely ruined. Some private houses were also torn 
down or burnt. The Colored schools were nearly all broken up, 
and it was with the greatest difficulty that the Colored churches 
were saved from destruction, as their Sabbath-schools were re- 
garded, and correctly regarded, as the means through which the 
Colored people, at that time, procured much of their education. 

The rioters sought, especially, for John F. Cook, who, how- 
ever, had seasonably taken from the stable the horse of his 
friend, Mr. Hayward, the Commissioner of the Land Office, an 
anti-slavery man, and fled precipitately from the city. They 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 189 

marched to his school-house, destroyed all the books and furni- 
ture, and partially destroyed the building. Mrs. Smothers, who 
owned both the school-house and the dwelling adjoining the 
lots, was sick in her house at the time, but an alderman, Mr. 
Rdward Dyer, with great courage and nobleness of spirit, stood 
between the house and the mob for her protection, declaring that 
he would defend her house from molestation with all the means 
he could command. They left the house unharmed, and it is 
still standing on the premises. Mr. Cook went to Columbia, 
Pennsylvania, opened a school there, and did not venture back 
to his home till the autumn of 1836. At the time the riot broke 
out, General Jackson was absent in Virginia. He returned in 
the midst of the tumult, and immediately issuing orders in his 
bold, uncompromising manner to the authorities to see the laws 
respected at all events, the violence was promptly subdued. It 
was, nevertheless, a very dark time for the Colored people. The 
timid class did not for a year or two dare to send their children 
to school, and the whole mass of the Colored people dwelt in 
fear day and night. In August, 1836, Mr. Cook returned from 
Pennsylvania and reopened his school, which under him had, in 
1834, received the name of 

UNION SEMINAKV. 

During his year's absence he was in charge of a free Col- 
ored public school in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 
which he surrendered to the care of Benjamin M. McCoy when 
he came back to his home, Mr. McCoy going there to fill out his 
engagement. 

He resumed his work with broad and elevated ideas of his 
business. This is clearly seen in the plan of his institution, em- 
braced in the printed annual announcements and programmes of 
his annual exhibitions, copies of which have been preserved. 
The course of study embraced three years, and there was a male 
and a female department, Miss Catharine Costin at one period 
being in charge of the female department. Mr. Scaton, of the 
" National Intelligencer," among other leading and enlightened 
citizens and public men, used to visit his school from year to 
year, and watch its admirable working with deep and lively in- 
terest. Cook was at this period not only watching over his very 
large school, ranging from 100 to 150 or more pupils, but was 
active in the formation of the " First Colored Presbyterian 



I90 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Church of Washington," which was organized in November, 
1841, by Rev. John C. Smith, D.D., and worshipped in this 
school-house. He was now also giving deep study to the prepa- 
ration fo'- the ministry, upon which, in fact, as a licentiate of 
the African Methodist Episcopal Church, he had already in some 
degree entered. At a regular meeting of " The presbytery of 
the District of Columbia," held in Alexandria, May 3, 1842, this 
church, now commonly called the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian 
Church, was formally received under the care of that presbj'tery, 
the first and still the only Colored Presbyterian church in the 
district. Mr. Cook was elected the first pastor July 13, 1843, and 
preached his trial sermon before ordination on the evening of 
that day in the P'ourth Presbyterian Church (Dr. J. C. Smith's) in 
the city, in the presence of a large congregation. This sermon 
is remembered as a manly production, delivered with great dig- 
nity and force, and deeply imbued with the spirit of his work. 
He was ordained in the Fifteenth Street Church the next evening, 
and continued to serve the church with eminent success till his 
death in 1855. Rev. John C. Smith, D.D., who had preached his 
ordination sermon, and been his devoted friend and counsellor for 
nearly twenty years, preached his funeral sermon, selecting as his 
te.xt, " There was a man sent from God whose name was John." 
There were present white as well as Colored clergymen of no 
less than five denominations, many of the oldest and most re- 
spectable citizens, and a vast concourse of all classes white and 
Colored. " The Fifteenth Street Church," in the words of Dr. 
Smith in relation to them and their first pastor, "is now a large 
and flourishing congregation of spiritually-minded people. They 
have been educated in the truth and the principles of our holy 
religion, and in the new, present state of things the men of this 
church are trusted, relied on as those wlio fear God and keep His 
commandments. The church is the monument to John F. Cook, 
the first pastor, who was faithful in all his house, a workman who 
labored night and day for years, and has entered into his reward. 
' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.' 'They rest from 
their labors, and their works do follow them.' " 

In 1841, when he entered, in a preliminary and informal way, 
upon the pastorate of the Fifteenth Street Church, he seems to 
have attempted to turn his seminary into a high school, limited 
to twenty-five or thirty pupils, exclusively for the more advanced 
scholars of both sexes; and his plan of studies to that end, as 



\v 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 19I 

seen in his prospectus, evinces broad and elevated views — a de- 
sire to aid in lifting his race to higher things in education than 
they had yet attempted. His plans were not put into execution, 
in the matter of a high school, being frustrated by the circum- 
stances that there were so few good schools in the city for the 
Colored people, at that period, that his old patrons would not 
allow him to shut off the multitude of primary scholars which 
were depending upon his school. His seminary, however, con- 
tinued to maintain its high standard, and had an average at- 
tendance of quite lOO year after year, till he surrendered up 
liis work in death. 

He raised up a large family and educated them well. The 
oldest of the sons, John and George, were educated at Oberlin 
College. The other three, beirg young, were in school when 
the father died. John and George, it will be seen, succeeded 
their father as teachers, continuing in the business down to the 
present year. Of the two daughters, the elder was a teacher 
till married in 1866, and the other is now a teacher in the public 
schools of the city. One son served through the war as sergeant 
in the Fortieth Colored Regiment, and another served in the 
navy. 

At the death of the father, March 21, 1855, the school fell 
into the hands of the son, John F. Cook, who continued it till 
May, 1857, when it passed to a younger son, George F. T. Cook, 
who moved it from its old home, the Smothers House, to the 
basement of the Presbyterian Church, in the spring of 1858, and 
maintained it till July, 1859. John F. Cook, jr., who had erected 
a new school-house on Si.xteenth Street, in 1862, again gathered 
the school which the tempests of the war had dispersed, and 
continued it till June, 1867, when the new order of things had 
opened ample school facilities throughout the city, and the 
teacher was called to other duties. Thus ended the school 
which had been first gathered by Smothers nearly forty-five years 
before, and which, in that long period, had been continually 
maintained with seldom less than one hundred pupils, and for 
the most part with one hundred and fifty, the only suspensions 
being in the year of the Snow riot, and in the two years which 
ushered in the war. 

The Smothers House, after the Cook school was removed in 
1858, was occupied for two years by a free Calholic school, sup- 
ported by " The St. Vincent de Paul Society," a benevolent 



192 HIS TOR y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

organization of Colored people. It was a very large school with 
two departments, the boys under David Brown, and the girls 
under Eliza Anne Cook, and averaging over one hundred and 
fifty scholars. When this school was transferred to another 
house, Rev. Chauncej' Leonard, a Colored Baptist clergyman, 
now pastor of a church in Washington, and Nannie Waugh 
opened a school there, in 1861, that became as large as that 
which had preceded it in the same place. This school was 
broken up in 1862 by the destruction of the building at the hands 
of the incendiaries, who, even at that time, were inspired witli 
all their accustomed vindictiveness toward the Colored people. 
But this was their last heathenish jubilee, and from the ashes of 
many burnings imperishable liberty has sprung forth. 

About the time that Smothers built his school-house, in 1823, 

LOUIS.V PARKE COSTIN's SCHOOL 

was established in her father's house on Capitol Hill, on A Street, 
south, under the shadow of the Capitol. This Costin family came 
from Mount Vernon immediately after the/death of Martha Wash- 
ington, in 1802. The father, William Costin, who died suddenly 
in his bed. May 31, 1842, was for twenty-four years messenger 
for the Bank of Washington in this city. His death was noticed 
at length in the columns of the "National Intelligencer" in more 
than one communication at the time. The obituary notice, 
written under the suggestions of the bank officers who had pre- 
viously passed a resolution expressing their respect for his mem- 
ory, and appropriating fifty dollars toward the funeral expenses, 
says: "It is due to the deceased to say that his colored skin 
covered a benevolent heart"; concluding with this language: 
"The deceased raised respectably a large family of children of 
his own, and, in the exercise of the purest benevolence, took into 
his family and supported four orphan children. The tears of the 
orphan will moisten his grave, and his memory will be dear to 
all those — a numerous class — who have experienced his kind- 
ness " ; and adding these lines : 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise ; 
Act well your part — there all the honor lies." 

John Quincy Adams, also, a few days afterward, in a dis- 
cussion of the wrongs of slavery, alluded to the deceased in these 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 193 

words , " The late William Costin, though he was not white, was 
as much respected as any man in the district, and the large 
concourse of citizens that attended his remains to the grave, as 
well white as bl.ick, was an evidence of the manner in which he 
was estimated by the citizens of Washington." His portrait, 
taken by the direction of the bank authorities, still hangs in the 
directors' room, and it may also be seen in the houses of more 
than one of the old antl prominent residents of the city. 

William Costin's mother, Ann Dandridge, was the daughter 
of a half-breed (Indian and Colored), her grandfather being a 
Cherokee chief, and her reputed father was •the father of Martha 
Dandridge, afterward Mrs. Custis, who, in 1759, was married to 
General Washington. These daughters, Ann and Martha, grew 
up together on the ancestral plantations. William Costin's re- 
puted father was white, and belonged to a j^rominent family in 
Virginia, but the mother, after his birth, married one of the 
Mount Vernon slaves by the name of Costin, and the son took 
the name of William Costin. His mother, being of Indian de- 
scent, made him, under the laws of Virginia, a free-born man. 
In iSoo he married Philadelphia Judge (his cousin), one of Mar- 
tha Washirigton's slaves, at Mount Vernon, where both were 
born in 17S0. The wife was given by Martha Washington at 
her decease to her granddaughter, Eliza Parke Custis, who was 
the wife of Thomas Law, of Washington. Soon after William 
Costin and his wife came to Washington, the wife's freedom was 
secured on kind and easy terms, and the children were all born 
free. This is the account which William Costin and his wife and 
his mother, Ann Dandridge, always gave of their ancestry, and 
they were persons of great precision in all matters of family his- 
tor)-, as well as of the most marked scrupulousness in their state- 
ments. Their seven children, five daughters and two sons, went 
to school with the white children on Capitol Hill, to Mrs. Maria 
Haley and other teachers. The two younger daughters, Martha 
and Prances, finished their education at the Colored convent in 
Baltimore. Louisa Parke and Ann had passed their school da\-s be- 
fore the convent was founded. Louisa Parke Costin opened her 
school at nineteen years of age, continuing it with much success 
till her sudden death in 1831, the year in which her mother also 
died. When Martha returned from the convent seminary, a 
year or so later, she reopened the school, continuing it till about 
1839. This school, which was maintained some fifteen years, was 



194 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

always very full. .'The three surviving sisters own and reside in 
the house which their father built about 1812. One of these 
sisters married Richard Henry Fisk, a Colored man of good edu- 
cation, who died in California, and she now has charge of the 
Senate ladies' reception-room. Ann Costin was for several years 
in the family of Major Lewis (at Woodlawn, Mount Vernon), the 
nepliew of Washington. Mrs. Lewis (Eleanor Custis) was the 
"randdau"hter of Martha Washington. This school was not 
molested by the mob of 1835, and it was always under the care 
of a well-bred and well-educated teacher. 

THE WESLEYAN SEMINARY. 

While ]\Lirtha Costin was teaching, James Enoch Ambush, a 
Colored man, had also a large school in the basement of the 
Israel Bethel Church, on Capitol Hill, for a while, commencing 
there in April, 1833, and continuing in various places till 1843, 
when he built a school-house on E Street, south, near Tenth, 
island, antl established what was known as " The Wesleyan 
Seminary," and which was successfully maintained for thirty-two 
years, till the close of August, 1S65. The school-house still 
stands, a comfortable one-story wooden structure, with the sign 
"Wesleyan Seminary " over the door, as it has been therefor 
twent\'-five \'ears. Tliis was the only Colored school on the 
island of any account for many j-ears, and in its humble way it 
accomplished a great amount of good. For some years Mr. Am- 
bush had given much study to botanic medicine, and since closing 
his school he has become a botanic physician. He is a man of 
fine sense, and without school advantages, has acquired a respect- 
able education. 

FIRST SEMINARY FOR COLORED GIRLS. 

V The first seminary in the District of Columbia for Colored 
girls was established in Georgetown, in 1827, under the special 
auspices of Father Vanlomenja benevolent and devout Catholic 
priest, then pastor of the Holy Trinity Church, who not only 
gave this interesting enterprise his hand and his heart, but for 
several years himself taught a school of Colored boys three days 
in a week, near the Georgetown college gate, in a small frame 
house, which was afterward famous as the residence of the 
broken-hearted widow, of Commodore Decatur. (This female 
seminary was under the care of Maria Becraft, who was the most 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 195 

remarkable Colored young woman of her time in the district, and, 
perhaps, of any time.^ Her father, William Becraft, born while 
his mother, a free woman, was the housekeeper of Charles .Car- 
roll, of Carrollton, always had the kindest attentions of this great 
man, and there are now pictures, more than a century and a ha. I 
old, and other valuable relics from the Carroll family in the 
possession of the Becraft family, in Georgetown, which Charles 
Carroll, of Carrollton, in his last days presented to William Be- 
craft as family keepsakes. William Becratt lived in Georgetown 
sixty-four years, coming there when eighteen years of age. He 
was for many years chief steward of Union Hotel, and a remark- 
able man, respected and honored by everybody. When he died, 
the press of the district noticed, in a most prominent manner, 
liis life and character. From one of the extended obituar\- 
notices, marked with heav\' black lines, the following paragrapli 
is copied : 

" He was amon^ the last survivini^ representatives of the old school 
of well-bred, confidential, and intelligent domestics, and was widely 
known at hoine and abroad from his connection, in the cajiacity of 
steward for a long series of years, and probably from its origin, and 
until a recent date, with the Union Hotel, Georgetown, with whose 
guests, for successive generations, his benevolent and venerable aspect, 
dignified and obliging manners, and moral excellence, rendered him a 
general fa\orite." 

(Maria l^ccraft was marked, froin her childhood, for her un- 
common intelligence and refinement, and for her extraordinary 
piety. She was born in 1805, and first went to school for a year 
to Henry Potter, in Washington, about 1812; afterward attend- 
ing Mrs. Billing's school constantly till 1820. She then, at the 
age of fifteen, opened a school for girls in Dunbarton Street, in 
Georgetown, and gave herself to the work, which she loved, 
with the greatest assiduity, and with uniform success. In 1827. 
when she was twenty-two years of age, her remarkable beauty 
and elevation of character so much impressed I-"ather Vanlomen, 
the good priest, that he took it in hand to gi\e her a higher style 
of school in which to work for her sex and race, to the educa-^ 
tion of which she had now fidly consecrated herself, ller school 
was accordingly transferred to a larger building, which still 
stands on Fayette Street, opposite the convent, and there she 
opened a boarding and day school for Colored girls, which she 



196 III STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

continued with great success till August, 1831, when she surren- 
dered her little seminary into the care of one of the girls that she 
had trained, and in October of that year joined the convent at 
Baltimore as a Sister of Providence, where she was the leading 
teacher till she died, in December, 1833, a great loss to that 
young institution, which was contemplating this noble young 
woman as its future Mother Superior. Her seminary in George- 
town averaged from thirty to thirty-five pupils^ and there are 
those living who remember the troop of girls, dressed uniformly, 
which was wont to follow in procession their pious and refined 
teacher to devotions on the Sabbath at Holy Trinity Church. 
(The school comprised girls from the best Colored families of 
^«orgetown, Washington, Alexandria, and surrounding country. 
The sisters of the Georgetown convent were the admirers of 
Miss Becraft, gave her instruction, and extended to her most 
heartfelt aid and approbation in all her noble work, as they were 
in those days wont to do in behalf of the aspiring Colored girls 
who sought for education, withholding themselves from such 
work only when a depraved and degenerate public sentiment 
upon the subject of educating the Colored people had comnelled 
them to a more rigid line of demarcation between the races. 
Ellen Simonds and others conducted the school a few years, but 
with the loss of its original teacher it began to fail, and finally 
became extinct. Maria Becraft is remembered, wherever she 
was known, as a woman of the rarest sweetness and exaltation 
of Christian life, graceful and attractive in person and manners, 
gifted, well-educated, and wholly devoted to doing good. Her 
name as a Sister of Providence was Sister Aloyons. j 

MISS JIVKTILLA MIXER's SEMINARY 

for Colored girls was initiated in Washington. This philan- 
thropic woman was born in Brookfield, Madison County, New 
York, in 1815. Her parents were farmers, with small resources 
for the support of a large family. The children were obliged to 
work, and the small advantages of a common school were all the 
educational privileges furnished to them. Hop-raising was a 
feature in their farming, and this daughter was accustomed to 
work in the autumn, picking the hops. She was of a delicate 
physical organization, and suffered exceedingly all her life with 
spinal troubles. Being a girl of extraordinary intellectual activ- 
ity, her place at home chafed her spirit. She was restless, dis. 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 197 

satisfied with her lot, looked higher than her father, dissented 
from his ideas of woman's education, and, in her desperation, 
when about twenty-three years old, wrote to Mr. Seward, then 
recently elected Governor of her State, asking him if he could 
show her how it was possible for a woman in her circumstances 
to become a scholar; receiving from him the reply that he could 
not, but hoped a better day was coming, wherein woman might 
have a chance to be and to do to the extent of her abilities. 
Hearing at this time of a school at Clinton, Oneida County, New 
York, for young women, on the manual-labor system, she de- 
cided to go there ; but her health being such as to make manual 
labor impossible at the time, she wrote to the principal of the 
Clover Street Seminary, Rochester, New York, who generously 
received her, taking her notes for the school bills, to be paid 
after completing her education. Grateful for this noble act, she 
afterward sent her younger sister there to be educated, for her 
own associate as a teacher; and the death of this talented sister, 
when about to graduate and come as her assistant in Washing- 
ton, fell upon her with crushing force. /In the Rochester school, 
with Myrtilla Miner, were two free Colored girls, and this asso- 
ciation w^as the first circumstance to turn her thoughts to the 
work to which she gave her life. From Rochester she went to 
Mississippi, as a teacher of planters' daughters, and it was what 
she was compelled to sec, in this situation, of the dreadful prac- 
tices and conditions of slaver\', that filled her soul with a pity for 
the Colored race, and a detestation of the system that bound 
them, which held possession of her to the last day of her life. 
She remained there several years, till her indignant utterances, 
which she w-ould not withhold, compelled her employer, fearful 
of the results, to part reluctantly with a teacher whom he valued. 
She came home broken down with sickness, caused by the 
harassing sights and sounds that she had witnessed in plantation 
life, and whik: in this condition she made a solemn vow that 
•whatever of life remained to her should be given to the work of 
ameliorating the condition of the Colored people. Here her 
great work begins. She made up her mind to do something for 
the education of free Colored girls, with the idea that through 
the influence of educated Colored women she could lay tlie solid 
foundations for the disenthrallment of their race. She selected 
the district for the field of her efforts, because it w'as the com- 
mon property of the nation, and because the laws of the district 



1 98 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

gave her the right to educate free Colored children, and she 
attempted to teach none others. She opened her plan to 
many of the leading friends of freedom, in an extensive cor- 
respondence, but found especially, at this time, a wise and 
warm encourager and counsellor in her scheme, in WJlliam 
R. Smith, a Friend, of Farmington, near Rochester New York, 
in whose family she was now a private teacher. Her correspond- 
ents generally gave her but little encouragement, but wished 
her God-speed in what she should dare in the j^ood cause. 
One Friend wrote her from Philadelphia; enteruig warmly 
into her scheme, but advised her to wait till funds could be 
collected. " I do not want the wealth of Crccsus," was her 
reply ; and the Friend sent her $ioo, and with thir. capital, in 
the autumn of 185 1, she came to Washington to establish a 
Normal School for the education of Colored girls, having associ- 
ated with her Miss Anna Inman,an accomplished and benevolent 
lady of the Society of Friends, from Southfield, Rhode Island, 
who, however, after teaching a class of Colored girls in French, 
in the house of Jonathan Jones, on the island, througii the win- 
ter, returned to New England. In the autumn of 1S51 Miss 
Miner commenced her remarkable work here in a small room, 
about fourteen feet square, in the frame house then, as now, 
owned and occupied by Edward C. Younger, a Colored man, as 
his dwelling, on Eleventh Street, near New York Avenue. With 
but two or three girls to open the school, she soon had a room- 
ful, and to secure larger accommodation, moved, after a couple of 
months, to a house on F Street, north, between Eighteenth and 
Nineteenth streets, west, near the houses then occupied by 
William T. Carroll and Charles H. Winder. This house furnished 
her a very comfortable room for her school, which was composed 
of well-behaved girls from the best Colored families of the dis- 
trict. The persecution of those neighbors, however, compelled 
her to leave, as the Colored family who occupied the house was 
threatened with conflagration, and after one month her little 
school found a more vinmolested home in the dwelling-house of 
a German family on K Street, near the western market. After 
tarrying a few months here, she moved to L Street, into a room 
in the building known as '' The Two Sisters," then occupied by 
a white family. She now saw that the success of her school 
demanded a school-house, and in reconnoitring the ground she 
found a spot suiting her ideas as to size and locality, u-ith a 



NEGRO SCHOOL LA II S. 199 

house on it, and in the market at a low price. She raised the 
money, secured the spot, and thitiier, in the summer of 1S51, 
she moved her scliool, where for seven years she was destined to 
prosecute, with the most unparalleled energy and conspicuous 
success, her remarkable enterprise. This lot, comprising an 
entire square of three acres, between Nineteenth and Twentieth 
streets, west, N and O streets, north, and New Hampshire 
Avenue, selected under the guidance of Miss Miner, the contract 
being perfected through the agency of Sayles J. Bowen, Thomas 
Williamson, and Allen M. Gangewer, was originally conveyed in 
trust to Thomas Williamson and Samuel Rhodes, of the Society 
of Friends, in Philadelphia. It was purchased of the executors 
of tiie will of Jolm Taylor, for $4.,ooo, the deed being executed 
June 8, 1853, the estimated value of the property now being not 
less than $30,000. The money was mainly contributed by 
Friends, in Philadelphia, New York, and New Plngland. Cath- 
arine Morris, a Friend, of Philadelphia, was a liberal benefactor 
of the enterprise, advancing Miss Miner $2,000, with which to 
complete the purchase of the lot, the most, if not all, of which sum, 
it is believed, she ultimately gave to the institution ; and Harriet 
Beecher Stov/e was another generous friend, who gave her money 
and her heart to the support of the brave woman who had been 
willing to go forth alone at the call of duty.\ Mr. Rhodes, some 
years editor of the " Friends' Quarterly I'^vievv," died several 
years ago, near Philadelphia. Mr. Williamson, a conveyancer in 
that city, and father of Passmore Williamson, is still living, but 
oome )-ears ago declined the place of trustee. The board, at the 
date of the act of incorporation, consisted of Benjamin Tatham, 
a Friend, of New York City, Mrs. Nancy M. Johnson, of 
Washington, and Myrtilla Miner, and the transfer of the 
property to the incorporated body was made a few w^'cks prior 
to Miss Miner's death. This real estate, togetiier with a fund of 
$4,000 in government stocks, is now in the hands of a corporate 
body, under act of Congress approved March 3, 1863, and is 
styled "The Institution for the Education of Colored Youth in 
the District of Columbia." The officers of the corporation at 
this time are John C. Underwood, president; l'~rancis Cj. Shaw, 
treasurer; George E. Baker, secretary; who, with Nancy M. 
Johnson, S. J. Bowen, Henry Addison, and Rachel Howland, 
constitute the executive committee. The purpose of the pur- 
chase of this property is declared, in a paper signed by Mr. 



200 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Williamson and Mr. Rhodes, dated Philadelphia, June 8, 1858, 
to have been " sspccially for the education of colored girls." 

This paper also declares that " the grounds were purchased at 
the special instance of Myrtilla Miner," and that " the contribu- 
tions by which the original price of said lot, and also the cost of 
the subsequent improvements thereof, were procured chiefly by 
her instrumentality and labors." / The idea of Miss Miner in 
plant-ing a school here was to train up a class of Colored girls, in 
the midst of slave institutions, who should show fortli in their 
culture and capabilities, to the country and to mankind, that the 
race was fit for something higher than the degradation which 
rested upon them. The amazing energy with which this frail 
woman prosecuted her work is well known to those who took 
knowledge of her career. She visited the Colored people of her 
district from house to house, and breathed a new life into them 
pertaining to the education of their daughters. Her correspond- 
ence with the philanthropic men and women of the North was 
immense. She importuned Congressmen, and the men who 
shaped public sentiment through the columns of the press, to 
come into her school and see her girls, and was ceaseless in her 
activities day and night, in every direction, to build up, in dignity 
and refinement, her seminary, and to force its merits upon public 
attentionT) 

TheTSuildings upon the lot when purchased — a small frame 
dwelling of two stories, not more than twenty-five by thirty-five 
feet in dimensions, with three small cabins on the other side of 
the premises — served for the seminary and the homes of the 
teacher and her assistant. (The most aspiring and decently bred 
Colored girls of the district were gathered into the school ; and the 
very best Colored teachers in the schools of the district at the 
present time, are among those who owe their education to this 
self-sacrificing teacher and her school. Mrs. Means, aunt of the 
wife of General Pierce, then President of the United States, at- 
tracted by the enthusiasm of this wonderful person, often visited 
her in the midst of her work, with the kindest feelings; and the 
fact that the carriage from the Presidential mansion was in this 
way frequently seen at the door of this humble institution, did 
much to protect it from the hatred with which it was sur- 
rounded. 

( Mr. Seward and his family were very often seen at the school, 
both Mrs. Seward and her daughter Fanny being constant visitors ; 



NEGRO SCHOOL LA \VS. 201 

the latter, a young girl at the time, often spending a whole day 
there. Many other Congressmen of large and generous instincts, 
some of them of pro-slavery party relations, went out there, all 
confessing their admiration of the resolute woman and her school, 
and this kept evil men in abeyance.) 

(The opposition to the school throughout the district was 
strong and very general, among the old as well as the young. 
Even Walter Lenox, who, as mayor, when the school was first 
started, gave the teacher assurances of favor in her work, came 
out in 1857, following the prevailing current of depraved public 
sentiment and feeding its tide, in an elaborate article in the 
" National Intelligencer," under his own signature; assailed the 
school in open and direct language, urging against it that it was 
raising the standard of education among the Colored population, 
and distinctly declaring that the white population of the district 
would not be just to themselves to permit the continuance of an 
institution which had the temerity to extend to the Colored 
people " a degree of instruction so far beyond their social and 
political condition, which condition must continue," the article 
goes on to say, " in this and every other slave-holding commu- 
nity." This article, though fraught with extreme ideas, and to 
the last degree proscriptive and inflammatory, neither stirred any 
open violence, nor deterred the courageous woman in the slight- 
est degree from her work. When madmen went to her school- 
room threatening her with personal violence, she laughed them 
to shame; and when they threatened to burn her house, she told 
them that they could not stop her in that way, as another house, 
better than the old, would immediately rise from its ashes. 

The house was set on fire in the spring of i860, when Miss 
Miner was asleep in the second story, alone, in the night-time, 
but the smell of the smoke awakened her in time to save the 
building and herself from the flames, which were extinguished. 
The school-girls, also, were constantly at the mercy of coarse 
and insulting boys along the streets, who would often gather in 
gangs before the gate to pursue and terrify these inoffensive 
children, who were striving to gather wisdom and understanding 
in their little sanctuary. The police took no cognizance of such 
brutality in those days. But their dauntless teacher, uncompro- 
mising, conscientious, and self-possessed in her aggressive work, 
in no manner turned from her course by this persecution, was, 
on the other hand, stimulated thereby to higher vigilance and 



202 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

energy in her great undertaking. Tlie course of instruction in 
the school was indeed of a higher order than had hitherto been 
opened to the Colored people of the district, as was denounced 
against the school by Walter Lenox, in his newspaper attack^ 
Lectures upon scientific and literary subjects were given by pro- 
fessional and literary gentlemen, who were friends to the cause. 
The spacious grounds afforded to each pupil an ample space for 
a flower bed, which she was enjoined to cultivate with her own 
hands and to thoroughly study. And an excellent h'brary, a 
collection of paintings and engravings, the leading magazines and 
choice newspapers, were gathered and secured for the humble 
home of learning, which was all the while filled with students, 
the most of whom were bright, ambitious girls, composing a 
female Colored school, which, in dignity and usefulness, has had 
no equal in the district since that day. It was her custom to 
gather in her vacations and journeys not only money, but every 
thing else that would be of use in her school, and in this way she 
not only collected books, but maps, globes, philosophical, and 
chemical, and mathematical apparatus, and a great variety of 
things to aid in her instruction in illustrating all branches of 
knowledge. This collection was stored in the sciiool building 
during the war, and was damaged by neglect, plundered by 
soldiers, and what remains is not of much value. The elegant 
sofa-bedstead which she used during all her years in the semi- 
nary, and which would be an interesting possession for the semi- 
nary, was sold, with her other personal effects, to Dr. Carrie 
Brown (Mrs. Winslow), of Washington, one of her bosom 
friends, who stood at her pillow when she died. 

Her plan embraced the erection of spacious structures, upon 
the site whicli had been most admirably chosen, complete in all 
their appointments for the full accommodation of a school of 
one hundred and fifty boarding scholars. The seminary was to be 
a female college, endowed with all the powers and professorships 
belonging to a first-class college for the other sex. She did not 
contemplate its springing up into such proportions, like a mush- 
room, in a single night, but it was her ambition that the institu- 
tion should one day attain that rank". In the midst of lier anxious, 
incessant labors, her physical system began so sensibly to fail, 
that in the summer of 1858, under the counsel of the friends of 
herself and her cause, she went North to seek health, and, as 
usual in all iier journeys, to beg for her seminary, leaving her 



NEGRO SCHOOL LA IIS. 203 

girls in the care of Emily Rowland, a noble yoiint:j woman, who 
came down here for the love of the cause, without money and 
without price, from the vicinity of Auburn, New Yoilc. In the 
autumn, Miss Miner returned to her school ; Miss Howland still 
continuing with her through the winter, a companion in her 
trials, aiding her in her duties, and consenting to take charge of 
the school again in the summer of 1S59, while Miss Miner was on 
another journey for funds and health. In the autumn of that 
year, after returning from her journey, which \\'as not very suc- 
cessful, she determined to suspend the school, and to go forth 
into the country with a most persistent appeal for money to 
erect a seminary building, as she had found it impossible to get 
a house of any character started with the means already in her 
hands. She could get no woman, whom she deemed fit to take 
her work, willing to continue her school, and in the spring of 
i860, leasing the premises, she went North on her errand. In 
the ensuing year she traversed many States, but the shadow of 
the Rebellion was on her path, and she gathered neither much 
money nor much strength. The war came, and in October, 
i86j, hoping, but vainly, for health from a sea-voyage and from 
the Pacific climate, she sailed from New York to California. 
When about to return, in i8()6, with vivacit)' of body and spirit, 
she was thrown from a carriage in a fearful manner; blighting nil 
the high hopes of resuming her school under the glowing auspices 
she had anticipated, as she saw the Rebellion and the hated sys- 
tem tumbling to pieces. She arrived in New York, in August of 
that year, in a most shattered condition of body, though with the 
fullest confidence that she should speedily be well and at her 
work in Washington. In the first days of December she went to 
Washington in a dying condition, still resolute to resume her 
^•ork; was carried to the residence of her tried friend, Mrs. Nancy 
M. Johnson; and on the tenth of that month, surrounded by the 
friends who had stood with her in other days, she put off her 
wasted and wearied body in the city which had witnessed her trials 
and her triumphs, and her remains slumber in Oak Mill Cemetery. 
Her seminary engaged her thoughts to the last day of her life. 
She said in her last hours that she had come back here to resume 
her work, and could not leave it thus unfinished. No marble 
marks the resting-place of this truly wonderful woman, but her 
memory is certainly held precious in the hearts of her throngs of 
pupils, in the hearts of the Colored people of this district, and of 



204 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

all who took knowledge of her life, and who reverenced the cause 
in which she offered herself a willing sacrifice. Her assistants in 
the school were Helen Moore, of Washington ; Margaret Clapp, 
Amanda Weaver, and Anna H. Searing, of New York State, 
and two of her pupils, Matilda Jones, of Washington, and 
Emma Brown, of Georgetown, both of whom subsequently, 
through the influence of Miss Miner and Miss Howland, 
finished their education at Oberlin, and have since been most 
superior teachers in Washington. Most of the assistant teachers 
from the North were from families connected with the Society of 
Friends, and it has been seen that the bulk of the money came 
from that society. The sketch would be incomplete without a 
special tribute to Lydia B. Mann, sister of Horace Mann, who 
came here in the fall of 1856, from the Colored Female Orphan 
Asylum of Providence, R. I., of which she was then, as she con- 
tinues to be, the admirable superintendent, and, as a pure labor 
of love, took care of the school in the most superior manner 
through'the autumn and winter, while Miss Miner was North re- 
cruiting her strength and pleading for contributions. It was no 
holiday duty to go into that school, live in that building, and 
work alone with head and hands, as was done by all those refined 
and educated women who stood from time to time in that hum- 
ble, persecuted seminary. Miss Mann is gratefully remembered 
by her pupils here and their friends. 

Mention should also be made of Emily Howland, who stood 
by Miss Miner in her darkest days, and whose whole heart was 
with her in all her work. She is a woman of the largest and 
most self-sacrificing purposes, who has been and still is giving 
her best years, all her powers, talents, learning, refinement, 
wealth, and personal toil, to the education and elevation of the 
Colored race. While here she adopted, and subsequently edu- 
cated in the best manner, one of Miss Miner's pupils, and 
assisted several others of her smart girls in completing their edu- 
cation at Oberlin. During the war she was teaching contrabands 
in tlie hospital and the camp, and is now engaged in planting a 
colony of Colored people in Virginia with homes and a school- 
house of their own. 

A seminary, such as was embraced in the plan of Miss Miner, 
is exceedingly demanded by the interest of Colored female 
education in the District of Columbia and the country at 
large, and any scheme by which the foundations that she laid so 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 205 

well may become the seat of such a school, would be heartily- 
approved by all enlightened friends of the Colored race. The 
trustees of the Miner property, not insensible of their respon- 
sibilities, have been carefully watching for the moment wlien ac- 
tion on their part would seem to be justified. They have re- 
peatedly met in regard to the matter, but, in their counsels, 
liithcrto, have deemed it wise to wait further developments. 
They are now about to hold another meeting, it is understood, 
and it is to be devoutly hoped that some plan will be adopted 
by which a school of a high order may be, in due time, opened 
for Colored girls in this district, who exceedingly need the refin- 
ing, womanly training of such a school. 

The original corporators of Miss Miner's institution were 
Henry Addison, John C. Underwood, George C. Abbott, William 
H. Channing, Nancy M. Johnson, and Myrtilla Miner. The ob- 
jects, as expressed in the charter, "are to educate and improve 
the moral and intellectual condition of such of the colored youth 
of the nation as may be placed under its care and influence." 

(^lARV WORMLEV'S SCHOOL.^ 

f In 1830, William Wormley built a school-house for his sister 
Mary, near the corner of Vermont Avenue and I Street, where 
the restaurant establishment owned and occupied by his brother, 
James Wormley, now stands. He had educated his sister ex- 
pressly for a teacher, at great expense, at the Colored Female 
Seminary in Philadelphia, then in charge of Miss Sarah Dourr. 
lass, an accomplished Colored lady, who is still a teacher of note 
in the Philadelphia Colored High School. William Wormley 
was at thai time a man of wealth. Mis livery-stable, which oc- 
cupied the place where the Owen House now stands, was one of 
the largest and best in the city. Miss Wormley had just brought 
her school into full and successful operation when her health 
broke down, and she lived scarcely two years. Mr. Calvert, an 
English gentleman, still living in the first ward, taught a class 
of Colored scholars in this house for a time, and James Wormley 
was one of the class. In the autumn of 1834, William Thomas 
Lee opened a school in the same place, and it was in a flourish- 
ing condition in the fall of 1835, when the Snow mob dispersed it, 
sacking the school-house, and partially destroying it by fire. 
William Wormley was at that time one of the most enterprising 
and influential Colored men of Washington, and was the original 



2o6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

agent of the " Liberator '" newspaper for this district. The 
mob being determined to lay hold of him and Lee, they fled 
from the city to save their lives, returning when General Jack- 
son, coming back from Virginia a few days after the outbreak, 
gave notice that the fugitives should be protected. The perse- 
cution of William Wormley was so violent and persistent, that 
his health and spirits sank under its effects, his business was 
broken up, and he died a poor man, scarcely owning a shelter for 
his dying couch. The school-house was repaired after the riot, 
and occupied for a time by Margaret Thompson's school, and 
still stands in the rear of James Wormley's restaurant. ) 

LIENJAMIN m'COY'S, .A.ND OTHER SCHOOLS. 

i About this time-another school was opened in Georgetown, 
by Nancy Grant, a sister of Mrs. William Becraft, a well-educated 
Colored woman. She was teaching as early as 1828, and had a 
useful school for several years.') Mr. Nuthall, an Englishman. 
was teaching in Georgetown "miring this period, and as late as 
1833 he went to Alexandria and opened a school in that city. 
William Syphax, among others now resident in W'ashington, at- 
tended his school in Alexandria about 1833. He was a man of 
ability, well educated, and one of the best teachers of his time in 
the district. His school in Georgetown was at first in Dunbarton 
Street, and afterward on Montgomery. 

The old maxim, that " the blood of the martyrs is the seed of 
the Church," seems to find its illustration in this history. There 
is no period in the annals of the country in which the fires of 
persecution against the education of the Colored race burned 
more fiercely in this district, and the country at large, than in the 
five years from 1831 to 1836, and it was during this period that 
a larger number of respectable Colored schools were established 
than in any other five years prior to the war. In 1833, the same 
year in which Ambush's school was started, Benjamin M. McCoy, 
a Colored man, opened a school in the northern part of the city, 
on L Street, between Third and Fourth streets, west. In 1834 
he moved to Massachusetts Avenue, continuing his school there 
till he went to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the autumn 
of 1836, to finish the engagement of Rev. John F. Cook, who 
came back to Washington at that time and re-opened his school. 
The school at Lancaster was a free public Colored school, and 
Mr. McCoy was solicited to continue another year ; but declin- 



NEGRO SCHOOL LA US. 207 

■ing, came back, and in 1837 opened a school in the basement of 
Asbury Church, which, in that room and in the house adjoining, 
he maintained with great success for the ensuing twelve years. 
Mr. McCoy was a pupil of Mrs. Billing and Henry Smothers; 
is a man of good sense, and his school gave a respectable rudi- 
mental education to multitudes, who remember him as a teacher 
with great respect. He is now a messenger in the Treasury 
Department. In 1833, a school was established by Fanny Hamp- 
ton, in the western part of the city, on the northwest corner of 
K anc} Nineteenth streets. It was a large school, and was con- 
tinued till about 1842, the teacher dying soon afterward. She 
was half-sister of Lindsay Muse. Margaret Tiiompson suc- 
ceeded her, and had a nourishing school of some forty scholars 
on Twenty-si.xth Street, near the avenue, for several years, about 
1846. She subsequently became the wife of Charles H. Middle- 
ton, and assisted in his school for a brief time. i\bout 1830, 
Robert Brown commenced a small school, and continued it at 
intervals for many years till his death. As early as 1833, tbcre 
was a school opened in a private house in the rear of Franklin 
Row, near the location of the new Franklin School building. It 
was taught by a white man, Mr. Talbot, and continued a year or 
two. Mrs. George F~ord, a white teacher, a native of Virginia, 
kept a Colored school in a brick house still standing on New 
Jersey Avenue, between K and L streets. She taught there 
many years, and as early, perhaps, as half a century ago. 

DU. JOHN 11. KI.EET's school 

was opened, in 1836, on New York Avenue, in a school-house 
which stood nearly on the spot now occupied by the Richards 
buildings at the corner of New York Avenue and Fourteenth 
Street. It had been previously used for a white school, taught 
by Mrs. McDaniel, and was subsequently again so used. Dr. Fleet 
was a native of Georgetown, and was greatly assisted in his edu- 
cation by the late Judge J.unes Morsell, of that city, who was 
not only kind to this family, but was always regarded by the 
Colored people of the district as their firm friend and protector. 
John H. F"leet, with his brothers and sisters, went to the George- 
town Lancasterian School, with the white children, for a long 
period, in their earlier school days, and subsequently to other 
white schools. He was also for a time a pupil of Smothers and 
Prout. He was possessed of a brilliant and strong intellect, in- 



2o8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

herited from his father, who was a white man of distinguished 
abilities. He studied medicine in Washington, in the office of 
Dr. Thomas Henderson, who had resigned as assistant surgeon 
in the army, and was a practising physician of eminence in Wash- 
ington. He also attended medical lectures at the old medical 
college, corner of Tenth and E streets. It was his intention at 
that time to go to Liberia, and his professional education was 
conducted under the auspices of the Colonization Society. This, 
with the influence of Judge Morsell, gave him privileges never 
e.Ktended here to any other Colored man. He decided, however, 
not to go to Liberia, and in 1836 opened his school. He was a 
refined and polished gentleman, and conceded to be the foremost 
Colored man in culture, in intellectual force, and general influ- 
ence in this district at that time. His school-house on New York 
Avenue was burned by an incendiary about 1843, and his flourishing 
and excellent school was thus ended. For a time he subsequently 
taught music, in which he was very proficient ; but about 1846 
he opened a school on School-house Hill, in the Hobbrook Mili- 
tary School building, near the corner of N Street, north, and 
Twenty-third Street, west, and had a large school there till 
about 185 1, when he relinquished the business, giving his atten- 
tion henceforth exclusively to music, and with eminent success. 
He died in 1861. His school was very large and of a superior 
character. 

CHARLES H. MIDDLETON's SCHOOL 

was started in the same section of the city, in a school-house 
which then stood near the corner of Twenty-second Street, 
west, and L north, and which had been used by Henry Hardy 
for a white school. Though both Fleet's and Johnson's schools 
were in full tide of success in that vicinity, he gathered a good 
school, and when his two competitors retired — as they both did 
about this time, — his school absorbed a large portion of their 
patronage, and was thronged. In 1852, he went temporarily with 
his school to Sixteenth Street, and thence to the basement of 
Union Bethel Church on M Street, near Sixteenth, in which, 
during the administration of President Pierce, he had an exceed- 
ingly large and excellent school, at the same period when Miss 
Miner was prosecuting her signal work. Mr. Middleton, now a 
messenger in the Navy Department, a native of Savannah, Ga., 
is free-born, and received his very good education in schools 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAW S. 209 

in that city, sometimes with white and sometimes with Col- 
ored children. When he commenced his school he had just 
returned from the Mexican war, and his enterprise is especially 
worthy of being made prominent, not only because of his high 
style as a teacher, but also because it is associated with 

THK KIRST MOVEMENT FDK A I'RKE COLORED I'UIILIC SCHOOL. 

This movement originated with a city officer, Jesse E. Dow, 
who, in 1848 and 1849, ^^'^^ '^ leading and influential member of 
the common council. He encouraged Mr. Middlcton to start 
his school, by assuring him that he would give all his influence 
to the establishment of free schools for Colored as well as for 
white children, and that he had great confidence that the coun- 
cil would be brought to give at least some encouragement to 
the enterprise. In 1850 Mr. Dow was named among the candi- 
dates for the mayoralty ; and when his views in this regard w ere 
assailed by his opponents, he did not hesitate to boldh- a\'ow his 
opinions, and to declare that he wished no support for any office 
which demanded of him an_\- modification of these convictions. 
The workmen fail, but the work succeeds. The name of Jesse 
E. Dow merits conspicuous record in this history for this bold 
and magnanimous action. Mr. Middleton received great assist- 
ance in building up his school from Rev. Mr. Wayman, then pas- 
tor of the Bethel Church, and afterward promoted to the 
bishopric. Ihc school was surrendered finally to Rev. J. V. B. 
Morgan, the succeeding pastor of the church, who conducted the 
school as a part of the means of his livelihood. 

ALEXANDER CORNISH AND OTHERS. 

In the eastern section of the city, about 1840, Alexander 
Cornish had a school several years in his own house on D Street, 
south, between Third ami I'ourth, east, with an average of forty 
scholars. He was succeeded, about 1846, by Richard Stokes, who 
was a native of Chester County, Pa. His school, averaging one 
hundred and fifty scholars, was kept in the Israel Bethel Churcli, 
near the Capitol, and was continued for about six years. In 
1840, there was a school opened by Margaret Hill in Georgetown, 
near Miss English's seminary. She taught a very good school 
for several jears. 

ALEXANDER HAVs'S SCHOOL 

was started on Ninth Street, west, near New \'ork Avenue. ]\Ir. 
Hays was born in 1802, and belonged originally to the Prowler 



2ro HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

family in Maryland. When a boy he served for a time at the 
Washington Navy Yard, in the family of Captain Dove, of 
the navy, the father of Dr. Dove, of Washington, and it 
was in that family that he learned to read. Michael Tabbs 
had a school ai that time at the Navy Yard, which he taught 
in the afternoons under a large tree, which stood near the 
old Masonic Hall. The Colored children used to meet him 
there in large numbers daily, and while attending this singu- 
lar school. Hays was at the same time taught by Mrs. Dove, 
with her children. This was half a century ago. In 1826, Hays 
went to live in the family of R. S Coxe, the eminent Washing- 
ton lawyer, who soon purchased him, paying Fowler $300 for 
him. Mr. Co.xe did this at the express solicitation of Hays, and 
seventeen years after he gave him his freedom — in 1843. While 
living with Mr. Co.xe he had married Matilda Davis, the daughter 
of John Davis, who served as steward many years in the family 
of Mr. Seaton, of the " National Intelligencer." The wedding was 
at Mr. Seaton's residence, and Mr. Co.xe and family were present 
on the occasion. In 1S36, he bought the house and lot which 
they still own and occupy, and in 1842, the year before he was 
free. Hays made his last payment, and the place was conveyed 
to his wife. .She was a free woman, and had opened a school in 
the house in 1S41. Hays had many privileges while with Mr. 
Coxe, and with the proceeds of his wife's school they paid the 
purchase-money ($550) and interest in seven years. Mr. Hays 
was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by Mr. Coxe, his 
wife, and daughters, while a slave in their family. When the 
Colored people were driven from tb"" churches, in the years of the 
mobs, Mrs. Coxe organized a large Colored Sabbath-school in her 
own parlor, and maintained it for a long period, with the co- 
operation of Mr. Co.xe and the daughters. Mr. Hays was a mem- 
ber of this school. He also attended day schools, when his work 
would allow of it. This was the education with which, in 1845, 
he ventured to take his wife's school in charge. He is a man of 
good-sense, and his school flourished. He put up an addition to 
his house, in order to make room for his increasing school, 
which was continued down to 1857 — sixteen years from its open- 
ing. He had also a night school and taught music, and these 
two features of his school he has revived since the war. This 
school contained from thirty-five to forty-five pupils. Rev. Dr. 
Samson, Mr. Seaton, and Mr, Coxe often visited his school and 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 211 

encouraged him in his excellent work. Thomas Tabbs used also 
to come into his school and give him aid and advice, as also did 
John McLeod. 

MR. AND MRS. FLETCHKR's SCHOOL 

was opened about 1854, in the building in which Middleton first 
taught, on I, near Twenty-second Street. Mr. Fletcher was an 
Englishman, a well-educated gentleman, and a thorough teacher. 
He was induced to open the school by the importunities of some 
aspiring Colored young men in that part of the city, who desired 
first-rate instruction. Me soon became the object of persecution, 
though he was a man of courtesy and excellent character. His 
school-house was finally set on fire and consumed, with all its 
books and furniture ; but the school took, as its asylum, the 
basement of the John Wesley Church. The churches which they 
had been forced to build in the da}-s of the mobs, when they 
were driven from the white churches which they had aided in 
building, proved of immense service to tliem in tlieir subsequent 
struggles. Mrs. Fletcher kept a variety store, which was 
destroyed about the time the school was opened. She then 
became an assistant in lier husband's school, which numbered 
over one hundred and fifty pupils. In 1858, they were driven 
from the city, as persecution at that time was particularly violent 
against all white persons who instructed the Colored people. 
This school was conducted with great thoroughness, and had 
two departments, Mrs. Fletcher, who was an accomplished per- 
son, having charge of the girls in a separate room, 

Y.\,\7.k ANNE COOK, 

a niece of Rev. John 1". Cook, and one of his pupils, who has 
been teaching for about fifteen years, should be mentioned. She 
attended Miss Miner's school for a time, and was afterward at 
the 15altimore convent two years. She opened a school in her 
mother's house, and subsecjuently built a small school-house on 
the same lot, Sixteenth Street, between K and L streets. With 
the exception of tliree years, during which she was teaching in 
the free Catholic school opened in the Smothers school-house in 
1859, '''"'i *^"^ year in the female school in charge of the Colored 
sisters, she has maintained her own private school from 1S54 
down to the present time, her number at some periods being 
above sixty, but usually not more than twenty-five or thirty. 



212 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



I 



MISS WASHINGTON S SCHOOL. 



In 1857, Annie E. Washington opened a select primary school 
in her mother's house, on K Street, between Seventeenth and 
Eighteenth streets, west. The mother, a widow woman, was a 
laundress, and by her own labor has given her children good ad- 
vantages, though she had no such advantages herself. This 
daughter was educated chiefly under Rev. John F. Cook and 
Miss Miner, with whom she was a favorite scholar. Her older 
sister was educated at the Baltimore convent. Annie E. Wash- 
ington is a woman of native refinement, and has an excellent 
aptitude for teaching, as well as a good education. Her schools 
have always been conducted with system and superior judgment, 
giving universal satisfaction, the number of her pupils being 
limited only by the size of her room. In 1858, she moved to the 
basement of the Baptist Church, corner of Nineteenth and I 
streets, to secure larger accommodations, and there she had a 
school of more than si.xty scholars for several years. \ 

A FREE CATHOLIC COLORED SCHOOL. 

A free school was established in 1858, and maintained by the 
St. Vincent de Paul Society, an association of Colored Catholics, 
in connection with St. Matthew's Church. It was organized 
under the direction of Father Walter, and kept in the Smothers 
school-house for two years, and was subsequently for one season 
maintained on a smaller scale in a house on L Street, betvv'een 
Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, west, till the association failed 
to give it the requisite pecuniary support after the war broke 
out. This school has already been mentioned. 

OTHER SCHOOLS. 

In 1843, Elizabeth Smith commenced a school for small chil- 
dren on the island in Washington, and subsequently taught on 
Capitol Hill. In i860, she was the assistant of Rev. Wm. H. 
Hunter, who had a large school in Zion Wesley Church, George- 
town, of which he was the pastor. She afterward took the school 
into her own charge for a period, and taught among the contra- 
bands in various places during the war. 

About 1850, Isabella Briscoe opened a school on Montgomery 
Street, near Mount Zion Church, Georgetown. She was well 
educated, and one of the best Colored teachers in the district be- 



NEGRO SCHOOL LAWS. 213 

fore the Rebellion. Her school was always well patronized, and 
she continued teaching in the district up to 1868. 

Charlotte Beams had a large school for a number of years, 
as early as 1850, in a building next to Galbraith Chapel, I Street, 
north, between Fourth and Fifth, west. It was exclusively a 
girls' school in its later years. The teacher was a pupil of 
Enoch Ambush, who assisted her in establishing her school. 

A year or two later. Rev. James Shorter had a large school 
in the Israel Bethel Church, and IMiss Jackson taught another 
good school on Capitol Mill about the same time. The above- 
mentioned were all Colored teachers. 

Among the excellent schools broken up at the opening of 
the war, was that of Mrs. Charlotte Gordon, Colored, on Eighth 
Street, in the northern section of the city. It was in successful 
operation several years, and the number in attendance some- 
times reached one hundred and fifty. Mrs. Gortion was assisted 
by her daughter. "^ 

In 1841, David Brown commenced teaching on D Street, 
south, between First and Second streets, island, and continued 
in the business till 1858, at wliich period he was placed in charge 
of the large Catholic free school in the Smothers house, as has 
been stated.' 

Here is a picture that ever\' Negro in the country may con- 
template with satisfaction and pride. In the stronghold of 
slavery, under the shadow of the legalized institution of slavery, 
within earshot of the slave-auctioneer's hammer, amid distressing 
circumstances, poverty, and proscription, three unlettered ex- 
slaves, upon the threshold of the nineteenth century, sowed the 
seed of education for the Negro race in the District of Columbia, 
from which an abundant harvest has been gathered, and will be 
gathered till the end of time ! 

What the Negro has done to educate himself, the trials and 
hateful laws that nave hampered him during the long period 
anterior to i860, cannot fail to awaken feelings of regret and 
admiration among the people of both sections and two conti- 
nents. 

' Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1S71. 



214 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

JOHN BROWN— HERO AND MARTYR. 

John Brown*s Appearanxe in Kansas. — He denounces Slavery in a Political Meeting at 
OsAWATOMlE. — Mrs. Stearns's Personal Recollection of John Brown. — Kansas in- 
fested BY Border Ruffians. — The Battle of Harper's Ferry. — The Defeat and 
Capture of Captain John Brown. — His Last Letter wriiten to Mrs. Stearns. — His 
Thial and E.vecution. — His Influence upon the Slavery Question at ihe North. — 
His Place in History. 

ON the 9th of Ma.):_i_8oo, at Torrington, Connecticut, was 
born a man wlio lived for two generations, but accom- 
plished the work of two centuries. That man was John 
Brown, who ranks among the world's greatest heroes. Greater 
than Peter the Hermit, who believed himself commissioned of 
God to redeem the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of infidels ; 
greater than Joanna Southcote, who deemed herself big with the 
promised Shiloh ; greater than Ignatius Loyola, who thought 
the Son of Man appeared to him, bearing His cross upon His 
shoulders, and bestowed upon him a Latin commission of won- 
derful significance ; greater than Oliver Cromwell, the great Re- 
publican Protector; and greater than John Hampden, — he 
deserves to rank with William of Orange. 

John Brown was nearly six feet high, slim, wiry, dark in com- 
plexion, sharp in feature, dark hair sprinkled with gray, eyes a 
dark gray and penetrating, with a countenance that betokened 
frankness, honesty, and firmness. His brc^w was prominent, tiie 
centre of the forehead flat, the upper part retreating, which, in 
conjunction with his slightly Roman nose, gave him an interest- 
ing appearance. The crown of his head was remarkably high, in 
the regions of the phrenological organs of firmness, conscien- 
tiousness, self-esteem, indicating a stern will, unswerving integrity, 
and marvellous self-possession. He walked rapidly with a firm and 
elastic tread. He was somewhat like John Baptist, taciturn in 
habits, usually wrapped in meditation. He was rather meteoric 



JOHN DROWN— HERO AND MARTYR. 215 

in his movements, appearing suddenly and unexpectedly at this 
place, and then disappearing in the same mysterious manner. 

When Kansas lay bleeding at the feet of border rufifians; 
when Congress gave the free-State settlers no protection, but 
was rather trying to d.-ag the territory into the Union with a 
slave constitution, — without noise or bluster John Brown dropped 
down into Osage County. He was not a member of the Repub- 
lican party ; but rather hated its reticency. Wlien it cried Halt ! 
he gave the command Forward, march! He was not in sympa- 
thy with any of the parties, political or anti-slavery. All were 
too conservative to suit him. So, as a political orphan he went 
into Kansas, organized and led a new party that swore eternal 
death to slaverj-. The first time he appeared in a political meet- 
ing in Kansas, at Osawatomie, the politicians were trimming 
their speeches and shaping their resolutions to please each politi- 
cal faction. John Brown took the floor and made a speech that 
threw the convention into consternation. He denounced slavery 
as the curse of the ages ; affirmed the manhood of the sla\-e ; 
dealt " middle men " terrible blows ; and said he could " sec no 
use in talking." "Talk," he continued, " is a national institution; 
but it does no good for the slave." He thought it an excuse 
very well adapted for weak men with tender consciences. Most 
men who were afraid to fight, and too honest to be silent, de- 
ceived themselves that they discharged their duties to the slave 
by denouncing in fiery words the oppressor. His ideas of duty 
were far different ; the slaves, in his eyes, were prisoners of war; 
their tyrants, as he held, had taken up the sword, and must per- 
ish by it. This was his view of the great question of slavery. 

The widow of the late Major George L. Stearns gives the fol- 
lowing personal recollections of John Brown, in a bright and 
entertaining style. Mrs. Stearns's noble husband was very 
intimately related to the "old hero," and what Mrs. Stearns 
writes is of great value. 

" The passage of the Fugitive-Slave Hill in 1850, followed by the 
virtual repeal of the Missouri Coinpnjmise, under the name of the 
Kansas Nebraska Act, in 1854, alarmed all sane people for tlie safety of 
republican institutions ; and the excitement rcaehed a wiiile heat when, 
on the 22d of May, 1856, Charles Sumner was murderously assaulted 
in the Senate chamber by Preston S. brooks, of Soutii Carohna, for 
words spoken in debate : the celebrated speech of the 19th and 20th 
of May, known as ' The Crime .Against Kansas.' That same week the 
town of Lawrence in the territory of Kansas was sacked and burned 



2i6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

in the interest of the slave power. The atrocities committed by the 
' Border Ruffians ' upon the free-State settlers sent a thrill of terror 
through all law-abiding communities. In Boston the citizens gathered 
in Faneuil Hall to consider what could be done, and a committee was 
chosen, with Dr. S. G. Howe as chairman, for the relief of Kansas, called 
the 'Kansas Relief Committee.' After some $18,000 or $20,000 had 
been collected, chiefly in Boston, and forwarded to Kansas, the interest 
flagged, and Mr. Stearns, who had been working with that committee, 
saw the need of more energetic action ; so one day he went to Dr. 
Howe, and told him he was ready to give all his time, and much of his 
money, to push forward the work. Dr. Howe seeing that here was the 
man for the hour, immediately resigned, and INIr. Stearns was chosen 
unanimously chairman of the ' Massachusetts State Kansas Commit- 
tee,' which took the place of the one first organized. In the light of 
subsequent history it is difficult to believe the apathy and blindness 
which failed to recognize the significance of this attack u|)on Kansas 
by the slave-holding power. Only faithful watchmen in their high 
towers could see that it was the first battle-ground between the two 
conflicting systems of freedom and slavery, which was finally to culmi- 
nate in the war of the Rebellion. ' Working day and night with- 
out haste or rest,' failing in no effort to rouse and stimulate the com- 
munity, still Mr. Stearns found that a vitalizing interest was wanting. 
When Gov. Reeder was driven in disguise from the territory, he wrote 
to him to come to Boston and address the people. He organized a 
mass-meeting for him in Tremont Temple, and for a few days the 
story he related stimulated to a livelier activity the more conservative 
people, who were inclined to think the reports of the free-State men 
much exaggerated. Soon, however, things settled back into the old 
sluggish way ; so that for three consecutive committee meetings the 
chairman was the only person who presented himself at the appointed 
time and place. Nothing daunted, he turned to the country towns, 
and at the end of five months he had raised by his personal exertions, 
and through his agents, the sum of $48,000. Women formed societies 
all over the State, for making and furnishing clothing, and various sup- 
plies, which resulted in an addition of some $20,000 or $30,000 more. 
In January, 1867, this species of work was stopped, by advices from 
Kansas that no more contributions were needed, e.xcept for defense. 
At this juncture Mr. Stearns wrote to John Brown, that if he would 
come to Boston and consult with the friends of freedom he would pay 
his expenses. They had never met, but ' Osawatomie Brown ' had 
become a cherished household name during the anxious summer of 
1856.' Arriving in Boston, they were introduced to each other in the 



' This was in tlie last days of 1S56. 



JOHN BROWN— HERO AND MARTYR. 217 

street by a Kansas man, who chanced to be with Mr. Stearns on his way 
to the conmiiltee rooms in Niiis's Block, School Street. Captain Brown 
made a profound impression on all who came within the sphere of his 
moral magnetism. Emerson called him ' the most ideal of men. for 
he wanted to put all his ideas into action.' His absolute superiority 
to all selfish aims and narrowing pride of opinion touched an answer- 
ing chord in the self-devotion of Mr. Stearns. .\ little anecdote illus- 
trates the modest estimate of the work he had in hand. After several 
efforts to bring together certain friends to meet CajHain Brown at his 
home in Medford, he found that Sunday was the only day that would 
serve their several convenience, and being a little uncertain how it 
might strike his ideas of religious propriety, he prefaced his invitation 
with something like an apology. With characteristic promptness came 
the reply : ' Mr. Stearns, I have a little ewe-lamb that I want to pull 
out of the ditch, and the Sabbath will be as good a day as any to do it." 

" It was this occasion which furnislied to literature one of the most 
charming bits of autobiography. Our oldest son, Harry, a lad of eleven 
years, was an observant listener, and drank eagerly every word that was 
said of the cruel wrongs in Kansas, and of slavery everywhere. When 
the gentlemen rose to go, he privately asked his father if he might be 
allowed to give all his spending money to John Brown. Leave being 
granted, he bounded away, and returning with his small treasure, said : 
' Captain Brown, will you buy something with this money for those poor 
people in Kansas, and some time will you write to me and tell me 
what sort of a little boy you were ? ' ' Yes, my son, I will, and God bless 
you for your kind heart ! ' The autobiography has been printed many 
times, but never before with the key which unlocked it. 

" It may not be out of place to describe the impression he made 
upon the writer on this first visit. When I entered the parlor, he was 
sitting near the hearth, where glowed a bright open fire. He rose to 
greet me, stepping forward with such an erect, military bearing ; such 
fine courtesy of demeanor and grave earnestness, that he seemed to my 
instant thought some old Cromwellian hero suddenly dropped down be- 
fore me ; a suggestion whicli was presently strengthened by his saying 
[proceeding with the conversation my entrance had interrupted] : 
'Gentlemen, I consider the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence one and inseparable ; and it is better that a whole generation 
of men, women, and children should be swept away, than that this crime 
of slavery should exist one day longer.' These words were uttered like 
rifle balls ; in such emphatic tones and manner that our little Carl, not 
three years old, remembered it in manhood as one of his earliest recol- 
lections. The child stood perfectly still, in the middle of the room, 
gazing with his beautiful eyes on this new sort of man, until his ab- 
sorption arrested the attention of Captain Brown, who soon coaxed him 



218 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

to his knee, tho' the look of awe and childHke wonder remained. 
His dress was of some dark brown stuff, quite coarse, but its exactness 
and neatness produced a singular air of refinement. At dinner, he de- 
clined all dainties, saying that he was unaccustomed to luxuries, even to 
partaking of butter. 

" The ' friends of freedom ' witli whom Mr. Stearns had invited John 
Brown to consult, were profoundly impressed with his sagacity, integ- 
rity, and devotion ; notably among these were R. W. Emerson, Theodore 
Parker, H. D. Thoreau, A. Bronson Alcott, F. B. Sanborn, Dr. S. G. 
Howe, Col. T. W. Higginson, Gov. Andrew, and others. In February 
(1857) he appeared before a committee of the State Legislature, to urge 
that Massachusetts should make an appropriation in money in aid of 
those persons who had settled in Kansas from her own soil. The 
speech is printed in Redpath's ' Life.' He obtained at this time, from 
the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee,' some two hundred Sharp's 
rifles, with which to arm one hundred mounted men for the defense of 
Kansas, who could also be of service to the peculiar property of Mis- 
souri. In those dark days of slave-holding supremacy, the friends of 
freedom felt justified in aiding the flight of its victims to free soil when- 
ever and wherever opportunity offered. The Fugitive-Slave Law was 
powerless before the law written on the enlightened consciences of 
those devoted men and women. These rifles had been forwarded pre- 
viously to tlie National Committee at Chicago, for the defense of Kansas, 
but for some unexplained reasons had never proceeded farther than 
Tabor, in the State of Iowa. Later on, Mr. Stearns, in his individual 
capacity, authorized Captain Brown to purchase two hundred revolvers 
from the Massachusetts Arms Company, and paid for them from his pri- 
vate funds, thirteen or fifteen hundred dollars. During the summer of 
1857 he united with Mr. Amos A. Lawrence and others in paying off the 
mortgage held by Mr. Gerritt Smith on his house and farm at North 
Elba, N. Y., he paying two hundred and sixty dollars. It would be 
difficult to state the entire amount of money Mr. Stearns put into the 
hands of John Brown for .-^nti-Slavery purposes and his own subsistence. 
He kept no account of what he gave. In April or May, 1857, he gave 
him a check for no less a sum than seven thousand dollars. Early in 1858, 
Hon. Henry Wilson wrote to Dr. S. G. Howe that he had learned John 
Brown was suspected of the intention of using those arms in other ways 
than for the defense of Kansas ; and by order of the committee, Mr. 
Stearns wrote (under date May 14, 1858) to Brown not to use them for any 
other purpose, and to hold them subject to his order, as chairman of 
said committee. When the operations of the Massachusetts State Kan- 

' The committee also authorized him to draw on their treasurer, Patrick L. Jack- 
son, for $500. 



yOJLX BROWX—IIRRO .L\D MARTYR. 219 

sas Committee virtually ceased, in June or July, 185S, it happened that 
this committee were some four thousand dollars in debt to Mr. Stearns, 
for advances of money from time to time to keep the organization in ex- 
istence ; and it was voted to make over to the chairman these two hun- 
dred Shari)'s rifles as jjart ])ayment of the cominittee's indebtedness. 
They were of small account to Mr. Stearns. He knew them to be in 
good hands, and troubled himself no further about them, either the 
rifles or the revolvers ; although keeping up from time to time a corre- 
spondence with his friend upon the all-engrossing subject. 

" In February of 1859, John Brown was in Boston, and talked with 
some of his friends about the feasibility of entrenching himself, with a 
little band of men, in the mountains of Virginia, familiar to him from 
having surveyed them as engineer in earlier life. His plan was to 
open communication with the slaves of neighboring plantations, collect 
them together, and send them off in squads, as he had done in Missouri, 
'without snapping a gun.' Mr. Stearns had so much more faith in 
John Brown's opposition to Slavery, than in any theories he advanced 
of the modus operandi, that they produced much less impression on his 
mind than upon some others gifted with more genius for details. 
From first to last, he believed in yohn Brown. His plans, or theories, 
miglu be feasible, or they might not. If the glorious old man wanted 
money to try his jjlans, he should have it. His plans might fail ; prob- 
ably would, but he could never be a failure. There he stood, uncon- 
querable, in the panoply of divine Justice. Both of these men were of 
the martyr tyjie. No thought or consideration for themselves, for his- 
tory, or the estimation of others, ever entered into their calculations. 
It was the service of Truth and Right which brought them together, 
and in that service they were ready to die. 

"In the words of an eminent writer': 'A common spirit made 
these two men recognize each other at first sight ; and tlie power of 
both lay in that inability to weigh difficulties against duty, that instant 
step of thought to deed, which makes individuals fully possessed by the 
idea of the age, the turning-points of its destiny; hands in the right 
place for touching the match to the train it has laid, or for leading the 
public will to the heart of its moral need. They knew each other as 
minute-men on the same watch ; as men to be found /// the breach, be- 
fore others knew where it was ; they were one in pity, one in indigna- 
tion, one in moral entliusiasni, burning beneath features set to jjaticnt 
self-control; one in sim[)licity, though of widely different culture ; one 
in religious inspiration, though at the poles of religious thought. The 
old frontiersman came from his wilderness toils and agonies to find 

'Samuel Johnson, the accomplished Oriental scholar and devoted friend of the 
slave. 



220 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

within the merchant's mansion of art and taste bv the sir!'' of Bunker 
Hill, a perfect sympathy : the reverence of children, tender interest 
in his broken household, free access to a rich man's resources, and 
even a valor kindred with his own.' 

" The attack u]ion Harper's Ferry was a ' side issue, ' to quote 
the words of John Brown, Jr., and a departure from his father's original 
plan. It certainly took all his friends by surprise. In his letter of 
Nov. 15, 1859 (while in prison), to his old schoolmaster, the Rev. H. 
L. Vaill, are these words : ' I am not as yet, in the 7?!aiii, at all disap- 
pointed. I have been a good deal disappointed as it regards myself in 
not keeping up to my own plans ; but I now feel entirely reconciled 10 
that even : for God's plan was infinitely better, no doubt, or I should 
have kept my own. Had Samson kept to his determination of not tell- 
ing Delilah wherein his great strength lay, he would probably have 
never overturned the house. / did not tell Delilah ; but I was induced 
to act very contrary to my better Judgment.' ' 

******** 

" It is idle to endeavor to explain, by any methods of the understand- 
ini^, any rules of worldly wisdom, or prudence, this influx of the Divine 
Will, which has made John Brown already an ideal character. ' The 
wind bloweth where it listeth, and we hear the sound thereof ; but 
know not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth.' So is every one that 
is born of the Spirit. Man works in the midst of laws which execute 
themselves, more especially, if by virtue of obedience he has lost sight 
of all selfish aims, and perceives that Truth and Right alone can claim 
allegiance. Emerson says : ' Divine intelligence carries on its admini- 
stration by good men ; that great men are they who see that the spiri- 
tual are greater than any material forces ; and that really there never 
was any thing great accomplished but under religious impulse.' 

"The deadly A t/ieism of Slavery was rolling its car of Juggernaut 
all over 'the beautiful Republic, and one pure soul was inspired to con- 
front it by a practical interpretation of the Golden Rule. 

" Tliat Virginia would hang John Brown was a foregone conclusion. 
The Moloch of Slavery would have nothing less. His friends exerted 
themselves to secure the best counsel which could be induced to un- 
dertake the formality of a defense, foremost #mong whom w-as Mr. 
Stearns. A well-organized plan was made to rescue him, conducted 
by a brave man from Kansas, Col. James Montgomery, but a message 
came from the prisoner, that he should not feel at liberty to walk out, 
if the doors were left open ; a sense of honor to his jailer (Captain 
Acvis) forbidding any thing of the kind. 

' The italics are his. 



JOHN BROWN— HERO AND MARTYR. 221 

" Not a litttle anxiety was felt lest certain of liis adherents might 
be summoned as witnesses, whose testimony would lessen the chances 
of acquittal, and possibly involve their own lives. John A. Andrew 
(afterward Gov. Andrew) gave it as liis o|)inion, after an exhaustive, 
search of the records, that Virginia would have no right to summon 
these persons from Massachusetts, but subsequently changed his opin- 
ion, and urged Mr. Stearns to take passage to Europe, sending him 
home one day to pack his valise. The advice was opposed to his in- 
stincts, but he considered that his wife should have a voice in the 
matter, who decided, 'midst many tears and prayers, that if sla\-ery re- 
quired another victim, he must be ready. 

" With Dr. Howe it was quite different. He became possessed 
with a dread that threatened to overwhelm his reason. He was in deli- 
cate health, and constitutionally subject to violent attacks of nervous 
headache. One day he came to Medford and insisted that Mr Stearns 
should accomj)any him to Canada, urging that if he remained here he 
should be insane, and that Mr. Stearns of all his friends was the only 
one who would be at all satisfactory to him. This request, or rather 
demand, Mr. Stearns ])romptly declined. How well I remember his 
agitation, walking up and down the room, and finally entreating Mr. 
Stearns for ' friendship's sake ' to go and take care of him. I can recall 
no instance of such self-abnegation in my husband's self-denying career. 
He did not stoop to an explanation, even when Dr. Howe declared in his 
presence, some months later, " that he never did any thing in his life he 
so much wished to take back." I had hoped that Dr. Howe would himself 
have spared me from making this contribution to the truth of history. 

" On the 2d of December, Mr. Stearns yearned for the solitude of 
his own soul, in communion of spirit, with the friend who, on that day, 
would ' make the gallows glorious like the Cross ' ; and he left Dr. 
Howe and took the train for Niagara Falls. There, sitting alone be- 
side the mighty rush of water, he solemnly consecrated his remaining 
life, his fortune, and all that was most dear, to the cause in whose ser- 
vice John Brown had died. 

" How well and faithfully he kept his vow, may partly be seen in 
his subsequent efforts in recruiting the colored troops at a vital moment 
in the terrible war of the Rebellion which so swiftly followed the sub- 
lime apotheosis of 'Old John Brown.' "' 

That John Brown intended to free the slaves, and nothing 
more, the record shows clearly. His move on Harper's Ferry 

' The above account of Capt. Brown was prepared for us by the widow of the 
late Major Geo. L. Stcains. It is printed as written, and breailics .i beautiful spirit 
of love and tender remembrance for the two heroes mentioned. 



222 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

was well planned, and had all the parties interested done their 
part the work would have been done well. As to the rectitude 
of his intentions he gives the world this leaf of history: 

" And now, gentlemen, let me press this one thing on your minds. 
You all know how dear life is to you, and how dear your lives are to your 
friends : and in remembering that, consider that the lives of others are 
as dear to them as yours are to you. Do not, therefore, take the life of 
any one if you can possibly avoid it ; but if it is necessary to take life 
in order to save your own, then make sure work of it." — John Brown, 
before the battle at Harper's Ferry. 

" I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of prop- 
erty, or to e.xcite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection. 
The design on my part was to free the slaves." — John Brown, after the 
battle at Harper's Ferry. 

Distance lends enchantment to the view. What the world 
condemns to-day is applauded to-morrow. 

We must have a " fair count " on the history of yesterday 
and last year. The events chronicled yesterday, when the imagi- 
nation was wrought upon by exciting circumstances, need re- 
vision to-day. 

The bitter words spoken this morning reproach at eventide 
the smarting conscience. And the judgments prematurely 
formed, and the conclusions rapidly reached, maybe rectified and 
repaired in the light of departed years and enlarged knowledge. 

John Brown is rapidly settling down to his proper place in 
history, and " the madman " has been transformed into a " saint." 
When Brown struck his first blow for freedom, at the head of 
his little band of liberators, it was almost the universal judgment 
of both Americans and foreigners that he was a " fanatic." It 
seemed the very soul of weakness and arrogance for John Brown 
to attempt to do so great a work with so small a force. Men 
reached a decision with the outer and surface facts. But many 
of the most important and historically trustworthy truths bearing 
upon the motive, object, and import of that " bold move," have 
been hidden from the public view, either by prejudice or fear. 

Some people have thought John Brown — " The Hero of 
Harper s Ferry " — a hot-headed, blood-thirsty brigand ; they 
animadverted against the precipitancy of his measures, and the 
severity of his invectives; said that he was lacking in courage 
and deficient in judgment ; that he retarded rather than accele- 



JOHN BROW. \'— HERO AND MARTYR. 223 

rated tlie cause he championed. But this was the verdict of 
other times, not the judgment of to-day. 

John Brown said to a personal friend cUirinfj his stay in 
Kansas: "Young men must learn to wait. Patience is the 
hardest lesson to learn. I have waited for twenty years to ac- 
complish my purpose." These arc not the words of a mere 
visionary idealist, but the mature language of a practical and 
judicious leader, a leader than whom the world has never seen a 
greater. By greatness is meant deep convictions of duty, a 
sense of the Infinite, "a strong hold on truth," a " conscience 
void of offence toward God and man," to which the appeals of 
the innocent and helpless are more potential than the voices of 
angry thunder or destructive artillery. Sucii a man was John 
Brown. He was strong in his moral and mental nature, as well 
as in his physical nature. He was born to lead ; and he led, and 
made himself the pro-martyr of a cause rapidly perfecting. All 
through his boyhood days he felt himself lifted and quickened 
by great ideas and sublime purposes. He had flowing in his 
veins the blood of his great ancestor, Peter Brown, who came 
over in the " Ma\ flower" ; and the following inscription appears 
upon a marble monument in the graveyard at Canton Centre, 
New York: "In memory of Captain John Brown, who died 
in the Revolutionary army, at New York, September 3, 1776. 
He was of the fourth generation, in regular descent, from Peter 
Brown, one of the Pilgrim Fathers, who landed from the ' May- 
flower,' at Pl)-mouth, Massachusetts, December 22. 1620." This 
is the best commentary on his inherent love of absolute liberty, 
his marvellous courage and transcendent military genius. For 
years he elaborated and perfected his plans, working upon 
the public sentiment of his day by the most praiseworthy 
means. He bent and bowed the most obdurate conservatism 
of his day, and rallied to his standards the most eminent 
men, the strongest intellects in the North. His ethics and 
religion were as broad as the universe, and beneficent in their 
wide ramification. 7\nd it was upon his " religion of human- 
ity," that embraced our entire species, that he proceeded with 
his herculean task of striking ofT the chains of the enslaved. 
Few, very few of his most intimate friends knew his plans— the 
plan of freeing the slaves. Many knew his great faith, his exalted 
sentiments, his ideas of liberty, in their crudit\'; but to a faithful 
few only did he reveal his stupendous plans in their entirety. 



224 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Hon. Frederick Douglass and Colonel Richard J. Hinton, 
knew more of Brown's real purposes than any other persons, with 
the exception of J. H. Kagi, Osborn Anderson, Owen Brown, 
Richard Realf, and George ]i5. Gill. 

" Of men born of woman," there is not a greater than John 
Brown. He was the forerunner of Lincoln, the great apostle of 
freedom. 

One year before he went to Harper's Ferry, a friend met Brown 
in Kansas [in June, 1858], and learned that during the previous 
month he had brought almost all of his plans to perfection ; and 
that the day and hour were fixed to strike the blow. One year 
before, a convention had met, on the 8th of May, 1858, at Chat- 
ham, Canada. At tliis convention a provisional constitution and 
ordinances were drafted and adopted, with the following of^cers : 
Commander-in-Chief, John Brown ; Secretary of War, J. H. Kagi ; 
Members of Congress, Alfred M. Ellsworth, Osborn Anderson ; 
Treasurer, Owen Brown ; Secretary of the Treasury, Geo. B. 
Gill ; Secretary of State, Richard Realf. 

John Brown made liis appearance in Ohio and Canada in the 
spring of 1859. He wrote letters, made speeches, collected 
funds for his little army, and made final arrangements with his 
Northern allies, etc. He purchased a small farm, about six miles 
from Harper's Ferry, on the Maryland side, and made it his ord- 
nance depot. He had 102 Sharp's rifles, 68 pistols, 55 bayonets, 
12 artillery swords, 483 pikes, 150 broken handles of pikes, 16 
picks, 40 shovels, besides quite a number of other appurtenances 
of war. This was in July. He intended to make all of his ar- 
rangements during the summer of 1859, and meet his men in the 
Alieghanies in the fall of the same year. 

The apparent rashness of the John Brown movement may be 
mitigated somewhat by the fact that he failed to carry out his 
original plan. During the summer of 1859 he instructed his 
Northern soldiers and sympathizers to be ready for the attack on 
the night of the 24th of October, 1859. -'^'-''^ while at Baltimore, 
in September, he got the impression that there was conspiracy in 
his camp, and in order to preclude its consummation, suddenly, 
without sending the news to his friends at the North, determined 
to strike the first blow on the night of the 17th of October. The 
news of his battle and his bold stand against the united forces of 
Virginia and Maryland swept across the country as the wild 
storm comes down the mountain side. Friend and foe were 



JOHN BROWN— HERO AND MAR'JYR. 225 

alike astonished and alarmed. The enemies of the cause he 
represented, when they recovered from their surprise, laughed 
their little laugh of scorn, and eased their feelings by referring to 
him as the " madman." Friends faltered, and, while they did not 
question his earnestness, doubted his judgment. " Why," they 
asked, " should he act with such palpable rashness, and thereby 
render more difficult and impossible the emancipation of the 
slaves?" They claimed that the blow he struck, instead of 
severing, only the more tightly riveted, the chains upon the 
helpless and hapless Blacks. Rut in the face of subsequent his- 
tory we think his surviving friends will change their views. 
There is no proof that his fears were not well grounded ; that a 
conspiracy was in progress. And who can tell whether a larger 
force would have been more effective, or the night of the 24th 
more opportune? May it not be believed that the good old man 
was right, and that Harper's Ferry was just the place, and the 
17th of October just the time to strike for freedom, and make 
the rock-ribbed mountains of Virginia to tremble at the presence 
of a '■ master! " — the king of freedom ? 

He was made a prisoner on the igth of October, 1859, •^"'^ 
remained until the 7th of November without a change of clotliing 
or medical aid. Forty-two days from the time of his imprison- 
ment he expiated his crime upon the scaffold — a crime against 
slave-holding, timorous Virginia, for bringing liberty to the op- 
presscii. He was a man, and there was nothing that interested 
man which was foreign to his nature. He had gone into Virginia 
to save life, not to destroy it. The sighs and groans of the op- 
pressed had entered into his soul. 

He had heard the Macedonian cry to come over and help 
them. He went, and it cost him his life, but he gave it freely. 

Captain Acvis, the jailer, said : ''He was the gamest man I 
ever saw." And Mr. Valandingham, at that time a member of 
Congress from Ohio, and who examined him in court, said in a 
speech afterward. 

'■ It is in vain to underrate either the man or the conspiracy. Cap- 
tain John Brown is as brave and resolute a man as ever headed an in- 
surrection, and, in a good cause, and with a sufificient force, would have 
been a consummate partisan commander. He has coolness, daring, 
])ersistency, stoic faith and patience, and a firmness of will and purpose 
unconquerable ! He is the farthest possible remove from the ordinary 
ruftian, fanatic, or madman." 



226 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

No friend, howsoever ardent in his love, could have woven a 
chaplet more worthy than the one placed upon the brow of the 
old hero by his most embittered foe. A truer estimate of John 
Brown cannot be had. 

South Carolina, Missouri, and Kentucky sent a rope to hang 
him, but, the first two lacking strength, Kentucky had the ever- 
lasting disgrace of furnishing the rope to strangle the noblest 
man that ever lived in any age. 

The last letter he ever wrote was written to Mrs. Geo. L. 
Stearns, and she shall give its history : 

This letter requires the history which attaches to it, and illustrates 
the consideration which the brave martyr had for those in any way con- 
nected with him. It was written on a half sheet of paper, the exact size 
of the pages of a book into which he carefully inserted it, and tied up 
in a handkerchief with other books and papers, which he asked his 
jailer (Mr. Avis) to be allowed to go with his body to North Elba, and 
which Mrs. Brown took with her from the Charlestown prison. Her 
statement to me about it is this : She had been at home some two 
weeks, had looked over the contents of the handkerchief many times, 
when one day in turning the leaves of that particular book, she came 
upon this letter, on which she said she found two or three blistered 
spots, the only /ear drops she had seen among his papers. They are 
now yellow with time. On the back of the half sheet was written : 
" Please mail this to her," which she did, and so it reached my hand ; 
seeming as if from the world to which his spirit had fled. It quite 
overwhelmed my husband. Presently he said : " See, dear, how care- 
ful the old man has been, he would not even direct it with your name 
to go from Virginia to Boston through the post-offices ; and altho' it 
contains no message to me, one of those ' farewells !' \% intended for 
me, and also the ' Love to All who love their neighbors.' " 

" Charlestown, Jefferson Co Va. 29th Nov. 1859. 

" Mrs. George L. Stearns 

■' Boston, Mass. 

" My Dear Friend : — No letter I have received since my imprison- 
ment here, has given me more satisfaction, or comfort, than yours of the 
8th inst. I am quite cheerful : and never more happy. Have only 
time to write you a word. May God forever reward you and all yours. 

''''My love to All who love their neighbors. I have asked to be 
spared from having any mock, or hypocritical prayers made over me 
when I am publicly murdered : and that my only religious attcndents be 



JOHN BROn'N—HERO AND MART VR. 227 

poor little, dirty, ragi^ed, bareheaded and barefooted. Slave Boys ; and Girls, 
led by some old gray-headed slave Mother. 

" Farewell. Farewell. 

" Vour Friend, 

"JOHN BROWN.'" 

The man who hung him, Governor Wise, lived to sec the plans 
of Brown completed and his most cherished hopes fulfdled. He 
heard the warning shot fired at Sumter, saw Richmond fall, the 
war end in victory to the party of John Brown; saw the slave- 
pen converted into the school-house, and the four millions Brown 
fought and died for, elevated to the honors of citizenship. And 
at last he has entered the grave, where his memory will perish 
with his body, while the soul and fame of John Brown go march- 
ing down the centuries ! 

Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, and John Brown have to wait 
the calmer judgments of future generations. These men be- 
lieved that God sent them to do a certain work — to reveal a 
hidden truth ; to pour light into the minds of benighted and 
superstitious men. They completed their work ; they did nobly 
and well, then bowed to rest — 

"Wiih patriarchs of the infant world — with kings, 
The powerful of the eartii," 

while generation after generation studies their handwriting 
on the wail of time and interprets their thoughts. Despised, per- 
secuted, and unappreciated while in the flesh, they are honored 
alter death, and enrolled among earth's good and great, her wise 
and brave. The shock Brown gave the walls of the slave insti- 
tution was felt from its centre to its utmost limits. It was the 
entering wedge ; it laid bare the accursed institution, and taught 
good men everywhere to hate it with a perfect liatrcd. Slavery 
received its death wound at the hands of a " lonely old man." 
When he smote Virginia, the non-resistants, the anti-slavery men, 
learned a lesson. They saw what was necessary to the accom- 
plishment of their work, and were now ready for the " worst." 
He rebuked the conservatism of the North, and gave an exam- 
ple of adherence to duty, devotion to truth, and fealty to God 
and man that make the mere "professor" to tremble with 
shame. "John Brown's body lies mouldering in the cla\-," but 
his immortal name will be pronounced with blessings in all lands 
and by all people till the end of time. 

'This letter is printed for the first time, with Mrs. Stearns's consent. 



228 JIISTOIi V OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



^itvt 7. 

THE NEGRO IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 

Increase of Slave Poi-ulation in Slave-holding States from 1850-1860. — Products op 
Slave Labor. — Hasis of Southern Representation. — Six Seceding States organize a 
NEW Government. — Constitution of the Confederate Government. —Speech by Alex- 
ander H. Stephens. — Mr. Lincoln in Favor of Gradual Emancipation. — He is elected 
President uf the United States. — The Issue of the War between the States. 

IN i860 there were, in the fifteen slave-holding States, 12,240,- 
000 souls, of whom 8,039,000 were whites, 251,000 free per- 
sons of color, and 3,950,000 were slaves. The gain of the entire 
population of the slave-holding States, from 1 850-1860, was 2,627,- 
000, equal to 27.33 per cent. The slave population had increased 
749,931, or 23.44 per cent., not including the slaves in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, where they had lost 502 slaves during the 
decade. The nineteen non-slave-holding States and the seven 
territories, including the District of Columbia, contained 19,203-, 
008 souls, of whom 18,920,771 were whites, 237,283 free persons 
of color, and 41,725 civilized Indians. The actual increase of 
this population was 5,624,101, or 41.24 per cent. During the 
same period — 1850-1860 — the total population of free persons of 
color in the United States increased from 434,449 to 487,970, or 
at the rate of 12.33 per cent., annual increase of above I per 
cent. In 1850 the Mulattoes were 11. 15 per cent., regarding the 
United States as one aggregate, and in i860 were 13.25 per cent., 
of the entire Colored population. 



DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 



TOTAL Cdl.OREl) POPULATION" 01' Tllli UMTEn STATl-S 



Colored. 


Numbers. 


rro],ortions. 


1850. 


l!S6o. 


1850. 


i860. 


Blacks 

Mulattoes 


3.233.057 
405.75' 


3.853.478 
588,352 


8-.\S 
II. 15 


86.75 
•3-25 


Total ('olored . 


3,638,808 


4.441,830 


100.00 


100.00 



So, in ten years, from 1S50-1860, the increase of blacks above 
the current deaths was 620,421, or more than one half of a 
million, wliile the corresponding increase of Mulattoes was 
182,601. Estimating the deaths to have been 22.4 per cent, dur- 
ing the same period, or one in 40 annually, the total births of 
151acks in ten years was about 1,345,000, and the total births 
of Mulattoes about 273,000. Thus it api)ears, in the prevail- 
ing order, that of every loo births of Colored, about 17 were 
Mulattoes, and 83 Blacks, indicating a ratio of nearly i to 5. 

There were : 



Deaf and dumb slaves . 
Blind .... 
Insane .... 
Idiotic 



531 
1.387 

327 
1,182 



Total 3.427 

There were 400,000 slaves in the towns and cities of the 
South, and 2,804,313 in the country. The products of slave 
labor in 1850 were as follows : 

SI.AVK I.AIIOR PRODUCTS IN 1850. 

Cotton i5i9S,6o3.7 20 

Tobacco 13,982,686 

Cane sugar 12,378,850 

Hemp 5,000,000 

Rice 4.000,000 

Molasses 2,540,179 



§136,505,435 



230 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

There were 347,525 slave-holders against 5,873,893 non- 
c'ave-holders in the slave States. The representation in Con- 
gress was as follows: 



t> 



Northern representatives based on white population . . 142 
Northern representatives based on Colored population . 2 

Southern representatives based on white population . .68 
Southern representatives based on free Colored population 2 
Southern representatives based on slave population . . 20 
Ratio of representation for 1853 . . . 93,420 

The South owned 16,652 cliurches, valued at $22,142,085 ; the 
North owned 21,357 churches, valued at $65,i67,5<S6. The South 
printed annually 92,165,919 copies of papers and periodicals ; the 
North printed annually 334,146,081 copies of papers and periodi- 
cals. The South owned, other than private, 722 libraries, contain- 
ing 742,794 volumes ; the North owned, other than private, 
14,902 libraries, containing 3,882,217 volumes. 

In sentiment, motive, and civilization the two "Sections" 
were as far apart as the poles. New England, Puritan, Round- 
head civilization could not fellowship the Cavaliers of the 
South. There were not only two sections and two political par- 
ties in the United States; — there were two antagonistic govern- 
mental ideas. John C. Calhoun and Alexander H. Stephens, of 
the South, represented the idea of the separate and individual 
sovereignty of each of the States ; while William H. Seward and 
Abraham Lincoln, of the North, represented the idea of the 
centralization of governmental authority, so far as it was neces- 
sary to secure uniformity of the laws, and the supremacy of 
the Federal Constitution. On the 25th of October, 1858, in a 
speech delivered in Rochester, N. Y., William H. Seward said: 

" Our country is a theatre which exhibits, in full ojieration, two radi- 
cally different political systems : the one restir.g on the basis of servile 
or slave labor ; the other on the basis of voluntary labor of freemen. 

" The two systems are at once perceived to be incongruous. They 
never have permanently e.xisted together in one country, and they never 
can. 

. . " These antagonistic systems are continually coming in 
closer contact, and collision ensues. 

" Shall I tell you what this collision means ? It is an irrepressible 
conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the 



DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 231 

United States must, and will, sooner or later, become entirely a slave- 
holding nation, or entirely a free labor nation. Either the cotton and 
rice fields of Soutii Carolina, and the sugar jilantations of Louisiana, 
will ultimately be tilled by free-labor, and Charleston and New Orleans 
become marts for legitimate merchandise alone, or else the rye fields 
and wheat fields of Massachusetts and New York must again be sur- 
rendered by their farmers to the slave culture and to the production of 
slaves, and Boston and New York become once more markets for trade 
in the bodies anil souls of men." 

Upon the eve of the great Rebellion, Mr. Seward said in tlic 
United States Senate : 

"A free Republican government like this, notwithstanding all its 
constitutional checks, cannot long resist and counteract the jjrogress of 
society. 

" Free labor has at last apprehended its rights and its destiny, and 
is organizing itself to assume the government of the Republic. It 
will henceforth meet you boldly and resolutely here (Washington) ; it 
will meet you everywhere, in the territories and out of them, where- 
ever you may go to extend slavery. It has driven you back in Cali- 
fornia and in Kansas ; it will invade you soon in Delaware, Maryland, 
Yirginia, Missouri, and Texas. It will meet you in Arizona, in 
Central America, and even in Cuba. 

'■ You may. indeed, get a start under or near the tropics, and seem 
safe for a time, but it will be only a shott time. ]->en there you will 
found Stales only for free labor, or to maintain and occupy. The in- 
terest of the whole race demands the ultimate emancipation of all 
men. Whether that consummation shall be allowed to take effect, with 
needful and wise jirecautions against sudden change and disaster, or be 
hurried on by violence, is all that remains for you to decide. The 
white man needs this continent to labor upon. His head is clear, his 
arm is strong, and his necessities are fixed. 

" It is for yourselves, and not for us, to decide how long and 
through what further mortifications and disasters the contest shall be 
protracted licfore Freedom shall enjoy her already assured triumph. 

"You may refuse to yield it now, and for a short period, but your 
refusal will only animate the friends of freedom with the courage and 
the resolution, and produce the union among them, which alone is neces- 
sary on their part to attain the position itself, simultaneously with the 
impending overthrow of the existing Federal .Administration and the 
constitution of a new and more independent Congress." 



232 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Mr. Lincoln said during a discussion of the impending crisis: 

" I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave 
and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved ; I do not 
expect the house to fall, but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. 
It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of 
slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public 
mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinc- 
tion, or its advocates will push it forward until it shall become alike 
lawful in all the States, old as well as new. North as well as South. 

" I have always hated slavery as much as any Abolitionist. I have 
always been an old-line Whig. I have always hated it, and I always 
belicYed it in a course of ultimate extinction. If I were in Congress, 
and a vote should come up on a question whether slavery should be 
prohibited in a new territory, in spite of the Dred Scott decision I 
would vote that it should." 

Notwithstanding the confident tone of Mr. Lincoln's state- 
ment that he did " not expect the house to fall," it did fall, and 
great was the fall thereof! 

On Saturday, 9th of February, 1861, six seceding States met 
at Montgomery, Alabatna, and organized an independent gov- 
ernment. The ordinances of secession were passed by the States 
as follows: 

.STATE. DATE. YEAS. NAYS. 

South Carolina . . Dec. 20, i860 . 

Mississippi . . . Jan. 9, 1861 

Alabama . . . Jan. 11, 1861 

Florida . . . Jan. 11 186 1 

Georgia . . . Jan. 19, 1861 

Louisiana . . . Jan. 25, 1861 

The following delegates presented their credentials and were 
admitted and represented their respective States: 

Ai.Ai'.AMA.— R. W. Walker, R. H. Smith, J. L. M. Curry, W. P. 
Chilton, S. F. Hale Colon, J. McRae, John Gill Shorter, David P. 
Lewis, Thomas Fearn. 

Florida. — James B. Owens, J. Patten Anderson, Jackson Morton 
(not present). 

Georcha. — Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, F. S. Bartow, M. J. 
Crawford, E. A. Nisbet, B. H. Hill, A. R. Wright, Thomas R. Cobb, A. 
H. Kenan, A. H. Stephens. 



169 




84 


15 


61 


39 


62 


7 


228 


89 


113 


17 



DEFINITION OF TlIF WAR ISSUE. 233 

Louisiana. — John Perkins, Jr., .\. Declonet, Charles M. Conrad, 
D. F. Kenncr, G. E. Sparrow, Henry Marshall. 

Mississippi.— W. P. Harris, Walter Brooke, N. S. Wilson, A. M. 
Clayton, W. S. Barry, J. T. Harrison. 

South Carolina. — R. B. Rhett, R. \\. Barnwell, L. M. Keitt, 
James Chestnut, Jr., C. O. Memminger, W. Porcher Miles, Thomas J. 
Withers, W. W. Boyce. 

A president and vice-president were chosen by unanimous 
vote. President — Honorable Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi. 
Vice-President — Honorable Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia. 
The following gentlemen composed the Cabinet : 

Secretary of State, Robert Toombs; Secretary of Treasury, 
C. G. Memminger; Secretary of Interior (\\icancy) ; Secretary of 
War, L. P. Walker; Secretary of Navy, John Perkins, Jr.; Post- 
master-General, H. T. Ebett ; Attorney-General, J. P. Benjamin. 

The Constitution of the Confederate Government did not dif- 
fer so very radically from the Federal Constitution. The follow- 
ing were the chief points : 

" I. The importation of African negroes from any foreign country 
other than the slave-holding States of the Confederate States is hereby 
forbidden, and Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectu- 
ally prevent the same. 

" 2. Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of 
slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy. 

" The Congress shall have power : 

" I. To lay and collect ta.ices, duties, imposts, and excises, for 
revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the government of the 
Confederacy, and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the Confederacy. 

" A slave in one State escaping to another shall be delivered, upon 
the claim of the party to whom said slave may belong, by the Executive 
authority of the State in which such slave may be found ; and in any 
case of abduction or forcible rescue, full compensation, including the 
value of slave, and all costs and expense, shall be made to the party by 
the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place. 

" 2. The government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps 
for the settlement of all matters between the States forming it and their 
late confederates of the United States in relation to the public property 
and public debt at the time of their withdrawal from them ; these States 
hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to adjust every- 
thing pertaining to the common property, common liabilities, and com- 



234 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

mon obligations of that Union, upon principles of right, justice, equity, 
and good faith." 

At first blush it would appear that the new government had 
not been erected upon the slave question; that it had gone as far 
as the Federal Government to suppress the foreign slave-trade; 
and that nobler and sublimer ideas and motives had inspired and 
animated the Southern people in their movement for a new gov- 
ernment. But the men who wrote the Confederate platform 
knew what they were about. They knew that to avoid the 
charge that would certainly be made against them, of having 
seceded in order to make slavery a national institution, they 
must be careful not to exhibit such intentions in their Constitu- 
tion. But that the South seceded on account of the slavery 
question, there can be no historical doubt whatever. Jefferson 
Davis, President, so-called, of the Confederate Government, said 
in his Message, April 29, 1861 : 

" AVhen the several States delegated certain powers to the United 
States Congress, a large portion of the laboring population consisted of 
African slaves, imported into the colonies by the mother-country. In 
twelve out of the thirteen States, negro slavery existed ; and the right 
of property in slaves was protected by law. This property was recog- 
nized in the Constitution ; and provision was made against its loss by 
the escape of the slave. 

■' The increase in the number of slaves by further importation from 
Africa was also secured by a clause forbidding Congress to prohibit the 
slave-trade anterior to a certain date ; and in no clause can there be 
found any delegation of power to the Congress, authorizing it in any 
manner to legislate to the prejudice, detriment, or discouragement of the 
owners of that species of property, or excluding it from the protection 
of the Government. 

" The climate and soil of the Northern States soon proved unpropi- 
tious to the continuance of slave labor ; whilst tlie converse was the 
case at the South. Under the unrestricted free intercourse between 
the two sections, the Northern States consulted their own interest, by 
selling their slaves to the South, and prohibiting slavery within their 
limits. The South were willing purchasers of a property suitable to 
their wants, and paid the price of the acquisition without harboring a 
suspicion that their quiet possession was to be disturbed by those who 
were inhibited not only by want of constitutional authority, but by good 
faith as vendors, from disquieting a title emanating from themselves. 

" As soon, however, as the Northern States that prohibited .\frican 



DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 235 

slavery within tlieir limits had reached a number sufficient to give their 
representation a controUing voice in the Congress, a persistent and or- 
ganized system of hostile measures ai;ainst the rights of the owners of 
slaves in the Southern States was inaugurated, and gradually extended. 
A continuous series of measures was devised and prosecuted for the 
purpose of rendering insecure the tenure of property in slaves. 

" With interests of such overwhelming magnitude imperilled, the 
people of the Southern Slates were driven by the conduct of the North 
to the adoption of some course of action to avoid the danger with which 
they were openly menaced. With this view, the Legislatures of the 
several States invited the people to select delegates to conventions to 
be held for the purpose of determining for themselves what measures 
were best adapted to meet so alarming a crisis in their history." ' 

Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President, as he was called, said, 
in a speech delivered at Savannah, Georgia, 21st of March, 1S61 : 

" The new Constitution has put at rest foraer all the agitating 
questions relating to our peculiar institution, — African slavery as it 
exists amongst us, the proper status of the negro in our form of civili- 
zation. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present 
revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the 
' rock upon which the old Union would split.' He was right. What 
was conjecture with him is now a realized fact. But whether he fully 
comprehended the great truth upon which that great rock stood and 
stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and 
most of tkc leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old 
Constitution, were, tiiat the enslavement of the African li'as in violation 
of the laws of nature j that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, 
and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with ; but 
the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other 
in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent, and pass 
away. This idea, though not incorporated in the Constitution, was the 
prevailing idea at the time. The Constitution, it is true, secured every 
essential guarantee to the institution while it should last ; and hence 
no argument can be justly used against the constitutional guarantees 
thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those 
ideas, however, ivere fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the as- 
sumption of the equlity of races. This ivas an error. It was a sandy 
foundation ; and the idea of a government built upon it, — when the 
' storm came and the wind blew, it />//.' 



' National Inlelligencer, Tuesd.iy, May 7, i36l. 



236 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Our line govenuncnt is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas. Its 
foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth, that the 
negro is not equal to the white man ; that slavery, subordination to the 
superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new gov- 
ernment, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great 
physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This trutli has been slow in the 
process of its development, like all other truths in the various depart- 
ments of science. It has been so even amongst us. Many who hear 
me, perhaps, can recollect well that this truth was not generally ad- 
mitted, even within their day." ' 

Now, then, what was the real issue between the Confederate 
States and the United States ? Why, it was extension of slavery 
by the former, and the restriction of slavery by the latter. To 
put the issue as it was understood by Northern men — in poetic 
language, it was " The Union as it is." While the South, at 
length, through its leaders, acknowledged that slavery was their 
issue, the North, standing upon the last analysis of the Free-Soil 
idea of resistance to the further inoculation of free territory 
with the virus of slavery, refused to recognize slavery as an issue. 
But what did the battle cry of the loyal North, " The Union as it 
is," mean ? A Union half free and half slave ; a dual govern- 
ment, if not in fact, certainly in the brains and hearts of the 
people ; two civilizations at eternal and inevitable war with each 
other ; a Union with the canker-worm of slavery in it, impairing 
its strength every year and threatening its life ; a Union in 
which two hostile ideas of political economy were at work, and 
where unpaid slave labor was inimical to the interests of the 
free workingmen. And it should not be forgotten that the Re- 
publican party acknowledged the right of Southerns to hunt 
slaves in the free States, and to return such slaves, under the 
fugitive-slave law, to their masters. Mr, Lincoln was not an 
Abolitionist, as many people think. His position on the ques- 
tion was clearly stated in the answers he gave to a number of 
questions put to him by Judge Douglass in the latter part of the 
summer of 1858. Mr. Lincoln said : 

" Having said this much, I will take up the judge's interrogatories 
as I find tliem printed in the Chicago ' Times,' and answer them seri- 
atim. In order that there may be no mistake about it, I have copied 

' National Intelligencer, Tuesday, April, 2, 1S61. 



DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 237 

the interrogatories in writing, and also my answers to tlieni. The first 
one of these interrogatories is in these words : 

"Question i. 'I desire to know whether Lincoln to-day stands, as 
he did in 1S54, in favor of the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive- 
Slave Law ? ' 

" Answer. I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the uncon- 
ditional repeal of the Fugitive-Slave Law. 

" Q. 2. ' I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to-day, 
as he did in 1854, against the admission of any more slave States into 
the Union, even if the people want them ? ' 

" A. I do not now, nor ever did, stand pledged against the admis- 
sion of any more slave States into the Union. 

'■ Q. 3. 'I want to know whether he stands pledged against the ad- 
mission of a new State into tlie Union with such a constitution as the 
peojile of that State may see fit to make.' 

" Q. 4. ' I want to know whether he stands to-day ])ledged to the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia ?' 

"A. I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia. 

" Q- 5- ' -f desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the 
prohibition of the slave-trade between the different States ? ' 

" A. I do not stand pledged to the jjrohibition of the slave-trade 
between the different States. 

" Q. 6. 'I desire to know whether he stands pledged to prohibit 
slavery in all the territories of the United States, north as well as south 
of the Missouri Compromise line ?' 

" A. I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the 
ri^lit and duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the United States 
territories. [Great applause.] 

" Q- 7- ' I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to the ac- 
quisition of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited therein?' 

" A. I am not generally opposed to honest acquisition of territory ; 
and, in any given case, I would or would not oppose such acquisition, 
accordingly as I might think such accpiisition would or would not agi- 
tate the slavery question among ourselves. 

"Now, my friends, it will be perceived \\\>ox\ an examination of these 
(juestions and answers, that so far I have only answered that I was not 
pledged io this, that, or the other. The judge has not framed his inter- 
rogatories to ask me any thing more than this, and I have answered in 
strict accordance with the interrogatories, and have answered truly that 
I am not pledged dit all upon any of the points to which I have answered. 
But I am not disposed to hang upon the exact form of his interroga- 
tories. I am rather disposed to take up at least some of these questions, 
and state what I really think upon them. 



238 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE TN AMERICA. 

" As to the first one, in regard to the Fugitive-Slave Law, I have 
never hesitated to say, and I do not now hesitate to say, that I think, 
under the Constitution of the United States, the people of the Southern 
States are entitled to a congressional slave law. Having said that, I 
have had nothing to say in regard to the existing Fugitive-Slave Law, 
further than that I think it should have been framed so as to be free 
from some of the objections that pertain to it, without lessening its 
efficiency. And inasmuch as we are not now in an agitation in re- 
gard to an alteration or modification of that law, I would not be the 
man to introduce it as a new subject of agitation upon the general 
question of slavery. 

" In regard to the other question, of whether I am pledged to the 
admission of any more slave States into the Union, I state to you very 
frankly that I would be exceedingly sorry ever to be put in a position 
of having to pass upon that question. I should be exceedingly glad to 
know that there would never be another slave State admitted into the 
Union ; but I must add, that if slavery shall be kept out of the territories 
during the territorial existence of any one given te-rritory, and then the 
people shall, having a fair chance and a clear field, when they come to 
adopt the constitution, do such an extraordinary thing as to adopt a 
slave constitution, uninfluenced by the actual presence of the institution 
among them, I see no alternative, if we own the country, but to admit 
them into the Union. [Applause.] 

" The third interrogatory is answered by the answer to the second, 
it being, as I conceive, the same as the second. 

" The fourth one is in regard to the abolition of slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. In relation to that I have my mind very distinctly 
-made up. I should be exceedingly glad to see slavery abolished in the 
District of Columbia. I believe that Congress possesses the constitu- 
tional power to abolish it. Yet, as a member of Congress, I should not, 
with my present views, be in favor of endiavoring to abolish slavery iix 
the District of Columbia, unless it would be upon these conditions • 
First, that the abolition should be gradual ; second, that it should be on 
a vote of the majority of qualified voters in the district.; and, third, that 
comjjensation should be made to unwilling owners. With these three con- 
ditions I confess I would be exceedingly glad to see Congress abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia, and, in the language of Henry Clay, 
' sweep from our capital that foul blot upon our nation.' 

" In regard to the fifth interrogatory, I must say here that, as to the 
question of the abolition of the slave-trade between the different States, 
I can truly answer, as I have, that I am pledged to nothing about it. It 
is a subject to which I have not given that mature consideration that 
would make me feel authorized to state a position so as to hold myself 
entirely bound by it. In other words, that question has never been 



DEFINITION OF THE WAR ISSUE. 239 

prominently enough before me to induce nic to investignte whether we 
really have the constitutional power to do it. I could investigate it, if 
I had sufficient time, to bring myself to a conclusion upon that subject ; 
but I have not done so, and I say so frankly to you here, and to Judge 
Douglass. I must say, however, that if I should be of opinion that 
Congress does possess the constitutional ])ower to abolish slave-trading 
among the different Slates, I should still not be in favor of the exercise 
of that power unless upon some conservative principle as I conceive it, 
akin to what 1 have said in relation to the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia. 

" My answer as to whether I desire that slavery should be prohibited 
in all territories of the United States, is full and e.xplicit within itself, 
and cannot be made clearer by any comments of mine. So, I suppose, 
in regard to the question whether I am opjjosed to the acciuisition of 
any more territory unless slavery is first prohibited therein, my answer 
is such that I could add nothing by way of illustration, or making 
myself better understood, than the answer which 1 have placed in 
writing. 

■' Now, in all this the judge has me, and he has me on the record. 
I suppose he had flattered himself that I was really entertaining one 
set of opinions for one place, and another set for another place — that I 
was afraid to say at one place what I uttered at another. What I am 
saying here I suppose I say to a vast audience as strongly tending to 
abolitionism as any audience in the State of Illinois, and I believe lam 
saying that which, if it would be offensive to any persons and render 
them enemies to myself, would be offensive to persons in this au- 
dience." ' 

Here, then, is the position of Mr. Lincoln set forth with delib- 
eration and care. He was opposed to any coerci\c measures in 
settling the slavery question ; he was for gradual emancipation ; 
and for admitting States into the Union with a slave constitu- 
tion. Within twenty-four months, without a change of views, 
he was nominated for and elected to the Presidency of the 
United States. 

With no disposition to interfere with the institution of slav- 
ery, Mr. Lincoln found himself chief magistrate of a great na- 
tion in the midst of a great rebellion. And in his inaugural 
address on the 4th of March, 1861, he referred to the question of 
slavery again in a manner too clear to admit of misconception, 
affirming his previous views: 

' Barrett, pp. 177-1S0. 



240 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives 
from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in 
the Constitution as any other of its provisions : 

" ' No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws 
thereof, escajjing into another, shall, in consequen<;e of any law or regu- 
lation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may 
be due." _^ 

" It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those 
who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the 
intention of the lawgiver is the law. 

'' All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Consti- 
tution — to this provision as well as any other. To the proposition, 
then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause 
'shall be delivered up,' their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would 
make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly equal una- 
nimity, frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that 
unanimous oath ? 

"There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be 
enforced by National or by State authority ; but surely that difference 
is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be 
of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is 
done ; and should any one, in any case, be content that this oath shall 
go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be 
kept ? " 

So the issues were joined iti war. The South aggressively, 
offensively sought the extension and perpetuation of slavery. 
The North passively, defensively stood ready to protect her free 
territory, but not to interfere with slavery. And there was no 
day during the first two years of the war when the North would 
not have cheerfully granted the slave institution an indefinite 
lease of /f^a/ existence upon the condition that the war should 
cease. 



"^ WHITE MAM'S WAR." 241 



CHAPTER XV. 

"A WIHTK man's war." 
The First Call for Troops. — RnNoiTioN op Kugitivk Slave-:s nv tiif. Army. — Col. Tyler's 

AuDKESS TO TlIK PkOPLE OK VIRGINIA. — GenKRAL IsaaC R. ShERWOOd's ACCOUNT OF AN 

Attempt to srcure a I'^ugjtivh Slave in his Chakge. — Col. Sieed.man rri-'uses to have 
HIS Camp searched for Fugitive Slaves, by Order from Gen. Fry. — Letter from Gen. 
Buell in Defence of the Rebels in the South. — Orders issued uy Generals Hooker, 
Williams, and Others, in Regard to harboring Fugitive Slaves in Union Cami*s. — 
Observation concerning Slavery from the "Army of the Potomac." — Gen. Builer's 
Letter to Gen. VVinhei.d Scott. —It is answered by the Secretary of War.— Horace 
Gkrelev's Letter to the President. — President Lincoln's Reply. — Gen. John C. Fre- 
mont, Commander of ihe Union .Army in Missouri, issues a Proclamation emancipating 
Slaves in his District. — It is disapproved by the President. — E.mancipation Procla- 
mation BY Gen. Hunter. — It is rescinded uy the President. — Slavery and Union 
joined in a Desperate Struggle. 

WHEN the war clouds broke over the country and hostili- 
ties began, the North counted the Negro on the outside of 
the issue. The Federal Government planted itself upon 
the policy of the "defence of the free States," — pursued a defen- 
sive rather than an offensive policy. And, whenever the Negro 
was mentioned, the leaders of the political parties and the Union 
army declared that it was " a white man s war." 

The first call for three months' troops indicated that tiie au- 
thorities at Washington felt confident that the "trouble " would 
not last long. The call was issued on the 15th of April, 1861, 
and provided for the raising of 75,000 troops. It was charged 
by the President that certain States had been guilty of forming 
" combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary 
course of judicial proceedings," and then lie proceeded to state : 

"The details for this object will be immediately communicated to 
the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal 
citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the 
integrity, and the existence of our National l^nion, and tlie perpetuity 
of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough en- 
dured. I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the 
forces hereby called forth, will probably be to repossess the forts, places. 



^42 I//. STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and property which have been seized from the Union ; and in every 
event tlie utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects 
aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference 
with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens of any part of 
the country ; and I hereby command the persons composing the com- 
binations aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective 
abodes within twenty days from this date."' 

There was scarcely a city in the North, from New York to 
San Francisco, whose Colored residents did not speedily offer 
their services to the States to aid in suppressing the Rebellion. 
But everywhere as promptly were their services declined. The 
Colored people of the Northern Stated were patriotic and enthu- 
siastic ; but their interest was declared insolence. And being 
often rebuked for their loyalty, they subsided into silence to bide 
a change of public sentiment. 

The almost unanimous voice of the press and pulpit wai 
against a recognition of the Negro as the cause of the war- 
Like a man in the last stages of consumption who insists that he har. 
only a bad cold, so the entire North urged that slavery was not 
the cause of the war: it was a little local misunderstanding. But 
the death of the gallant Col. Elmer E. Elsworth palsied the 
tongues of mere talkers; and in the tragic silence that followed, 
great, brave, and true men began to think. 

Not a pulpit in all the land had spoken a word for the slave. 
The clergy stood dumb before the dreadful issue. But one man 
was found, like David of old, who, gathering his smooth pebble 
of fact from the brook of God's eternal truth, boldly met the 
boastful and erroneous public sentiment of the hour. That man 
was the Rev. Justin D. Fulton, a Baptist minister of Albany, 
New York. He was chosen to preach the funeral sermon of Col. 
Elsworth, and performed that duty on Sunday, May 26, 1861. 
Speaking of slavery, the reverend gentleman said: 

" Shall this magazine of danger be permitted to remain ? We must 
ans-ivcr this question. If 7oe say no, it is no ! Slavery is a curse to the 
North. It imjjoverishes the South, and demoralizes both. It is the 
parent of treason, the seedling of tyranny, and the fountain-source of 
all the ills that have infected our life as a people, being the central 
cause of all our conflicts of the past and the war of to-day. What 

' Rebellion Recs., vol. i. Doc, p. 63, 



•'A WHITE MAN'S WAR." 243 

reason liave we for permitting it to remain ? God does not want it, for 
His truth gives freedom. The South does not need it, for it is the 
chain fastened to her limb that fetters her |jrogress. Morality, patriot- 
ism, and humanity alike protest against it. 

"The South lights for slavery, for the despotism which it represents, 
for the ignoring the rights of labor, and for reducing to slavery or to 
serfdom all whose hands are hardened by toil. 

" Why not make the issue at once, which shall inspire every man 
that shoulders his musket with a noble purpose? Our soldiers need 
to be reminded that this government was consecrated to freedom by 
those who first built here the altars of worship, and i)lanted on the 
shore of the Western Continent the tree of liberty, whose fruit to-day 
fills the garners of national hope. ... I would not forget that I 
am a messenger of the Prince of Peace. My motives for throning out 
these suggestions are three-fold : i. Because I believe God wants us 
to be actuated by motives not one whit less philanthro[iic than the giv- 
ing of freedom to four million of people. 2. I confess to a sympathy 
for and faith in the slave, and cherish the belief that if freed, the war 
would become comparatively bloodless, and that as a people we should 
enter on the discharge of higher duties and a more enlarged pros]3erity. 
3. The war would hasten to a close, and the end secured would then 
forin a brilliant dawn to a career of prosperity unsur[)assed in the an- 
nals of mankind." ' 

Brave, proplictic words I But a thousand vitupcr.itivc editors 
sprang at Mr. Fulton's utterances, and as snappin<j curs, growled 
at and shook every sentence. He stood liis ground. He took 
no step backward. When notice was kindly sent liim that a 
coinmittee would wait on hiin to treat him to a coat of tar and 
feathers, against the entreaties of anxious friends, he sent word 
that he woukl give them a warm reception. When the best citi- 
zens of Albany said the draft could not be enforced without 
bloody resistance, the Rev. Mr. Fulton e.xclaimed : '"If the flood- 
gates of blood are to be opened, we will not shoot down the poor 
and ignorant, but the swaggering and insolent men whose hearts 
"are not in this war! " 

The " Atlas and Argus," in an editorial on ///- Timed Pulpit 
Adoltfio?iism, denounced Rev. Mr. Fulton in bitterest terms; while 
the " Evening Standard " and " Journal " both declared that the 
views of the preacher were as a fire-brand thrown into the maga- 
zine of public sentiment. 



' Albany Atlas and Argus, May 27, 186:. 



244 inSTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Everywhere throughout the North tlie Negro was counted as on 
the outside. Everywhere it was merely " a war for the Union," 
which was half free and half slave. 

When the Union army got into the field at the South it was 
confronted by a difficult question. What should be done with 
the Negroes who sought the Union lines for protection from 
their masters ? The sentiment of tlie press, Congress, and the 
people of the North generally, was against interference with the 
slave, either by the civil or military authorities. And during 
the first years of the war the army became a band of slave- 
catchers. Slave-holders and sheriffs from tlie Southern States 
were permitted to hunt fugitive slaves under the Union flag and 
within the lines of Federal camps. On the 22d of June, i86i, 
the following paragraph appeared in the " Baltimore American " : 

"Two free negroes, belonging to Frederick, Md,, who concealed 
themselves in the cars which conveyed the Rhode Island regiment to 
Washington from this city, \yere returned thnt morning by command 
of Colonel Burnside, who supposed them to be slaves. The negroes were 
accompanied by a sergeant of the regiment, who lodged them in jail." 

On the 4th of July, 1861, Col. Tyler, of the 7th Ohio regi- 
ment, delivered an address to the people of Virginia ; a portion 
of which is sufficient to show the feeling that prevailed among 
army officers on the slavery question : 

" To you, fellow-citizens of West Virginia — many of whom I have so 
long and favorably known, — I come to aid and protect. [The grammar 
is defective.] 

" I have no selfish ambition to gratify, no persona! motives to actu- 
ate. I am here to protect you in pi^rson and property — to aid you in 
the execution of the law, in the maintenance of peace and order, in the 
defence of the Constitution and the Union, and in the extermination of 
our common foe. .\s our enemies have belied our mission, and repre- 
sented us as a band of Abolitionists, I desire to assure you that the 
relation of master and servant as recognized in your State shall be re- 
spected. Your authority over that species of property shall not in the 
least be interfered with. To this end I assure you that those imder my 
command have peremjitory orders to take up and hold any negroes found 
running about the camp without passes from their masters." 

When a few copies had been struck off, a lieutenant in Captain 
G. W. Shurtleff's company handed him one. He waited upon 



'\4 WHITE MAN'S WAR." 245 

the colonel, and told liiin, that it was not true that the troops 
had been ordered to arrest fu£^itive slaves. The colonel threat- 
.ened to place Captain Shurtleff in arrest, when he exclaimed : 
" I '11 never be a slave-catcher, so help me God ! " There were 
few men in the army at this time who sympathized with such a 
noble declaration, and, therefore, Captain Shurtleff found himself 
in a ver\' small minority. 

The following account of an attempt to secure a fugitive slave 
from General Isaac R. Sherwood has its historical value. General 
Sherwood was as noble a man as he was a brave and intelligent 
soldier. He obeyeii the still small voice in his soul and won a 
victory for humanity: 

"In the February and March of 1863, I was a major in command 
of I nth O. V. I. regiment. I had a servant, as indicated by army 
regulations, in charge of my private horse. He was from Frankfort, 
Kv., the isroperty of a B.iptist clergyman. When the troops passed 
through Frankfort, in the fall of 1863, he left his master, and followed 
the army. He came to me at Bowling Green, and I hired him to take 
care of my horse. He was a lad about fifteen years old, named Alfred 
Jackson. 

■' .Vt this time, Brig.-Gen. Boyle, or lioyd (I tiiink Boyle), was in 
command of the District of Kentucky, and had issued his general 
order, that fugitive slaves should be delivered up. Brig.-Gen. H. M. 
Judah was in command of Post of Bowling Green, also of our brigade, 
there stationed. 

" The owner of Alfred Jackson found out his whereabouts, and sent 
a U. S. marshal to Bowling Green to get him. Said marslial came to 
my headquarters under a pretence to see my very fine saddle-horse, 
but really to identify Alfred Jackson. The horse was brought out by 
Alfred Jackson. The marshal went to Brig.-Gen. Judah's headquar- 
ters and got a written order addressed to me, describing the lad and 
ordeiing me to deliver the boy. This order was delivered to me by 
Col. Sterling, of Gen. Judah's staff, in person. I refused to obey it. I 
sent word to Gen. Judah that he could have my sword, but while I 
commanded that regiment no fugitive slave should ever be delivered to 
his master. The officer made my compliments to Gen. Judah as afore- 
said, and I was placed under arrest for disobedience to orders, and my 
sword taken from me. 

" In a few days the command was ordered to move to Glasgow, 
Ky., and Gen. Judah, not desiring to trust tlie regiment in command of 
a captain, I was temporarily restored to command, pending the meet- 
ing of a court-martial to try my case. When the command moved I 



246 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

took Alfred Jackson along. After we reached Glasgow, Ky., Gen. 
Judah sent for me, and said if I would then deliver up Alfred Jackson 
he would restore me to command. The United States marshal wa.s 
present. This I again refused to do. 

" The same day, I sent an ambulance out of the lines, with Alfred 
Jackson tucked under the seat, in charge of a man going North, and I 
gave him money to get to Hillsdale, Michigan, where he went, and 
where he resided and grew up to be a good man and a citizen. I called 
the attention of Hon. James M. Ashley (then Member of Congress) to 
the matter, and under instructions from Secretary Stanton, Gen. Boyle's 
order was revoked, and 1 never delivered a fugitive, nor was I ever tried." 

In Mississippi, in 1862, Col. James B. Steedman (afterward 
major-general) refused to honor an order of Gen. Fry, delivered 
by the man who wanted the slave in Steedman's camp. Col. 
Steedman read the order and told the bearer that he was a rebel ; 
that he could not search Ids camp ; and tliat he would give him 
just ten minutes to get out of the camp, or he would riddle him 
with bullets. When Gen. Fry asked for an explanation of his 
refusal to allow his camp to be searched. Col. Steedman said he 
would never consent to have his camp searched by a rebel ; that 
he would use every bayonet in his regiment to protect the Negro 
slave who Iiad come to him for protection : and that he was sus- 
tained by the Articles of War, which had been amended about 
that time. 

Again, in the late summer of 1863, at Tuscumbia, Tennessee, 
Gen. Fry rode into Col. Steedman's camp to secure the return 
of the slaves of an old lady whom he had known before the war. 
Col. Steedman said he did not know that an\' slaves were in his 
camp; and that if they were there they should not be taken ex- 
cept they were willing to go. Gen. Fry was a Christian gentle- 
man of a high Southern type, and combined with his loyalty to 
the Union an abiding faith in " the sacredness of slave prop- 
erty." Whether he ever recovered from the malady, history 
saith not. 

The great majority of regular army of^cers were in sympa- 
thy with the idea of protecting slave property. Gen. T. W. 
Sherman, occupying the defences of Port Royal, in October, 1861, 
issued the following proclamation to the people of South Carolina: 

" In obedience to the orders of the President of these United 
States of America, I have landed on your shores with a small force of 



"A WHITE AfAJVS JVAR." 247 

National troops. The dictates of a duty which, under the Constitution, 
1 owe to a great sovereign State, and to a proud and hospitable people, 
among whom I have passed some of the pleasantest days of my life, 
prompt me to [iroclaim that we have come among you with no feel- 
ings of personal animosity ; no desire to harm your citizens, destroy 
your property, or interfere with any of your lawful rights, or your 
social and local institutions, beyond what the causes herein briefly al- 
luded to may render unavoidable." ' 

This proclamation sounds a.s if the general were a firm be- 
liever in State sovereignty; and that he was possessed with a 
feeling that he had landed in some strange land, ainong a people 
of different civilization and pecidiar institutions. 

On the 13th of November, 1861, Major-Gen. John A. Dix, 
upon taking possession of the counties of Accomac and North- 
umpton, Va., issued the following proclamation : 

"The military forces of the United States are about to enter your 
counties as a i)art of the Union. They will go among you as friends, 
and with the earnest hope that they may not, by your own acts, be 
compelled to become your enemies. They will invade no right of per- 
son or property. On the contrary, your laws, your institutions, your 
usages, will be scrupulously respected. There need be no fear that the 
quietude of any fireside will be disturbed, unless the disturbance is 
caused by yourselves. 

"Special directions have been given not to interfere with the con- 
dition of any person held to domestic servitude ; and, in order that 
there may be no ground for mistake or pretext for misrepresentation, 
commanders of regiments or corps have been instructed not to per- 
mit such persons to come within their lines." '■' 

Gen. rialleck, while in command of the Union forces in 
Missouri, issued his " Order No. 3." as follows : 

" It has been represented that important information, respecting 
the numljer and condition of our forces, is conveyed to the enemy by 
means of fugitive slaves who are admitted within our lines. In order 
to remedy this evil, it is directed that no such person be hereafter 
])ermitted to enter the lines of any camp, or of any forces on the 
march, and that any now within such lines be immediately excluded 
therefrom." 



' Gveeley. vol. ii. p. 240. 

' Kebellion Records, vol. iii. Doc. p. 376. 



24S HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

On the 23d of February, 1862, in " Order No. 13," he referred 

to the slave question as follows : 

" It does not belong to the military to decide upon the relation of 
master and slave. Such questions must be settled by the civil courts. 
No fugitive slaves will, therefore, be admitted within our lines or 
camps, except when specially ordered by the general commanding." 

On the iSth of February, 1862, Major-Gen. A. E. Burnside is- 
sued a proclamation in which he said to the people : 

" The Government asks only that its authority may be recognized ; 
and we repeat, in no manner or way does it desire to interfere with 
your laws, constitutionally established, your institutions of any kind 
whatever, your property of any sort, or your usages in any respect." 



The following letter from Gen. Buell shows how deeply at- 
;hcd lie was to the " 
the rebels of the South : 



tachcd he was to the "constitutional guaranties" accorded to 



" Headqu.\rtf.rs Department of the Ohio, ) 
"Nashville, March 6, 1862. f 



''''Dear Sir : I have the honor to receive your communication of the 
ist instant, on the subject of fugitive slaves in the camps of the army. 

" It has come to my knowledge that slaves sometimes make their 
way improperly into our lines; and in some instances they may be en- 
ticed there ; but I think the number has been magnified by report. 
Several applications have been made to me by persons w-hose servants 
have been found in our camps ; and in every instance that I know of the 
master has recovered his servant and taken him away. 

" I need hardly remind you that there will always be found some 
lawless and mischievous person in every army ; but I assure you that 
the mass of this army is law-abiding, and that it is neither its disposi- 
tion nor its ])olicy to violate law or the rights of individuals in any par- 
ticular. With great respect, your obedient servant, 

" D. C. Buell, 
" ISrig.-Gen. Coiniiiaiiding Department. 
"Hon. |. R. Underwood, Chairman Military Committee, 
" Frankfort, Ky." 

So "in every instance " the master had recovered his slave 
when found in Gen. Buell's camp ! 

On the 26th of March, 1862, Gen. Joseph Hooker, command- 
ing the " Upper Potomac," issued the following order: 



"A WHITE MAN'S WAR" 249 

" To Brigade and Regimental Commanders of this Division : 

" Messrs. Nally, Gray, Dunnington, Dent, Adams, Speake, Price, 
Posey, and Cobey, citizens of Maryland, have negroes supposed to be 
with some of the regiments of this division. The brigadier-general 
commanding directs that they be permitted to visit all the camjis of his 
command, in search of their property ; and if found, that they be al- 
lowed to take possession of the same, without any interference what- 
ever. Should any obstacle be thrown in their way by any officer or 
soldier in the division, he will be at once reported by the regimental 
commander to these headquarters." 

In the spring of 1862, Gen. Thos. \\Mlliams, in the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf, issued the following order ' : 

"In consequence of the demoralizing and disorganizing tendencies 
to the troops of harboring runaway negroes, it is hereby ordered that 
the respective commanders of the camps and garrisons of the several 
regiments, 2d brigade, turn all such fugitives in their camps or gar- 
risons out beyond the limits of their respective guards and sentinels. 
" By order of 

" Brig-Gen. T. Williams." ' 

In a letter dated " Headquarters Army of the Potomac, 
July 7, 1862," Major-Gen. Geo. B. McClellan made the following 
observations concerning slavery : 

" This Rebellion has assumed the character of a war ; as such it 
should be regarded ; and it should be conducted upon the highest prin- 
ciples known to Christian civilization. It should not be a war looking 
to the subjugation of the people of any State, in any event. It should 
not be at all a war upon populations, but against armed forces and 
political organizations. Neither confiscation of property, political exe- 
cutions of persons, territorial organization of States, nor forcible aboli- 
tion of slavery should be contemplated for a moment." 

But the drift of the sentiment of the army was in the direc- 
tion of compromise with the slavery question. Nearly every 
statesman at Washington — in the White House and in the Con- 
gress — and nearly every officer in the army regarded the Negro 
question as purely political and not military. That it was a 
problem hard of solution no one could doubt. Hundreds of loyal 

' I have quite a large number of such orders, but the above will suflfice. 
'Greeley, vol. ii. p. 246. 



250 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Negroes, upon the orders of general officers, were turned away 
from tlie Union lines, while those who liad gotten on the inside 
were driven forth to the cruel vengeance of rebel masters. Who 
could solve the problem ? Major-Gen. Benjamin F. Butler ban- 
ished the politician, and became the loyal, patriotic soldier ! In 
the month of May, 1861, during the time Gen. Butler command- 
ed the Union forces at Fortress Monroe, three slaves made good 
their escape into his lines. They stated that they were owned 
by Col. Mallory, of the Confederate forces in the front; that he 
was about to send them to the North Carolina seaboard to work 
on rebel fortifications ; and that the fortifications were intended 
to bar that coast against the Union arms. Having heard this 
statement, Gen. Butler, viewing the matter from a purely mili- 
tary stand-point, exclaimed : " These men are contraband of war ; 
set them at work." Here was a solution of the entire problem; 
here was a blow delivered at the backbone of the Rebellion. He 
claimed no right to act as a politician, but acting as a loyal- 
hearted, clear-headed soldier, he coined a word and hurled a shaft 
at the enemy that struck him in a part as vulnerable as the heel 
of Achilles. In his letter to the Lieut.-Gen. of the Army, Win- 
field .Scott, 27th of May, 1861, he .said : 

" Since I wrote my last, the question in regard to slave property is 
becoming one of very seiious magnitude. The inhabitants of Virginia 
are using tlieir negroes in the batteries, and are preparing to send their 
women and children South. The escapes from them are very numer- 
ous, and a squad has come in this morning, and my pickets are bringing 
in their women and children. Of course these can not be dealt with 
upon the theory on which I designed to treat the services of able-bodied 
men and women who might come within my lines, and of which I gave 
you a detailed accoimt in my last dispatch. 

" I am in the utmost doubt what to do with this species of property. 
Up to this time I have had come within my lines men and women, with 
their children, — entire families, — each family belonging to the same 
owner. I have tlierefore determined to employ — as I can do very 
profitably — the able-bodied persons in the party, issuing proper food 
for the support of all ; charging against their services the expense of 
care and sustenance of the non-laborers ; keeping a strict and accurate 
account, as well of the services as of the e.xpenditures ; having the 
worth of the services and the cost of the expenditures determined by a 
board of survey hereafter to be detailed. 1 know of no other manner 
in which to dispose of this subject and the questions connected there- 
with, As a matter of property, to the insurgents it will be of very great 



"A WHITE MAN'S WAR.' 251 

moment — the number that I now liave amounting, as I am informed, to 
what in good times would be of the value of §60,000. 

" Twelve of these negroes, I am informed, have escaped from the 
erection of the batteries on Sewell's Point, which fired upon my expe- 
dition as it passed by out of range. As a means of offense, therefore, 
in the enemy's hands, these negroes, when able-bodied, are of great im- 
portance. Without them the batteries could not have been erected ; 
at least, for many weeks. As a military question it would seem to be a 
measure of necessity, and deprives their masters of their services. 

" How can this be done ? As a political question, and a question of 

humanity, can I receive the services of a father and a mother and not 

take the children ? Of the humanitarian aspect, I have no doubt ; of 

the political one, I have no right to judge. I therefore sul.mit all this 

to your better judgment, and, as these questions have a political aspect, 

I have ventured — and I trust I am not wrong in so doing — to dujjlicate 

the parts of my dispatch relating to this subject, and forward them to 

the Secretary of War. 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Lt.-General Scott." ' " Be.n'j. F. Butlur. 

The letter of Gen. Butler was laid before the Secretary of 
War, who answered it as follows : 

" Sir : Your action in respect to the negroes who came within your 
lines, from the service of the rebels, is approved. The Department is 
sensible of the embarrassments which must surround officers conduct- 
ing military operations in a State, by the laws of which slavery is sanc- 
tioned. The Government can not recognize the rejection by any State 
of its Federal obligations, resting upon itself. Among these Federal 
obligations, however, no one can be more important than that of sup- 
pressing and dispersing any combination of the former for the purpose 
of overthrowing its whole constitutional authority. While, therefore, 
you will permit no interference, by persons under your command, with 
the relations of persons held to service under the laws of any State, 
you will, on the other hand, so long as any State within which your 
military operations are conducted remains under the control of such 
armed combinations, refrain from surrendering to alleged masters any 
])ersons who come within your lines. You will employ such i)ersons in 
the services to which they will be best adapted ; keejiing an account of 
the labor by them performed, of the value of it, and the expenses of 
their maintenance. The question of their final disposition will be re- 
served for future determination. 

"Simon Cameron', Sccn-lary of War. 
" To Maj.Gen. Butler. 

'Greeley, vol. ii. p. 23S, 



252 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In an account of ihe life and services of Capl. Grier Talmadge, 
the " Times" correspondent says: 

" To the deceased, who was conservative in his views and actions, 
helongs the credit of first enunciating the 'contraband' idea as subse- 
quently applied in the practical treatment of the slaves of rebels, 
Early in the spring of 1861, Flag-Officer Pendergrast, in command of 
the frigate 'Cumberland,' then the vessel blockading the Roads, restored 
to their owners certain slaves that had escaped from Norfolk. Shortly 
after, the Flag-Officer, Gen. Butler, Capt. Talmadge, and the writer 
chanced to meet in the ramparts of the fortress, when Capt. T. took 
occasion, warmly, but respectfully, to dissent from the policy of the act, 
and proceeded to advance some arguments in support of his views. 
Turning to Gen. Butler, who had just assumed command of this depart- 
ment, he said : 'General, it is a question you will have to decide, and 
that, too, very soon ; for in less than twenty-four hours deserting 
slaves will commence swarming to your lines. The rebels are employ- 
ing their slaves in thousands in constructing batteries all around us. 
And, in my judgment, in view of this fact, not only slaves who take 
refuge within our lines are contrabands, but I hold it as much our duty 
to seize and capture those employed, or intended to be employed, in 
constructing batteries, as it is to destroy the arsenals or any other war- 
making element of the rebels, or to capture and destroy the batteries 
themselves.' Within two days after this conversation, Gen, Butler has 
the question practically presented to him, as predicted, and he solved it 
by applying the views advanced by the deceased." ' 

The conservative policy of Congress, the cringing attitude of 
the Government at Washington, the reverses on the Potomac, 
the disaster of Bull Run, the apologetic tone of the Northern 
press, the expulsion of slaves from the Union lines, and the 
conduct of "Copperheads" in the North — who crawled upon 
their stomachs, snapping and biting at the heels of Union men 
and Union measures, — bred a spirit of unrest and mob violence. 
It was not enough that the service of free Negroes was declined; 
they were now hunted out and persecuted by mobs and other 
agents of the disloyal element at the North. Like a man sick 
unto death the Government insisted that it only had a slight 
cold, and that it would be better soon. The President was no 
better informed as to the nature of the war than other conserva- 
tive Republicans. On the 19th of August, 1862, Horace Greeley 

' New York Times. 



"A WHITE MAN'S WAR." 253 

addressed an open letter to the President, known as " The Prayer 
of Twenty Millions," of which the following are specimen pas- 
sages : 

" On the face of this wide earth, Mr. President, there is not one dis- 
interested, determined, intelligent champion of the Union cause who 
does not feel that all attempts to put down the Rebehion, and at the 
same time uphold its inciting cause, are preposterous and futile — that 
the Rebellion, if crushed out to-morrow, would be renewed within a 
year if slavery were left in full vigor — that army officers, who remain to 
this day devoted to slavery, can at best be but half-way loyal to the 
Union — and that every hour of deference to slavery is an hour of added 
and deepened peril to the Union. 1 appeal to the testimony of your 
Embassadors in Europe. It is freely at your service, not mine. Ask 
them to tell you candidly whether the seeming subserviency of your 
policy to the sl.ive-holding, slavery-upholding interest, is not the per- 
])lexity, the desjiair, of statesmen of ail parties ; and be admonished by 
the general answer ! 

" 1 close, as I began, witli the statement that what an immense 
majority of the loyal milHons of your countrymen require of you is a 
frank, declared, 'unqualified, ungrudging e.xecution of the laws of the 
land, more especially of the Confiscation Act. That Act gives freedom 
to the slaves of rebels coming within our lines, or whom those lines 
may at any time inclose, — we ask you to render it due obedience by 
publicly requiring all your subordinates to recognize and obey it. The 
rebels are everywhere using the late anti-negro riots in the North — as 
they have long used your officers' treatment of negroes in the South- 
to convince the slaves that they have nothing to hope from a Union suc- 
cess — that we mean in that case to sell them into a bitter bondage to defray 
the cost of the war. Let them impress this as a truth on the great mass 
of their ignorant and credulous bondmen, and the Union will never be 
restored — never. We can not conquer ten millions of jjeople united in 
solid phalan.x against us, powerfully aided by Northern sympathizers 
and European allies. We must have scouts, guides, spies, cooks, team- 
sters, diggers, and choppers, from the blacks of the South — whether 
we allow them to fight for us or not — or we shall be baffled and re- 
pelled. As one of the millions who would gladly have avoided this 
struggle at any sacrifice but that of principle and honor, but who now 
feel that the triumph of the Union is indispensable not only to the 
existence of our country, but to the well-being of mankind, 1 entreat 
you to render a hearty and unequivocal obedience to the law of the land. 

'■ Yours, 

" HoRACic Greeley." ' 



'Greeley, vol. ii. pp. 249, 250. 



254 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

It was an open letter. Mr. Greeley had evidently lost sight of 
his economic theoi ies as applied to slavery in the abstract, and 
now, as a practical philosopher, caught hold of the question by 
the handle. Mr. Lincoln replied within a few days, but was still 
joined to his abstract theories of constitutional law. He loved 
the Union, and all he should do for the slave should be done to 
help the Union, not the slave. He was not desirous of saving or 
destroying slavery. But certainly he had spoken more wisely 
than he knew when he had asserted, a few years before, that " a 
nation half free and half slave, could not long exist." That was 
an indestructible truth. Had he adhered to that doctrine the 
way would have been easier. In every thing he consulted the 
Constitution. His letter is interesting reading. 

" Executive Mansion, Washington, \ 

" August 22, 1S62. j 

" Hon. Horace Greeley : 

^''Dcar Sir : I have just read yours of the 19th instant, addressed to 
myself through the New York Tribune. 

" If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I 
may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them. 

" If there be any inferences which I may beHeve to be falsely drawn, 
I do not now and here argue against them. 

" If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I 
waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always sup- 
posed to be right. 

" As to the policy ' I seem to be pursuing,' as you say, I have not 
meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would 
save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. 

" The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the 
Union will be the Union as it was. 

" If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could 
at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. 

" If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could 
at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. 

" My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or 
destroy slavery. 

" If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it ; 
if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could 
do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. 

" What I do about slavery and the Colored race, I do because I 
believe it helps to save this Union ; and what I forbear, . I forbear be- 
cause I do not believe it would help to save the Union. 



'V/ WHITE MAN'S WAR:' 255 

" 1 shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the 
cause ; and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the 
cause. 

" I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors ; and I shall 
adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. 

" I have here stated my purpose according to my views of official 
duty ; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish 
that all men everywhere could be free. 

" Yours, 

" A. Lincoln." ' 

But there were few men among the general officers of the 
army who cither reached the conclusion by their own judgment, 
or were aided by the action of General Butler, tliat it was their 
duty to confiscate all the property of the enemy. Acting upon 
tlie plainest principle of military law, Major-General John C. 
I-'remont, commanding the Department of the Missouri, or the 
Union forces in that State, issued the following proclamation : 

"Headquarters of the Western Dep't, ) 
"St. Louis, August 31st. \ 

" Circumstances, in my judgment, of sufficient urgency, render it 
necessary that the Commanding C.eneral of this Department should 
assume the administrative power of the State. Its disorganized condi- 
tion, the helplessness of the civil authority, the total insecurity of life, 
and the devastation of property by bands of murderers and marauders, 
who infest nearly every county in the State, and avail themselves of the 
public misfortunes and the vicinity of a hostile force to gratify private 
and neighborhood vengeance, and who find an enemy wherever they 
find jjlunder, finally demand the severest measures to repress the daily 
increasing crimes and outrages which are driving off the inhabitants and 
ruining the State. In this condition, the public safety and the success 
of our arms require unity of purpose, without let or hindrance to the 
prompt adininistration of affairs. 

'' In order, therefore, to suppress disorders, to maintain, as far as 
now practicable, the public peace, and to give security and jirotection 
to the persons and property of loyal citizens, I do hereby extend and 
declare established martial law throughout the Stale of Missouri. The 
lines of the army of occupation in this Slate are, for the present, de- 
clared to extend from Leavenworth, by way of the posts of Jefferson 
City, Rolla, and Ironton, to Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi River. 

' Greeley, vol. ii. p. 250. 



256 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

All persons who shall be taken with arms in their hands, within these 
lines, shall be tried 1 y Court Martial, and, if found guiltv, will be shot. 
The proi)erty, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri 
who shall take up arms against the United States, or shall be directly 
proven to have taken active part with their enemies in the field, is de- 
clared to be confiscated to the public use ; and their slaves, if any they 
have, are hereby declared free men. 

" All y)ersons who shall be proven to have destroyed, after the publi- 
cation of this order, railroad tracks, bridges, or telegraphs, shall suffer 
the extreme penalty of th.e law. 

" All persons engaged in treasonable correspondence, in giving or 
procuring aid to the enemies of the United States, in disturbing the 
public tranquillity by creating and circulating false reports or incendiary 
documents, are in their own interest warned that they are exposing 
themselves. 

" All persons who have been led away from their allegiance are re- 
quired to return to their homes forthwith ; any such absence, without 
sufficient cause, will be held to be presum])tive evidence against them. 

" The object of this declaration is to place in the hands of the 
military authorities the power to give instantaneous effect to existing 
laws, and to supply such deficiencies as the conditions of war demand. 
But it is not intended to suspend the ordinary tribunals of the country, 
where the law will be administered by the civil officers in the usual 
manner and with their customary authority, while the same can be 
peaceably exercised. 

" The Commanding General will labor vigilantly for the public 
welfare, and, in his efforts for their safety, hopes to obtain not only the 
acquiescence, but the active support, of the people of the country. 

" J. C. Fremont, Major-Gcn. Com." ' 

This magnificent order thrilled the loyal hearts of the North 
with joy; but the President, still halting and hesitating, requested 
a modification of the order so far as it related to the liberation of 
slaves. This Gen. Fremont declined to do unless ordered to do 
so by his superior. Accordingly the President wrote him as fol- 
lows : 

" W.'VSHINGTON, D. C, Sept. II, 1861. 

" Major-Gen. John C. Fremont : 

'^ Sir : — Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of the 2d inst., is just 
received. .'Assured that you, upon the ground, could better judge of 
the necessities of your position than I could at this distance, on seeing 

' Greeley, vol. i, p. 5S5. 



"A WHITE MA.X'S WAJir 257 

your proclamation of August jotli, I ])crc:fivcd no general objection 
to it ; the particular clause, however, in relation to the confiscation 
of property and the liberation of slaves, ajipeared to me to be objec- 
tionable in its non-conformity to the Act of Congress, passed the 6th 
of last August, upon the same subjects ; and lieuce I wrote you, cx- 
jjressing my wish that that clause should be modified accordingly. 
Your answer, just received, expresses the preference on your part that 
I should make an open order for the modification, whicii I very cheer- 
fully dt). It is, therefore, ordered tliat the said clause of said proclama- 
tion l)e so modified, held, and construed, as to conform with, and not 
to transcend, the provisions on the same subject contained in the Act 
of Congress entitled ' An Act to Confiscate Property Used for Insur- 
rectionary Purposes," approved August 6, 1S61; and that tlie said act be 
published at length with this order. 

■' Your obedient servant, 

'■ A. Lincoln." ' 

Gen. Fremont's removal followed speedily. He was in ad- 
vance of the slow coach at Washington, and was sent where he 
could do no harm to the enemy of the country, by emancipating 
Negroes. It seems as if there were nothing else left for Gen. 
Fremont to do but to free the slaves in his military district. 
They were the bone and sinew of Confederate resistance. It was 
to weaken the enenu' that the general struck down this peculiar 
species of property, upon which the enemy of the coiintr_\- relied 
so entirely. 

Major-Gen. David Hunter assumed command at Hilton Head, 
South Carolina, on the 31st of March, 1S62. On the 9th of May 
he issued the following " General Order : " 

" HEAliQt'ARTERS Dep't OF THL SoUTH, ) 

"Hilton Head, S. C, May 9, 1S62. j 
" General Order, No. 1 1 . 

" The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, com- 
prising the Military Dejiartment of the South, having deliberately de- 
clared themselves no longer under the United States of .-Vnierica, and 
having taken up arms against the United States, it becomes a military 
necessity to declare them under martial law. 

" This was accordingly done on the 25th day of Ajiril, 18C2. Sla- 
very and martial law in a free country are altogether incom[)atible. The 
persons in these .States — Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina — hereto- 
fore liehi as slaves, are therefore declared forever free." ' 

' Greeley, vol. ii. pp. 239, 240. 
^Greeley, vol. ii. ji. 246. 



258 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

But the President, in ten days after its publication, rescinded 
the order of General Hunter, in the following Proclamation: 

" And loliercas. The same [Hunter's proclamation] is producing some 
excitement and misunderstanding, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- 
dent of the United States, proclaim and declare that the Government of 
the United States had no knowledge or belief of an intention on the part 
of Gen. Hunter to issue such a proclamation, nor has it yet any authentic 
information that the document is genuine : and, further, that neither Gen. 
Hunter nor any other commander or person have been authorized by the 
Government of the United States to make proclamation declaring the 
slaves of any State free ; and that tlie supposed proclamation now in 
cjuestion, whether genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects 
such declaration. I further make known that, whether it be competent 
for me, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to declare the 
slaves of any State or States free ; and whether at any time, or in any 
case, it shall have become a necessity indispensable to the maintenance 
of the Government to exercise such supposed power, are questions which, 
under my responsibility, I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel 
justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field. 

'■ Those are totally different questions from those of police regula- 
tions in armies or in camps. 

" On the sixth day of March last, by a special Message, I recom- 
mended to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution, to be substantially 
as follows : 

" ' Resolvi-d, That the United States ought to cooperate with any 
State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such Stats 
pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate 
for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of 
system.' 

" The resolution, in the language above quoted, was adopted by 
large majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands an 
authentic, definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and 
people most interested in the subject-matter. To the people of these 
States now I mostly appeal. I do not argue — I beseech you to make 
the arguments for yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to 
the signs of the times. 

" I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, 
if it may be, far above partisan and personal politics. 

" This proposal makes common cause for a common object, casting 
no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The change it con- 
templates would come gently as the dews of Heaven, not rending or 
wrecking any thing. Will you not embrace it ? So much good has not 
been done by one effort in all past time, as. in the Providence of God, 



"J WHITE MAN'S WAR." 259 

it is now your high privilege to do. May the vast future not have to 
lament that you have neglected it ! 

" In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of tlie United States to be hereunto affixed. 

" Done at the city of Washington this igth day of May, in the year 
of our Lord 1862, and of the independence of the United 
States the eighty-sixth. 

" (Signed) Abr.miam Lincoln. 

" By the President : 
'MV. H. Seward, Secretary of State." 

The conservative policy of the President greatly discouraged 
the friends of the Union, who felt that a vigorous prosecution of 
the war was the only hope of the nation. Slavery and the Union 
had joined in a terrible struggle for the supremacy. Both could 
not exist. Our treasury was empty; our bonds depreciated; our 
credit poor; our industries languishing; and the channels of 
commerce were choked. Kuropean governments were growing 
impatient at the dilatory policy of our nation; and everyday we 
were losing sj'mpathy and friends. Our armies were being re- 
pulsed and routed; and Columbia's war eagles were wearily flap- 
ping their pinions in the blood-dampened dust of a nerveless 
nation. But the Negro was still on the outside, — it was "a 
white man's war." 



26o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE NEGRO ON FATIGUE DUTY. 

Negroes employed as Teamsters and in the Quartermaster's Department. — General 
Mercer's Order to the Slave-holders issued from Savannah.— He receives Orders 
FRO.M the Secretary of War to impress a Number of Negroes to ulild Fortifications. 
— The Negro proves himself Industrious and earns Promotion, 

THE light began to break through the dark cloud of preju- 
dice in tlie minds of the friends of the Union. If a Negro 
were useful in building rebel fortifications, wh}' not in 
casting up defences for the Union army? Succeeding Gen. But- 
ler in command at Fortress Monroe, on the 14th of October, 1861, 
Major-Gen. Wool issued an order, directing that "all colored 
persons called contrabands," employed by officers or others 
within his command, must be furnished with subsistence by their 
employers, and paid, if males, not less than four dollars per month, 
and that "all able-bodied colored persons, not employed as afore, 
said," will be immediately put to work in the Engineer's or the 
Quartermaster's Department. On the 1st of November, Gen. 
Wool directed that the compensation of " contrabands " working 
for the government should be five to ten dollars per month, with 
soldier's rations. These Negroes rendered valuable service in 
the sphere they were called upon to fill. 

In the Western army. Gen. James B. Steedman was the first 
man to suggest the idea of employing Negroes as teamsters. He 
saw that every Negro who drove a team of mules gave to the army 
one more white soldier with a musket in his hands; and so with 
the sympathy and approval of the gallant Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, 
Gen. Steedman jnit eight)' Negroes into uniforms, and turned them 
over to an experienced white " wagon-master." The Negroes 
made excellent teamsters, and the plan was adopted quite generally. 

In September, 1862, an order from Washington directed the 
employment of fifty thousand Negro laborers in the Quarter- 
master's Department, under Generals Hunter and Saxton ! This 
showed that the authorities at Washington had begun to get 



THE NEGRO ON EATIGUE DUTY. 261 

their eyes open on tin's question. "And while speaking of the 
negroes," wrote a " Times " correspondent, in 1S62, from Hilton 
Head, " let me present a few statistics obtained from an official 
source, respecting the success which has crowned the experiment 
of employing them as free paid laborers upon tiie plantations. 
The population of tlic Division (includiiTg Port Royal, St. 
Helena and Ladies' islands, with the smaller ones thereto, adja- 
cent, but excluding Hilton Head and its surroundings) is as fol- 
lows : 

" Effective 3.8 '7 

"Non-effective . . , . . , .3,110 



IS : 



"Total 6,927 

" The number of acres under cultivation on the same islands, 

" Of Corn ........ 6,444 

" Of Cotton 3,384 

"Of Potatoes 1,407 

" A little calculation will show that the negroes have raised 
enough corn and potatoes to support themselves, besides a crop 
of cotton (now ripe) somewhat smaller than in former years, but 
still of very considerable value to the Government."' 

Gen. Mercer issued the following order at Savannah, Georgia, 
which shows that the rebels did not despise the fatigue services 
of Negroes : 

"C. S. Enginker's Okkick, | 
"Savannah, Ga., Aug. i, 1863. ) 

" The Brigadier-General Commanding desires to inform the slave- 
holders of Georgia that he has received authority from tlic Secretary of 
War to impress a number of negroes sufficient to construct sucli addi- 
tional fortifications as are necessary for the defence of Savannah. 

" He desires, if possible, to avoid the necessity of impressment, and 
tlierefore urges the owners of sku'e property lO volunteer the services 
of their negroes. He helievus that, while the jjlanters of Soutli Caro- 
lina are sending their slaves by tliousands to aid tiie defence of Charles- 
ton, the slave-holders of Georgia will not be backward in contributing 
in the same patriotic manner to tlie defence of tiieir own seaport, which 
lias so far resisted successfully all the attacks of the enemy at Fort 
McAllister and other points. 

" Remember, citizens of Georgia, that on the successful defence of 
Georgia depends the security of the interior of ■ ■- State, where so 



'Times, Sept. 4, 1862 



262 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

much of value both to yourselves and to the Confederacy at large is 
concentrated. It is best to meet the enemy at the threshold, and to 
hurl back the first wave of invasion. Once the breach is made, all the 
horrors of war must desolate your now peaceful and quiet homes. Let 
no man deceive himself. If Savannah falls the fault will be yours, and 
your own neglect will have brought the sword to your hearth-stones. 

■' The Brigadier-General Commanding, therefore, calls on all the 
slave-holders of Eastern, Southern, and Southwestern Georgia, but espe- 
cially those in the neighborhood of Savannah, to send him immediately 
one fifth of their able-bodied male slaves, for whom transportation will 
be furnished and wages paid at the rate of twenty-five dollars per 
month, the Government to be responsible for the value of such Negroes 
as may be killed by the enemy, or may in any manner fall into his 
hands. By order of 

" Brig. -Gen. Mercer, Commanding. 
" John Mc Crady, 

" Captain and Chief Engineer, State of Georgia." ' 

Negroes built most of the fortifications and earth-works for 
Gen. Grant in front of Vicksburg. The works in and about Nash- 
ville were cast up by the strong arm and willing hand of the loyal 
Blacks. Dutch Gap was dug by Negroes, and miles of earth- 
works, fortifications, and corduroy-roads were made by Negroes. 
They did fatigue duty in every department of the Union army. 
Wherever a Negro appeared with a shovel in his hand, a white 
soldier took his gun and returned to the ranks. There were 
200,000 Negroes in the camps and employ of the Union armies, 
as servants, teamsters, cooks, and laborers. What a mighty host! 
Suppose the sentiment that early met the Negro on the picket 
lines and turned him back to the enemy had continued, 50,000 
white soldiers would have been required in the Engineer's and 
Quartermaster's Department; while 25,000 white men would 
have been required for various other purposes, outside of the 
ranks of the army. 

A narrow prejudice among some of the white troops, upon 
whose pedigree it would not be pleasant to dwell, met the Negro 
teamster, with a blue coat and buttons with eagles on them, with 
a growl. They disliked to see the Negro wearing a Union uni- 
form ; — it looked too much like equality. 

But in his lowly station as a hewer of wood and a drawer of 
water, the Negro proved himself industrious, trustworthy, efificient, 
and cheerful. He earned promotion, and in due time secured it. 

' Rebellion Recs. , vol, vii. Doc, p. 479, 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 263 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE EMANCII'AIION I'KOCLAMATIONS. 

GONGRKSS VASSnS AN ACT TO CONFISCATE PkOI'KRTV URED FOR InSUHRECTIONAKY Pl'KrOSES. — A 

Fruitless Appeal to the President to issue an Emancipation Proclamation. — Hk 
thinks the time not vet come for such an action, but within a few wheks changes 
HIS Opinion and issues an Emancipation Proclamation. — The REliEiJi snow no Disposi- 
tion TO accept the Mll.D Tf.K.MS OF THE PROCLAMATION. — Mk. DaVIS GIVES AtTESTIO.N TO 

THE Proclamation in his Third Annual Mi-ssa(;e. — Second Emancipation PROCLAM.\TldN 
ISSUED uv President Lincoln January i, 1863. — The Proclamation i.mparts New Hope 
TO THF. Negro. 

THE position taken by General Butler on the question of 
receiving into the Federal lines the slaves of persons who 
were in rebellion as^ainst the National Government, and 
who were liable to be used in service ai^ainst the government 
by their owners, had its due influence in Washington. But all 
the general officers did not share in the views of General Butler. 
As many as twenty Union generals still had it in their minds 
that it was the duty of the army " to catch run-away slaves" ; 
and they afforded rebels every facility to search their camps. 
They arrested fugitive Negroes and held them subject to the 
order of their masters. Congress was not long in seeing the 
suicidal tendency of such a policy, and on the 6th of August, 1861, 
passed "An Act to Confiscate Property Used for Insurrectionary 
Purposes." Notwithstanding this act, General McClellan and 
other officers still clung to the obsolete doctrine of " the sacred- 
ness of slave property." His conduct finally called forth the 
following letter from the Secretary of State : 



'Contrabands in Distrkt oi' Colump.ia. 



" Department of ota 
"Washin(;ton Citv, Dcccmbe 



;r 4, 1861. ) 



"Ji? Major- General George P. MeCh/lan, Washington : 

"General : I am directed by the President to call your attention 
to the following subject : 



264 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Persons claimed to be held to service or labor under the laws of 
the State of Virginia, and actually employed in hostile service against the 
Government of the United States, frequently escape from the lines of 
the enemy's forces and are received within the lines of the Army of the 
Potomac. This Department understands that such persons, afterward 
coming into the city of Washington, are liable to be arrested by the city 
police, upon presumption, arising from color, that they are fugitives 
from service or labor. 

"By the fourth section of the act of Congress, approved August 6, 
i86i, entitled 'An Act to Confiscate Property Used for Insurrectionary 
Purposes,' such hostile employment is made a full and sufficient answer 
to any further claim to service or labor. Persons thus employed and 
escaping are received into the military protection of the United States, 
and their arrest as fugitives from service or labor should be immediately 
followed by the military arrest of the parties making the seizure. 

" Copies of this communication will be sent to the Mayor of the City 
of Washington and to the Marshal of the District of Columbia, that any 
collision between the civil and military authorities may be avoided. 
"I am, General, your very obedient, 

" Wm. H. Sewarix" 

It was now 1862. The dark war clouds were growing thicker. 
The Union army had won but few victories ; our troops had to 
fight a tropical climate, the forces of nature, and an arrogant, 
jubilant, and victorious enemy. Autumn had come but nothing 
had been accomplished. The friends of the Union who favored 
a speed)' and vigorous prosecution of the war, besieged the Presi- 
dent with letters, memorials, and addresses to " do something." 
But intrenched behind his " constitutional views " of how the 
war should be managed he heard all, but would not yield. On 
tlie 13th of September, 1862, a deputation of gentlemen, repre- 
senting the various Protestant denominations of Chicago, called 
upon the President and urged him to adopt a vigorous policy of 
emancipation as the only way to save the Union ; but he denied 
the request. He said : 

" The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. For in- 
stance : the other day, four gentlemen of standing and intelligence 
from New York called as a delegation on business connected with the 
war ; but before leaving two of them earnestly besought me to proclaim 
general Emancipation; upon which the other two at once attacked them. 
You know also that the last session of Congress had a decided majority 
of anti-slavery men, yet they could not unite on this policy. And the 



THE EMANCIPATIOX PROCLAMATIONS. 265 

same is true of the religious people. Why, the Rebel soldiers are pray- 
ing with a great deal more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, and 
expecting God to favor their side: for one of our soldiers, who had been 
taken prisoner, told Senator Wilson a few days since that he met noth- 
ing so discouraging as the evident sincerity of those he was among in 
their prayers. But we will talk over the merits of the case. 

" What good would a proclamation of Emancipation from me do, 
especially as we are now situated ? I do not want to issue a document 
that the whole world will sec must necessarily be inoperative, like the 
Pope's bull against the comet. Would my word free the slaves, when I 
cannot even enforce the (Constitution in the Rebel States? Is there a 
single court, or magistrate, or individual, that would be influenced by 
it there? And what reason is there to think it would have any greater 
effect u[)on the slaves than the late law of Congress, which I a[)proved, 
and which offers protection and freedom to the slaves of rebel masters 
who come within our lines ? Yet I cannot learn tliat that law has 
caused a single slave to come over to us. And, suppose they could be 
induced by a proclamation of freedom from me to throw themselves 
upon us, what should we do with them ' How can we feed and care 
for such a multitude ? (^en. Butler wrote me a few days since that he 
was isstiing more rations to the slaves who have rushed to him than to 
all the White troops under his command. They eat, and that is all ; 
though it is true Gen. Butler is feeding the Whites also by the thousand; 
for it nearly amounts to a famine there. If, now, the pressure of the 
war should call off our forces from New Orleans to defend some other 
point, what is to prevent the masters from reducing the Blacks to 
Slavery again : for I am told that whenever the rebels take any Black 
l)risoners, free or slave, they immediately auction them off ! They did 
so with those they took from a boat that was aground in the Tennessee 
river a few days ago. And then I am very ungenerously attacked for 
it ! For instance, when, after the late battles at and near Bull Run, an 
expedition went out from Washington, under a flag of truce, to bury 
the dead and bring in the wounded, and the Rebels seized the Blacks 
who went along to help, and sent them into Slavery, Horace Greeley said 
in his paper that the Government would probably do nothing about it. 
What could I do ? 

" Now, then, tell me, if you please, what possible result of good 
would follow the issuing of such a proclamation as you desire ? Under- 
stand : I raise no objection against it on legal or constitutional grounds ; 
for, as Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy in time of war. I sup- 
pose I have a right to take any measure which may best subdue the 
enemy ; nor do I urge objections of a moral nature, in view of possible 
consequences of insurrection and massacre at the South. I view this 
matter as a practical war measure, to be decided on according to the 



266 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

advantages or disadvantages it may offer to the suppression of the Re- 
bellion." 

Not discouraged, the deputation urged in answer to his con- 
servative views, that a policy of emancipation would strengthen 
the cause of the Union in Europe, and place the government 
upon high humane grounds, where it could boldly and confidently 
appeal to Almighty God in an honest attempt to save His poor 
children from the degrading curse of American slavery. But 
the President replied : 

" I admit that Slavery is at the root of the Rebellion, or at least its sine 
qiid non. The ambition of politicians may have instigated them to act ; 
they would have been impotent without Slavery as their instrument. I 
will also concede that Emancipation would help us in Europe, and 
convince them that we are incited by something more than ambition. 
I grant, further, that it would help somewhat at the North, though not 
so much, I fear, as you and those you represent imagine. Still, some 
additional strength would be added in that way to the war; and then, 
unquestionably, it would weaken the Rebels by drawing off their labor- 
ers, which is of great importance ; but I am not so sure we could do 
much with the Blacks. If we were to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks 
the arms would be in the hands of the Rebels ; and, indeed, thus far, 
we have not had arms enough to equip our White troo[)s. I will men- 
tion another thing, though it meet only your scorn and contempt. There 
are fifty thousand bayonets in the Union army from the Border Slave 
States. It would be a serious matter if, in consequence of a proclama- 
tion such as you desire, they should go over to the Rebels. I do not 
think they all would — not so many, indeed, as a year ago, or as six 
months ago — not so many to-day as yesterday. Every day increases 
their Union feeling. They are also getting their pride enlisted, and 
want to beat the Rebels. Let me say one thing more : I think you 
should admit that we already have an important principle to rally and 
unite the people, in the fact that constitutional government is at stake. 
This is a fundamental idea, going down about as deep as anything." ' 

But there were millions of prayers ascending to the God of 
Battles daily that the President might have the courage and dis- 
position to pursue a course required by the lamentable condition 
of the Union. And just nine days from the time he thought a 
proclamation not warranted and impracticable, he issued the fol- 
lowing: 

■ Greeley, vol. ii. pp. :5i, 252. 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCIAMATIONS. 267 

" I, AnuAHAM Lincoln, President of the L'nitcd States of America, 
and Commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby 
proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be 
prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional re- 
lation between the United States and each of the States, and the people 
thereof, in which States that relation is or may be suspended or dis- 
turbed. 

"That it is my purjiose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again 
recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid 
to the free acceptance or rejection of all Slave States, so called, the peo- 
ple whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and 
which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may 
voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of Slavery within 
their respective limits ; and that the effort to colonize persons of 
African descent, with their consent, upon this continent or elsewhere, 
with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, 
will be continued. 

That, on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
sand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within 
any State, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall 
then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thencefor- 
ward, and forever tree ; and the Executive Government of the United 
States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize 
and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to 
repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for 
their actual freedom. 

" That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by 
proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which 
the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the 
United States ; and the fact that any Stale, or the peojile thereof, shall 
on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United 
States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the 
qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the ab- 
sence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence 
that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against 
the United States. 

"That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled 'An 
Act to make an additional Article of War,' approved March 13th, 1S62 ; 
and which act is in the words and figures following : 

" ' Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That hereafter the fol- 
lowing shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the gov- 
ernment of the Army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and ob- 
served as such : 



208 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" ' Secti(5N I. All officers or persons in the military or naval ser- 
vice of the United States are jjrohibited from employing any of the 
forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning 
fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons 
to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due ; and any officer 
who shall be found guilty of a court-martial of violating this article 
shall be dismissed from the service. 

SiiC. 2. And he it further enacted, That this act shall take effect 
from and. after its passage.' 

"Also, to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled 'An Act 
to Suppress Insurrection, to Punish Treason and Rebellion, to Seize 
and Confiscate Property of Rebels, and for other Purposes,' approved 
July 16, 1862 ; and which sections are in the words and figures follow- 
ing: 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted. That all slaves of persons who 
shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the 
United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, 
escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the 
army ; and all slaves ca])tured from such persons, or deserted by them 
and coining under the control of the Government of the United States ; 
and all slaves of such persons found pii [or] being within any place oc- 
cupied by Rel)cl forces and afterward occupied by forces of the United 
States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of 
their servitude, and not again held as slaves. 

" ' Sec. jo. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any 
State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall 
be delivered u]), or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, ex- 
cept for crime, or some offense against the laws, unless the person 
claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to 
whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his 
lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the 
present Rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and 
no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States 
shall, under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of 
the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or 
surrender uj) any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dis- 
missed from the service.' 

"And 1 do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the 
military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and 
enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections 
above recited. 

"And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of 
the United States, who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the 
Rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation be- 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 269 

twecn the United States and their respective States and peo|jlc, if tiiat 
relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated for 
all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. 

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

" Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-second day of 
r _ n SeiJtember, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United 
States the eighty-seventh. 

"AliKAllAM LiN'COLN. 

" By the President : 
'"William H. Seward, Secretary of State." 

Rut why this change in the views of the President ? History, 
thus far, is left to conjecture. It was hinted that our embassa- 
dors in Western Europe had apprised the State Department at 
Washington that an early recognition of the Southern Confed- 
eracy was possible, even probable. It was also stated that he 
was waiting for the issue at the battle of Antietam, which was 
fought on the 17th — five days before the proclamation was issued. 
But neither explanation stands in the light of the positive and 
explicit language of the President on the 13th of .Sejilember. 
However, he issued the proclamation, — the Diving Being inay 
have opened his eyes to see the angel that was to turn him aside 
from the tlestruction that awaiteil the Union that he sought to 
save with slavery preserved ! 

The sentiiTient of the people upon the wisdom of the procla- 
mation was expressed in the October elections. New York', 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois went 
democratic ; while the supporters of the Administration fell off in 
Michigan and other Western States. In the Congress of I S60 
there were 78 Republicans and ^i"/ Democrats; in 1862 there 
were 57 Administration representatives, and 67 in the Oppo- 
sition. 

The army did not take kindly to the proclamation. It was 
charged that " the war for the Union was changed into a war 
for the Negro." Some officers resigned, while many others said 
that if they tJiought they wer* fighting to free the " niggers" 
they would resign. This sentiment was contagious. It found 
its way into the rank and file of the troops, and did no little 
harm. The following telegrain showj that the rebels were 
angered not a little at the President: 



270 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Charleston, S. C, Oct. 13, 1862. ' 
" Hon. Wm. p. Miles, Richmond, Va. : 

" Has the bill for the execution of Abolition prisoners, after Janu- 
ary next, been passed ? Do it ; and England will be stirred into action. 
It is higli time to proclaim the black flag after that period. Let the 
execution be with the garrote. 

■' (Signed) G. T. Beauregard." 

But the proclamation was a harmless measure. First, it 
declared that the object of the war was to restore " the consti- 
tutional relation between the United States and each of the 
States." After nearly two years of disastrous war Mr. Lincoln 
declares the object of the war. Certainly no loyal man had ever 
entertained any other idea than the one expressed in the proc- 
lamation. It was not a war on the part of the United States to 
destroy her children, nor to disturb her own constitutional, com- 
prehensive unity. It must have been understood, then, from the 
commencement, that the war begun by the seceding States was 
waged on the part of the United States to preserve the Union of 
the States, and restore them to their " constitutional relation." 

Second, the proclamation implored the slave States to accept 
(certainly in the spirit of compromise) a proposition from the 
United States to emancipate their slaves for 2. pecuniary consider- 
ation, and, by their gracious consent, assist in colonizing loyal 
Negroes in this country or in Africa ! 

Third, the measure proposed to free slaves of persons and 
States in rebellion against the lawful authority of the United 
States Government on the first day of January, 1863. Nothing 
more difficult could have been undertaken than to free only the 
slaves of persons and States in actual rebellion against the 
Government of the United States. Persons in actual rebellion 
would be most likel)' to have immediate oversight of this species 
of their property; and the owners of slaves in the States in 
actual rebellion against the United States Government would 
doubtless be as thoroughly prepared to take care of slave prop- 
erty as the muskets in their rebellious hands. 

Fourth, this emancipation proclamation (?) proposed to pay 
out of the United States Treasury, — for all slaves of loyal 
masters lost in a rebellion begun by slave-holders and carried on 
by slave-holders ! 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 271 

Under the condition of affairs no emancipation proclamation 
was necessary. Treason against the United States is " levying 
war against them." or " adhering to their enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort." The rebel States were guilty of treason ; and 
from the moment Sumter was fired upon, every slave in the 
Confederate States was ipso facto free ! 

But it was an occasion for rejoicing. The President had 
taken a step in the right direction, and, thank God ! he never 
retraced it. 

A severe winter had set in. The rebels had shown the kind- 
hearted President no disposition to accept the miUl terms of his 
proclamation. On the contrary, it was received with gnashing of 
teeth and bitter imprecations. On the I2tli of Januar)-, 1863, 
the titular President of the Confederate States, in his third 
Annual Message, gave attention to the proclamation of the 
President of the United States. Mr. Davis said: 

" It has established a state of things which can lead to but one of 
three possible consequences — the extermination of the slaves, the exile 
of the whole white population of the Confederacy, or absolute and total 
separation of these States from the United States. This ])roclamation 
is also an authentic statement by the Government of the United States 
of its inability to subjugate the South by force of arms, and, as such, 
must be accepted by neutral nations, which can no longer find any 
justification in withholding our just claims to formal recognition. It is 
also, in effect, an intimation to the people of the North that they must 
prepare to submit to a separation now become inevitable ; for that 
people are loo acute not to understand tliat a restitution of the Union 
has been rendered forever impossible by the adoption of a measure 
which, from its very nature, neither admits of retraction nor can coexist 
with union. 

■ ••-*•• 

" We may well leave it to the instincts of that common humanity 
which a beneficent Creator has implanted in the breasts of our fellow- 
men of all countries to pass judgment on a measure by which several 
millions of human beings of an inferior race — jjcaceful and contented 
laborers in their sphere — are doomed to extermination, while at the 
same time they are encouraged to a general assassination of their mas- 
ters by the insidious recommendation to abstain from violence unless in 
necessary self-defense. Our own detestation of those who have at- 
tempted the most execrable measures recorded in the history of guilty 
man .is tempered by profound contempt for the impotent rage which it 



272 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 

discloses. So far as regards the action of this Government on such 
criminals as may attempt its execution, I confine myself to informing 
vou that I shall — unless in your wisdom you deem some other course 
more expedient — deliver to the several State authorities all commis- 
sioned officers of the United States that may hereafter be captured by 
our forces in any of the States embraced in the proclamation, that they 
may be dealt with in accordance with the laws of those States providing 
for the punishment of criminals engaged in exciting servile insurrection. 
The enlisted soldiers I shall continue to treat as unwilling instruments 
in the commission of these crimes, and shall direct their discharge and 
return to their homes on the proper and usual [jarole." 

And although the President and his supporters had not 
reaped the blessings their hopes had sown, they were, neverthe- 
less, not without hope. For when the sober second thought of 
the nation took the place of prejudice and undue excitement, 
the proclanuition had more friends. And so, in keeping with his 
promise, the President issued the following proclamation on the 
first of January, 1863. 

" IlVirn-.a, on the 2 2d day of September, in the year of our Lord 
1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, 
containing, among other things, the following, to wit: 

" ' That on the ist day of January, in the year of our Lord 1863, all 
persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, 
the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, 
shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Executive 
Government of the United States, including the military and naval 
authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such per- 
sons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persors, or any of them, 
in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 

" ' That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by 
proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, m which 
the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the 
United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall 
on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United 
States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of 
the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the 
absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evi- 
dence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion 
against the LTnited States.' 

"Now, therefore, L Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Comniander-in-Chi%f of 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 273 

the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebel- 
lion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as 
a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on 
this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and sixty-tiiree, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, 
publicly proclaimed for the full jieriod of one hundred days from the 
day first above mentioned, order ami designate as the States and parts 
of States wherein, the people thereof respectively are this day in rebel- 
lion against the United States, the following, to wit : 

" Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, 
Plaquemine, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Or- 
leans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, 
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except 
the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the coun- 
ties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess 
Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), 
and which excepted parts are, for the present, left jjrecisely as if this 
proclamation were not issued. 

"And, by virtue of the power and for the [nirpose aforesaid, I do or- 
der and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated 
States and parts of States, are and henceforward shall be free ; and that 
the Executive Government of the United States, including the military 
and na\al authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom 
of said jiersons. 

" And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to ab- 
stain from all violence, unless in neces.sary self-defense ; and I recom- 
mend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for 
reasonable wages. 

" And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suit- 
able condition, will be received into the armed service of the United 
States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man 
vessels of all sorts in said service. 

" And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, war- 
ranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the consid- 
erate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. 

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

"Done at the City of Washington, this ist day of January, in the 
[l. s.] year of our Lord 1863, and of the independence of the Unit- 
ed States the 87th. 

" By the President : Abraham Lincoln. 

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State." 



274 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Even this proclamation — not a measure of humanity — to save 
the Union, not the slave — left slaves in many counties and 
States at the South. It was a war measure, pure and simple. 
It was a blow aimed at the most vulnerable part of the Confed- 
eracy. It was destroying its corner-stone, and the ponderous fab- 
ric was doomed to a speedy and complete destruction. It dis- 
covered that the strength of this Sampson of rebellion lay in its 
vast slave population. To the slave the proclamation came as 
the song of the rejoicing angels to the shepherds upon the plains 
of Bethlehem. It was like music at night, mellowed by the dis- 
tance, that rouses slumbering hopes, gives wings to fancy, and 
peoples the brain with blissful thoughts. The notes of freedom 
came careering to them across the red, billowy waves of battle 
and thrilled their souls with ecstatic peace. Old men who, like 
Samuel the prophet, believing the ark of God in the hands of 
the Philistines, and were ready to give up the ghost, felt that it 
was just the time to begin to live. Husbands were transported 
with the thought of gathering to their bosoms the wife that had 
been sold to the" nigger traders "; mothers swooned under the ten- 
der touch of the thought of holding in loving embrace the chil- 
dren who pined for their care ; and young men and maidens 
could only " think thanksgiving and weep gladness." 

The slave-holder saw in this proclamation the handwriting 
upon the walls of the institution of slavery. The brightness and 
revelry of his banqueting halls were to be succeeded by gloom 
and sorrow. His riches, consisting in human beings, were to dis- 
appear under the magic touch of the instrument of freedom. 
The chattel was to be transformed into a person, the person into 
a soldier, the soldier into a citizen — and thus the Negro slave, 
like the crawling caterpillar, was to leave his grovelling situa- 
tion, and in new form, wing himself to the sublime heights of 
free American citizenship ! 

The Negroes had a marvellous facility of communicating 
news to each other. The proclamation, in spite of the pre- 
cautions of the rebel authorities, took to itself wings. It 
came to the plantation of weary slaves as the glorious light 
of a new-born day. It flooded the hovels of slaves with its 
golden light and rich promise of "-forever free." Like St. 
Paul the poor slaves could exclaim : 

" In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, 
in fastings ; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS. 



-.o 



by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the 
power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on 
the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil re|)ort and good report ; as de- 
ceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, and yet well known ; as dying, and, 
behold, we live ; as chastened, and not killed ; as sorrowful, yet al- 
way rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, and 
yet possessing all things." 

And the significant name of Abraham — " father of the faith- 
ful " — was pronounced by the Negroes with blessings, and min- 
gled in their songs of praise. 



276 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 

The Question of the Employment of Negroes. — The Rebels take the First Step towaku 

THE MiLlTAKV EMPLOYMENT OF NeGROES. — GrAND RevIEW OF THE ReBEL TrOOPS AT NeW 

Orleans. — General Huntek Arms the First Regiment of Loyal Negroes at the 
South. — Official Correspondence between the Secretary of War and General 
Hunter respecting the Enlistment of The Black Regiment. —The Enlistment of Five 
Negro Regiments authorized by the President. —The Policy of General Phelps in 
Regard to the Employment of Negroes as Soldiers in Louisiana. — A Second Call for 
Troops by the President. — An Attempt to amend thb Army Appropriation Bill so as 
TO prohibit the further Employment of Colored Troops. — Governor John A. Andrew, 
of Massachusetts, authorized by Secretary of War to ori'-anize Two Regiments of 
Colored Troops. — Genkual Lorenzo Thomas is despatched to the Mississippi Valley 
to superintend the Enlistment of Negro Soldiers in the Spring of 1S63. — An Order 
issued by the War Department in the Fall of 1863 for the Enlistment of Colored 
Troops. —The Union League Club of New York City.— Recruiting of Colored Troops 
IN Pennsylvania. — George L. Stearns assigned Charge of the Recruiting of Colored 
Troops in the Department of the Cu.mberland.— Free Military School established 
at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. — Enuorsemenp of the School by Secretary Stanton. — 
The Organization of the School. — Official Table giving Number of Colored Troops in 
THE Army. — The Character of Negro Troops. — Mr. Greeley's Editorial on "Negro 
Troops." — Letter from Judge Advocate Holt to the Secretary of War on the 
"Enlistment of Slaves."' — The Negro Legally and Constitutionally a Soldier. — 
History records his Deeds of Patriotism. 

AT no time during the first two years of the war was the 
President or the Congress willing to entertain the idea of 
employing Negroes as soldiers. It has been shown that 
the admission of loyal Negroes into the Union lines, and into the 
service of the Engineer's and Quartermaster's Department, had 
been resisted with great stubbornness by the men in the '* chief 
places." There were, however, a few men, both in and out of 
the army, who secretly believed that the Negro was needed in 
the army, and that he possessed all the elements necessary to 
make an excellent soldier. Public sentiment was so strong 
against the employment of Negroes in the armed service tliat 
few men had the courage of conviction ; few had the temerity to 
express their views publicly. In the summer of i860, — before 
the election of Abraham Lincoln, — General J. Watts De Peyster, 
of New York, wrote an article for a Hudson paper, in which he 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 277 

advocated the arming of Negroes as soldiers, should the Southern 
States declare war against the Government of the United States. 
The article was reproduced in many other papers, pronounced a 
fire-brand, and General De Peyster severely denounced for his 
advice. But he stood his ground, and when the war did come 
he gave to his country's service three gallant sons ; and from the 
first to the last was an efficient and enthusiastic supporter of the 
war for the Union. 

The rebels took the first step in the direction of the military 
employment of Negroes as soldiers. Two weeks after the firing 
upon Sumter took place, the following note appeared in the 
"Charleston Mercury": 

Several companies of the Third and Fourth Regiments of Georgia 
passed through Augusta for the expected scene of warfare — Virginia. 
Si.xteen well-drilled companies of volunteers and one negro company, 
from Nashville, Tennessee, offered their services to the Confederate 
States." ' 

In the " Memphis Avalanche *' and " Memphis Appeal of 
the 9th, loth, and nth oi May, 1861, appeared the following 
notice: 

" Attention, Volunteers : Resolved by the Committee of Safety, 
that C. Deloach, D. R. Cook, and William B. Greenlaw be authorized 
to organize a vohintter company composed of our patriotic free men of ■ 
color, of the city of Memphis, for the service of our common defence. 
All who have not enrolled their names will call at the office of W. B. 
Greenlaw & Co. " F. Titus, Fresidait. 

" F. W. FoRSYTHE, Secretary." 

On the 9th of February, 1862, the rebel troops bad a grand 
review, and the " Picayune," of New Orlean.s, contained the fol- 
lowing paragraph : 

" We must also pay a deserved compliment to the companies of free 
colored men, all very well drilled, and comfortably uniformed. Most of 
these companies, quite unaided by the administration, have supplied 
themselves with arms without regard to cost or trouble. One of these 
companies, commanded by the well-known veteran, Captain Jordan, was 
presented, a little before the parade, with a fine war-flag of the new 
style. This interesting ceremony took place at Mr. Cushing's store, on 



'Charleston Mercury, .\pril 30, 1661. 



278 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Camp, near Common Street. The presentation was made hy Mr. 
Bigney, and Jordan made, on this occasion, one of his most felicitous 
speeches." 

And on the 4th of February, 1S62, the " Baltimore Traveller" 
contained the. following paragraph : 

"Arming of Negroes at Richmond. — Contrabands who have 
recently come within the Federal lines at Wilhamsport, report that all 
the able-bodied colored men in that vicinity are being taken to Rich- 
mond, formed into regiments, and armed for the defence of that city." 

The following telegram was sent out: 

" New Orleans, Nov. 23, 1861. 
" Over twenty-eight thousand troops were reviewed to-day by Gov- 
ernor Moore, Major-General Lovell, and Brig.-General Ruggles. The 
line was over seven miles long. One regiment.comprised fourteen hun- 
dred free colored men." 

These are sufficient to show that from the earliest dawn of 
the war the rebel authorities did not frown upon the action of 
local authorities in placing arrris into the hands of free Negroes. 

The President of the United States was still opposing any at- 
tempt on the part of the supporters of the war to constrain him 
to approve of the introduction of Negroes into the army. But 
the Secretary of War, the Hon. Simon Cameron, had sent an order 
to Brig. -Gen. T. W. Sherman, directing him to accept the services 
of all loyal persons who desired to aid in the suppression of the 
Rebellion in and about Port Royal. When Gen. David Hunter 
relieved Gen. Sherman, the latter turned over to him the instruc- 
tions of the Secretary of War. There was no mention of color, 
nor was any class of persons mentioned save " loyal persons." 
Gen. Hunter was a gentleman of broad, liberal, and humane views, 
and seeing an opportunity open to employ Negroes as soldiers, 
in the spring of 1S62 directed the organization of a regiment of 
blacks. He secured the best white officers for the regiment, and 
it soon obtained a fine condition of discipline. The news of a 
Union Negro regiment in South Carolina completely surprised the 
people at Washington. On the 9th of June, 1862, Mr. Wickliffe, 
of Kentucky, introduced in the National House of Representa- 
tives a resolution of inquiry, calling upon Gen. Hunter to ex- 
plain to Congress his unprecedented conduct in arming Negroes 



EMPLO YMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 279 

to fight the battles of the Union. Mr. Stanton was now at the 
head of the War Ueparlmcnt, and the following correspondence 
took jilace : 

"GENERAL HUNTER'S NEGRO RKCIMKNT. 
" Official Correspondenck. 

" W.vK Department, June 14, 1862. 
''''Hon. G. A. Grmti, Speaker of i/ie House of Representatives : 

'■ Sir : .V resolution of the House of Representatives has been re- 
ceived, which passed the ninth instant, to the following effect : 

" ' Resolved, That the Secretary of NVar be directed to inform this 
House if Gen. Hunter, of the Department of South Carolina, has organ- 
ized a regiment of South Carolina volunteers for the defence of the 
Union, composed of black men (fugitive slaves), and apjjointed a Col- 
onel and officers to command them. 

" ' 2d. Was he authorized by the Department to organize and 
muster into the army of the United States, as soldiers, the fugitive or 
captive slaves ? 

■' ' 3d. Has he been furnished with clothing, uniforms, etc., for 
such force ? 

"'4th. Has he been furnished, by order of the Department of 
War, with arms to be placed in the hands of the slaves ? 

" ' 5th. 'I'o report any orders given said Hunter, and correspond- 
ence between him and the Department.' " 

" In answer to the foregoing resolution, I have the honor to inform 
the House : 

" ist. That this Department has no official information whether 
Gen. Hunter, of the Department of Soutii Carolina, has or has not 
organized a regiment of South Carolina volunteers for the defence of 
the Union, composed of black men, fugitive slaves, and appointed the 
Colonel and other officers to command them. In order to ascertain 
whether he has done so or not, a copy of the House resolution has 
been transmitted to Gen. Hunter, with instructions to make immediate 
report thereon. 

" 2d. Gen. Hunter was not authorized by the Department to 
organize and muster into the army of the United States the fugitive or 
captive slaves. 

" 3d. Gen. Hunter, upon his requisition as Commander of the 
South, has been furnished with clothing and arms for the force under 
his command, without instructions as to how they should be used. 

" 4th. He has not been furnished by order of the Dejiartment of 
War with arms to be placed within the hands of ' those slaves.' 



28o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" 5th. In respect to so much of said resolution as directs the 
Secretary ' to report to the House my orders given said Hunter, and 
correspondence between him and the Department,' the President in- 
structs me to answer that the report, at this time, of the orders given to 
and correspondence between Gen. Hunter and lliis Department would, 
in his opinion, be incompatible with the public welfare. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" Edwin M. Stanton, 

" Secretary of War." 



"War Departmen 
Washington, July 



■jt, ) 

1862. s 



" Sir : On reference to the answer of this Department of the 
fourteenth ultimo to the resolution of the House of Representatives of 
the ninth of last month, calling for information respecting the organiza- 
tion by Gen, Hunter, of the Department of South Carolina, of a regi- 
ment of volunteers for the defence of the Union, composed of black 
men, fugitive slaves, etc., it will be seen that the resolution had been 
referred to that officer with instructions to make an immediate report 
thereon. I have now the honor to transmit herewith the copy of a 
communication just received from Gen. Hunter, furnishing information 
as to his action touching the various matters indicated in the resolution. 

'' I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" Edwin M. Stanton, 

" Secretary of War. 
" Hon. G. A. Grow, 

" Speaker of the House of Representatives." 

" Headquarters Department of the South, ) 
" Port Royal, S. C., June 23, 1862. ( 

" Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington. 

" Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a communi- 
cation from the Adjutant-General of the army, dated June thirteenth, 
1862, requesting me to furnish you with the information necessary to 
answer certain resolutions introduced in the House of Representatives, 
June ninth, 1862, on motion of the Hon. Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, 
their substance being to inquire : 

" First. Whether I had organized or was organizing a regiment of 
' fugitive slaves ' in this department ? 

" Second. Whether any authority had been given to me from the 
War Department for such organization? and 

"Third. Whether I had been furnished, by order of the War Depart- 
ment, with clothing, uniforms, arms, equipments, etc., for such a force ? 



EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 281 

'' Only having received the letter covering these inquiries at a late 
hour on Saturday night, I urge forward my answer in time for the 
steamer sailing to-day (Monday) — this haste preventing me from enter- 
ing as minutely as I could wish upon many points of detail, such as the 
l)aramount importance of the sui)ject calls for. Ijut, in view of the 
near termination of the present session of Congress, and the widespread 
interest which must have been awakened by Mr. WicklilTe's resolutions, 
I prefer sending even this imperfect answer to waiting the period neces- 
sary for the collection of fuller and more comprehensive data. 

" To the first question, therefore, I reply that no regiment of " fugi- 
tive slaves * has been or is being organized in this de|)artment. There 
is, however, a fine regiment of persons whose late masters are 'fugitive 
rebels,' — men who everywhere fly before the appearance of the national 
tlag, leaving their servants behind them to shift as best they can for 
themselves. So far, indeed, are the loyal persons composing this regi- 
ment from seeking to avoid the presence of their late owners, that they 
are now, one and all, working with remarkable industry to i)lace them- 
selves in a position to go in full and effective pursuit of their fugacious 
and traitorous proprietors. 

"To the second question I have the honor to answer t+iat the in- 
structions given to Brig-Gen. T. W. Sherman, by the Hon. Simon 
Cameron, late Secretary of. War, and turned over to me by succession 
for my guidance, do distinctly authorize me to employ all loyal persons 
offering their services in defence of the Union and for the suppression 
of this rebellion in any manner I might see fit, or that the circumstances 
might call for. There is no restriction as to the character or color of 
the persons to be employed, or the nature of the employment, whether 
civil or military, in which their services should be used. I conclude, 
therefore, that I have been authorized to enlist ' fugitive .slaves ' as sol- 
diers, could any such be found in this de|)artment. No such charac- 
ters, however, have yet appeared within view of our most advanced 
pickets, the loyal slaves everywhere remaining on their |)lantations to 
welcome us, aid us, and supply us with food, labor, and information. 
It is the masters who have in every instance been the 'fugitives,' run- 
ning away from loyal slaves as well as loyal soldiers, and whom we have 
only partially been able to see — chiefly their heads over ramparts, or, 
rifle in hand, dodging behind trees — in the extreme distance. In the 
absence of any 'fugitive-master law,' the deserted slaves would be 
wholly without remedy, had not the crime of treason given them the 
right to pursue, capture, and bring back those persons of whose protec- 
tion they have been thus suddenly bereft. 

" To the third interrogatory it is my painful duty to reply that I 
ne\ er have received any sjiecific authority for issues of clothing, uni- 
forms, arms, equipments, and so forth, to the troops in question — my 



282 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

general instructions from Mr. Cameron to employ them in any manner 
I might find necessary, and the military exigencies of the department 
and the country being my only, but, in my judgment, sufificient justifica- 
tion. Neither have I had any specific authority for supplying these 
persons with shovels, spades, and pickaxes when employing them as 
laborers, nor with boats and oars when using them as ligiuermen ; but 
these are not points included in Mr. Wickliffe's resolution. To me it 
seemed that liberty to employ men in any particular capacity implied 
with it liberty also to supply them with the necessary tools ; and acting 
upon this faith I have clothed, equipped, and armed the only loyal regi- 
ment yet raised in South Carolina. 

" I must say, in vindication of my own conduct, that had it not been 
for the many other diversified and imperative claims on my time, a much 
more satisfactory result might have been hoped for ; and that in place 
of only one, as at present, at least five or six well-drilled, brave, and 
thoroughly acclimated regiments should by this time have been added 
to the loyal forces of the Union. 

"The experiment of arming the blacks, so far as I have made it, 
has been a complete and even marvellous success. They are sober, do- 
cile, attentive, and enthusiastic, displaying great natural capacities for 
ac<[uiring the duties of the soldier. They are eager beyond all things 
to take the field and be led into action ; an4it is the unanimous opinion 
of the officers who have had charge of them, that in the peculiarities of 
this climate and country they will prove invaluable auxiliaries, fully 
equal to the similar regiments so long and successfully used by the 
British authorities in the West-India Islands. 

" In conclusion, I would say it is my hope — there appearmg no pos- 
sibility of other reenforcements, owing to the exigencies of the campaign 
in the Peninsula — to have organized by the end of next fall, and to be 
able to present to the Government, from forty-eight to fifty thousand of 
these hardy and devoted soldiers. 

"Trusting that this letter may form part of your answer to Mr. 
Wickliffe's resolutions, I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your 
very obedient servant, 

" D. Hunter. 
"Major- General Comiiiaiiding" 

Mr. Wickliffe seemed to feel that he had received an exhaust- 
ive reply to his resolution of inquiry, but his colleague, Mr. 
Dunlap, offered the following resolution on the 3d of July, 1S62, 
which was never acted upon: 

" Resolved, That the sentiments contained in the paper read to this 
body yesterday, approving the arming of slaves, ciuanating from Major- 



EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 283 

General David Hunter, clothed in discourteous language, are an indig- 
nity to the American Congress, an insult to the American people and 
our brave soldiers in arms ; for which sentiments, so uttered, he justly 
merits our condemnation and censure." 

There was quite a flutter among the politicians in the rear, 
and many army officers felt that the United States uniform had 
been disgraced by being put upon "fugitive slaves." 

Within a few weeks after the affair in Congress alluded to 
above, two United States Senators,' charmed with the bold idea 
of General Hunter, called upon the President to urge him to ac- 
cept the services of two Negro regiments. The " New York 
Herald " of the 5th of August, 1862, gave an account of the in- 
terview under the caption of " Important Decision oj the Prcsi- _ 
diittr 

" The efforts of those who love the negro more man the Union to 
induce tlie President to swerve from his established policy are unavail- 
ing. He will neither be persuaded by promises nor intimidated by 
threats. To day he was called upon by two United States Senators and 
rather peremptorily recjuested to accept the services of two negro regi- 
ments. They were flatly and unequivocally rejected. The President 
did not appreciate tlie necessity of em[)loying tiie negroes to fight the 
battles of the country and take the positions which the white men of 
the nation, the voters, and sons of patriotic sires, should be proud to 
occupy ; there were employments in which the negroes of rebel masters 
might well be engaged, but he was not willing to ])lace them upon an 
equality with our volunteers, who had left home and family and lucra- 
tive occupations to defend the Union and tlie Constitution, while there 
were volunteers or militia enough in the loyal States to maintain the 
Government without resort to this e-xpedient. If tiie loyal people were 
not satisfied with the policy he had adopted, he was willing to leave the 
administration to other hands. One of the Senators was impudent 
enough to tell the President he wished to God he would resign."^ 

But there the regiment was, — one thousand loyal and com- 
petent soldiers ; and there was no way out but for the govern- 
ment to fatherthe regiment, and, therefore, on the 25th of 
August, 1862, the Secretary of War sent General Rufus Saxton 
the following order : 



' They were, no doubt, from Massachusetts. 
' New York Ilciald, Tuesday, .'\ugust ;, 1S62. 



284 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

"3, In view of the small force under your command, and the ina- 
bility of the Government at the present time to increase it, in order to 
guard the jilantations and settlements occujjied by the United States 
from invasion, and protect the inhabitants thereof from captivity and 
murder by the enemy, you are also authorized to arm, uniform, equip, 
and receive into the service of the United States, such number of Vol- 
unteers of African descent as you may deem expedient, not exceeding 
five thousand ; and may detail officers to instruct them in military drill, 
discipline, and duty, and to command them ; the persons so received 
into service, and their officers, to be entitled to and receive the same 
pay and rations as are allowed by law to Volunteers in the service. 

"4. You will occupy, if possible, all the islands and plantations here- 
tofore occupied by the Government, and secure and harvest the crops, 
and cultivate and improve the plantations. 

"5. The population of African descent, that cultivate the land and 
perform the labor of the Rebels, constitute a large share of their military 
strength, and enable the White masters to fill the Rebel armies, and 
wage a cruel and murderous war against the ])eople of the Northern 
States. By reducing the laboring strength of the Rebels, their military 
power will be reduced. You are, therefore, authorized, by every means 
in your power, to withdraw from the enemy their laboring force and 
population, and to spare no effort, consistent with civilized warfare, to 
weaken, harass, and annoy them, and to establish the authority of the 
Government of the United States within your Department." 

But public sentiment was growing with every passing day. 
The very presence of the Negro regiment at Port Royal con- 
verted the most pronounced enemies of Negro troops into 
friends and admirers. The newspaper correspondents filled their 
letters to the papers North with most extravagant praise of the 
Negro soldier: and the President was driven from his position of 
" no negro soldiers." 

The correspondent of the " Times," in a letter dated Sep- 
tember 4, 1S62, wrote : 

"There is little doubt that the next mail from the North will bring 
an order from the War Department recalling Major-Gen. Hunter to a 
field of greater activity. The Government had not lent him a hearty 
support in carrying out his policy of arming the blaaks, by which alone 
he could make himself useful in this department to the National cause ; 
and, therefore, more than two months since he applied to be relieved, 
rather than sit supinely with folded hands when his military abilities 
might be found of service elsewhere. Now, however, I have reason to 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 285 

believe that Gen. Hunter's views upon the question of forming negro 
regiments, have heen unreservedly adopted by tlie President, and the 
whole question has assumed such a different phase that Gen. Hunter 
almost regrets that he is to leave the department. The last mail 
brought the authorization of the President to enlist five negro regiments, 
each of a thousand negroes, to be armed and uniformed for the service 
of the United States, and also authorizes the enrollment of an additional 
50,000 to be emjiloyed in the Quartermaster's Department nominally as 
laborers, but as they are to be organized intocomiKinies and uniformed, 
and a portion of their time is to be spent in drilling, it is easy to under- 
stand tliat the possibility of their being used as soldiers is not lost sight 
of. The exact time of commencing the work of enlisting the colored 
recruits, I am not able to state, but that it will be shortly, to my mind, 
there is not a shadow of doubt. The only way in which the men can 
be obtained is by the establishment of posts at various places upon the 
coast, where the negroes, assured of protection, will flock to us by thou- 
sands. Past experience and present information both go to prove this 
fact, and to establish these posts more men will be reijuired ; therefore 
we may soon expect that the Government will be deriving positive ad- 
vantages from this department which, heretofore, has been only nega- 
tive of service, as the field of exi)eriments and tiie testing of ideas. 
Gen. Saxton will go to Washington by the first steamer, for consultation 
with the President on the subject." 

Just what one tliin;:^ changed the President so suddenly upon 
the question of the employment of Negroes as soldiers was not 
known. 

In Louisiana the Negroes were anxious to enlist in the ser- 
vice of the Union, and with this object in view thousands of 
them sought the Federal camps. Brig.-Gen. J. W. Phelps, com- 
manding the forces at Carrolton, La., found his camps daily 
crowded with fugitives from slavery. What to do with them 
became a question of great moment. Gen. Phelps became con- 
vinced thai it was impossible to subdue a great rebellion if 
slavery were to have the protection of Federal bayonets. He 
gave the Negroes who came to his camp protection ; and for this 
was reported to his superior officer. Gen. Butler. In a report to 
the latter officer's Adjutant-General, on June i5, 1862, he said : 

"The enfranchisement of tiie people of Europe has been, and is 
still, going on, through the instrumentality of military service ; and by 
this means our slaves might be raised in the scale of civilization and 
prepared for freedom. Fifty regiments might be raised among them at 



286 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

once, which could be employed in this climate to preserve order, and 
thus jjrevent the necessity of retrenching our liberties, as we should do 
by a large army exclusively of Whites. For it is evident that a con- 
siderable army of Whites would give stringency to our Government ; 
while an army partly of Blacks would naturally operate in favor of free- 
dom and against those influences which at present most endanger our 
liberties. At the end of five years, they could be sent to Africa, and 
their places filled with new enlistments." 

Receiving no specific response to this overture. Gen. Phelps 
made a requisition of arms, clothing, etc., for " three regiments 
of Africans, which I propose to raise for the defense of this 
point " ; adding: 

" The location is swampy and unhealthy ; and our men are dying at 
the rate of two or three a day. 

" The Southern loyalists are willing, as I understand, to furnish 
their share of the tax for the support of the war ; but they should 
also furnish their quota of men ; which they have not thus far done. 
An opportunity now offers of supplying the deficiency ; and it is not 
safe to neglect opportunities in war. I think that, with the proper fa- 
cilities, I could raise the three regiments proi)osed in a short time. 
Without holding out any inducements, or offering any reward, I have 
now upward of 300 Africans organized into five companies, who are all 
wilHnc and ready tosiiow their devotion to our cause in any way that it 
may be put to the test. They are willing to submit to any thing rather 
than to slavery. 

" Society, in the South, seems to be on the point of dissolution ; and 
the best way of preventing the African from becoming instrumental in 
a general state of anarchy, is to enlist him in the cause of the Republic. 
If we reject his services, any petty military chieftain, by offering him 
freedom, can have them for the purpose of robbery and plunder. It 
is for the interests of the South, as well as of the North, that the 
African should be permitted to offer his block for the temple of 
freedom. Sentiments unworthy of the man of the present day — worthy 
only of another Cain — could alone prevent such an offer from being 
accepted. 

" I would recommend that the cadet graduates of the present year 
should be sent to South Carolina and this point, to organize and dis- 
cipline our African levies ; and that the more promising non-commis- 
sioned officers and privates of the army be appointed as company offi- 
cers to command them. Prompt and energetic efforts in this direction 
would probably accomplish more toward a speedy termination of the 



EMPLO YMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 287 

war, and an early restoration of peace and unity, than any other course 
which could be adopted." ' 

Gen. Butler advised Gen. Pheip.s to employ "contrabands" 
for mere fatigue duty, and charged him not to use them as sol- 
diers. On the 31st of July, 1862, Gen. Phelps rejoined by in- 
forming Gen. Butler: "I am not willing to become the mere 
slave-driver you propose, having no qualifications tliat way," and 
immediately tendered his resignation. 

Nothing could stay the mighty stream of fugitives that 
poured into the Union lines by day and by night. Nothing 
could cooi 'Jie ardor of the loyal Negroes who so earnestly de- 
sired to share the perils and honors of the Federal army. There 
was but one course left and that was to call the Negroes to arms 
as Gen. Jackson liad done nearly a half century before. Gen. 
Butler repented his action toward the gallant aijd intelligent 
Phelps, and on the 24th of August, 1862, appealed to the free 
Colored men of New Orleans to take up arms in defence of the 
Union. As in the War of 1812, they responded to the call with 
enthusiasm ; and in just two weeks one thousand Negroes were 
organized into a regiment. All the men and line officers were 
Colored ; the staff-officers were white. Another regiment was 
raised antl officered like the first — only two white men in it; 
while the third regiment was officered without regard to nation- 
ality. Two Colored batteries were raised, but all the officers 
were white because there were no Negroes found who under- 
stood that arm of the service. 

The summer was gone, and Gen. McClellan, instead of " tak- 
ing Richmond," had closed his campaign on the Peninsula most 
ingloriously. The President was compelled to make another call 
for troops — 60,000. Conscription was unavoidable in many 
places, and prejudice against the military employment of Negroes 
began to decrease in proportion to the increase of the chances of 
white men to be drafted. On the i6th of July, 1862, Gen. Henry 
Wilson, United States Senator from Massachusetts, and Chair- 
man of the Committee on Military Affairs, introduced a bill in 
the Senate amending the act of 1795, prescribing the manner of 
the calling forth of tlie militia to suppress insurrections, etc. 
Several amendments were offered, much debate was had, and 
finally it passed, amended, empowering the President to accept 



'Greeley, vol. ii, pp. 517, 518. 



288 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" persons of African descent, for the purpose of constructing en- 
trenchments or performing camp service, or a//j' war service for 
which they may be found competent." It was agreed, grudging- 
ly, to free the slaves of rebels o//// who should faithfully serve 
the country, — but not tlieir wives and children ! The vote was 28 
yeas to 9 nays. It went to the House, where it was managed 
by Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, and upon a call of the previous 
question was passed. On the next day, July 17th, it received 
the signature of the President, and became the law of the land. 

On the 28th of January the Army Appropriation bill was 
under consideration in the United States Senate. Garrett Davis, 
of Kentucky, had opposed, by the most frantic and desperate 
efforts, every attempt to use Negroes in any capacity to aid in 
the suppression of the Rebellion. Accordingly he offered the 
following amendment to the Appropriation bill : 

" Pi-oviJed, That no part of the sums appropriated by tliis act shall be 
disbursed for the pay, subsistence, or any other supplies, of any negro, 
free or slave, in the armed miHtary service of the United States." 

It received 8 votes, with 28 against it. Those who sustained 
the amendment were all Democrats : 

Messrs. Carlyle, G. Davis, Kennedy, Latham, Nesmith, 
Powell, Turpie, and Wall. 

The fight against the employment of Negroes as soldiers was 
renewed. On every occasion the opposition was led by a Ken- 
tucky representative ! On the 2ist of December, 1863, during 
the pendency of the Deficiency bill in the House, Mr. Harding, 
of Kentucky, desired to amend it by inserting the following: 

''''Provided, That no part of the moneys aforesaid sliall be applied to 
the raising, arming, ecjuijiijing, or paying of negro soldiers." 

It was rejected : yeas, 41 ; nays, 105. The yeas were: 
Messrs. Ancona, Bliss, James S. Brown, Coffroth, Cox, Daw- 
son, Dennison, Eden, Edgerton, Eldridge, Finck, Grider, Hall, 
Harding, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris, Charles M. Harris, 
Philip Johnson, William Johnson, King, Knapp, Law, Long, 
Marcy, McKinney, William H. Miller, James R. Morris, Mor- 
rison, Noble, John O'Neill, Pendleton, Samuel J. Randall, 
Rogers, Ross, Scott, Stiles, Strouse, Stuart, Chilton A. White, 
Joseph W. White, Yeaman. 



EMPLO YMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 2S9 

On the 26th of January, 1863. the Secretary of War author- 
ized Gov. John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, to raise two regi- 
ments of Negro troops to serve three years. The order allowed 
the governor to raise " volunteer companies of artillery for duty 
in the forts of Massachusetts and elsewhere, and such companies 
of infantry for the volunteer military service as he may find con- 
venient, and may include persons of African descent, organized 
into separate corps." 

The Governor of Massachusetts immediately delegated au- 
thority to John W. M. Appleton to superintend the recruiting of 
the 54th Massachusetts, the first regiment of free Colored men 
raised at the North. The regiment was filled by the 13th of 
May, and ready to march to the front. It had been arranged 
that the regiment should pass through New York City on its way 
to the scene of the war in South Carolina, but the Chief of 
Police of New York suggested that the regiment would be sub- 
ject to insult if it came. The regiment was sent forth with the 
blessings of Massachusetts and the prayers of its patriotic people. 
It went by water to South Carolina. 

While Massachusetts was engaged in recruiting Negro sol- 
diers, Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-General of the United 
States Army, was despatched from Washington to the Mississippi 
Valley, where he inaugurated a system of recruiting service for 
Negroes. In a speech to the officers and men in the organization 
of white troops, he said, on the 8th of April, 1863, at Lake 
Providence, La. : 

" You know full well — for you h.ive been over this country — that 
the Rebels have sent into the field all tlieir available fighting men — 
every man capable of bearing arms ; and you know they have kept 
at home all their slaves for the raising of subsistence for their armies in 
the field. In tliis way they can bring to bear against us all the strength 
of their so-called Confederate States ; while we at the North can only 
send a portion of our fighting force, being compelled to leave behind 
another portion to cultivate our fields and supply the wants of an im- 
mense army. The Administration has determined to take from the 
Rebels tliis source of supply — to take their negroes and compel them 
to send back a portion of their whites to cultivate their deserted planta- 
tions — and very ]ioor persons they would be to fill the place of the dark- 
hued laborer. They must do this, or their armies will starve. * * * 

" All of you will some day be on picket duty ; and I charge you all, 
if any of this unfortunate race come within your lines, that you do not 



290 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

turn them away, but receive them kindly and cordially. They are to be 
encouraged to coma to us ; they are to be received with open arms ; 
they are to be fed and clothed ; they are to be armed." 

On the 1st of May, 1S63, Gen. Banks, in an order directing 
the recruiting of the "Corps d'Afrique," said : 

" The prejudices or opinions of men are in no wise involved " ; and 
" it is not established upon any dogma of equality, or other theory, but 
as a practical and sensil)le matter of business. The Government makes 
use of mules, horses, uneducated and educated White men, in the de- 
fense of its institutions. Why should not the negro contribute whatever 
is in his power for the cause in which he is as deeply interested as other 
men ? We may properly demand from him whatever service he can 
render," etc., etc. 

In the autumn of 1863, Adjutant-General Thomas issued the 
following order respecting the military employment of Negroes 
as soldiers : 

"ENLISTMENT OF COLORED TROOPS. 

" Gener.^l Orders, No. 329. 

"War Department, .Adjutant-General's Office, \ 
"Washington, D. C, October 13, 1863. ) 

" Whereas, The exigencies of the war require that colored troops 
be enlisted in the States of Maryland, Missouri, and Tennessee, it is 

" Ordered by the President, That the Chief of the Bureau for 
the Organization of Colored Troops shall establish recruiting stations at 
convenient places within said States, and give public notice thereof, and 
be governed by the following regulations : 

" First. None but able-bodied persons shall be enlisted. 

" Second. The State and county in which the enlistments are made 
shall be credited with the recruits enlisted. 

" Third. All persons enlisted into the military service shall forever 
thereafter be free. 

" Fourth. Free persons, and slaves with the written consent of 
their owners, and slaves belonging to those who have been engaged in 
or given aid or comfort to the rebellion, may now be enlisted — the 
owners who have not been engaged in or given aid to the rebellion be- 
ing entitled to compensation as hereinafter provided. 

" Fifth. If within thirty days from the date of opening enlistments, 
notice thereof and of the recruiting stations being published, a suffi- 
cient number of the description of persons aforesaid to meet the exi- 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 291 

gencies of the service should not be enlisted, then enlistments may be 
made of slaves witiiout requiring consent of their owners, but they may 
receive compensation as herein provided for owners offering their slaves 
for enlistment. 

" Sixth. Any citizen of said States, who shall offer his or her slave 
for enlistment into the military service, shall, if such slave be accepted, 
receive from the recruiting officer a certificate thereof, and become en- 
titled to compensation for the service of said slave, not e.xcecding the 
sum of three hundred dollars, upon filing a valid deed of manumission 
and of release, and making satisfactory proof of title. And the recruit- 
ing officer shall furnish to any claimant of descriptive list of any person 
enlisted and claimed under oath to be his or her slave, and allow any 
one claiming under oath that his or her slave has been enlisted without 
his or her consent, the privilege of inspecting the enlisted man for the 
purpose of identification. 

"Seventh. A board of three persons shall be appointed by the 
President, to whom the rolls and recruiting lists shall be furnished for 
public information, and, on demand exhibited, to any person claiming 
that his or her slave has been enlisted against his or her will. 

" Eighth. If a person shall within ten days after the filing of said 
rolls, make a claim for the service of any person so enlisted, the board 
shall proceed to examme the proof of title, and, if valid, shall award 
just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars for each slave 
enlisted belonging to the claimant, and upon the claimant filing a valid 
deed of manumission and release of service, the board shall give the 
claimant a certificate of the sum awarded, which on presentation shall 
be paid by the chief of the Bureau. 

" Ninth. All enlistments of colored troops in the State of Mary- 
land, otherwise than in accordance with these regulations, are forbidden. 

" Tenth. No person who is or has been engaged in the rebellion 
against the Government of the United States, or who in any way has or 
shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Government, shall be 
permitted to jjresent any claim or receive any compensation for the la- 
bor or service of any slave, and all claimants shall file with their claim 
an oath of allegiance to the United States. By order of the President. 

"E. D. TOW.NSEND, 

"Assistant Adjutant- General. " 

This order was extended, on October 26th, to Delaware, at 
the personal request of Governor Cannon. 

On the I2th of November, 1S63, the Union League Club of 
New York City appointed a committee for the purpose of re- 
cruiting Colored troops. Col. George Bliss was made chairman 



292 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

and entered upon the work with energy and alacrity. On the 
23d of November the committee addressed a letter to Horatio 
Seymour, Governor of New York, stating that as he had no 
authority to grant them permission to enlist a Negro regiment; 
and as the National Government was unwilling to grant such 
authority without the sympathy and assent of the State govern- 
ment, they would feel greatly obliged should his excellency 
grant the committee his official concurrence. Gov. Seymour 
assured the coinmittee of his official inability to grant authority 
for the raising of Colored troops, — just what the committee had 
written h.im, — and referred them to the National Government, on 
the 27th of November. The committee applied to the authori- 
ties at Washington, and on the 5th of December, 1863, the Sec- 
retary of War granted them authority to raise the 20th Regi- 
ment of United States Colored Troops. Having secured the 
authority of the Government to begin their work, the committee 
wrote Gov. Seymour: " We express the hope that, so far as in 
your power, you will give to the movement your aid and coun- 
tenance." The governor never found the time to answer the 
request of the committee ! 

The work was pushed forward with zeal and enthusiasm. The 
Colored men rallied to the call, and within two weeks from the 
time the committee called for Colored volunteers i,O0O men re- 
sponded. By the 27th of January, 1864, a second regiment was full; 
and thus in forty-five days the Union League Club Committee 
on the Recruiting of Colored Regiments had raised 2,000 soldiers! 

Out of g.ooo men of color, eligible by age— 18 to 45 years — 
to go into the service, 2,300 enlisted in less than sixty days. 
There was no bounty held out to them as an incentive to enlist ; 
no protection promised to their families, nor to them should they 
fall into the hands of the enemy. But they were patriots! 
They were willing to endure any thing rather than the evils that 
would surely attend the triumph of the Confederacy. They 
went to the front under auspicious circumstances. 

The 20th Regiment, under the command of Col. Bartram, 
landed at Thirty-Sixth Street, was headed by the police and the 
patriotic members of the Union League Club, and had a trium- 
phal march through the city. 

"Tlie scene of yesterday," says a New York paper, "was one which 
marks an era of progress in the political and social history of New York. 
A tliousand men with black skins and clad and equipped with the uni- 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 293 

forms and arms of the United States Government, marched from their 
camp through tlie most aristocratic and busy streets, received a grand 
ovation at the hands of the wealthiest and most respectable ladies and 
gentlemen of New York, and then moved down Broadway to the steamer 
which bears them to their destination — all amid the enthusiastic cheers, 
the encouraging i)laudits, the waving handkerchiefs, the showering bou- 
quets and other ajiproving manifestations of a hundred thousand of the 
most loyal of our people. 

"In the month of July last the homes of these jjcople were burned 
and pillaged by an infuriated political mob ; they and their families 
were hunted down and murdered in the public streets of this city ; and 
the force and majesty of the law were ^jowerless to protect them. 
Seven brief months have passed, and a thousand of these despised and 
persecuted men march through the city in the garb of United States 
soldiers, in vindication of their own manhood, and with the approval of 
a countless multitude- — in effect saving from inevitable and distasteful 
conscription the same number of those who hunted their persons and 
destroyed their homes during those days of humiliation and disgrace. 
This is noble vengeance — ^a vengeance taught by Him who commanded, 
' Love them that hate you ; do good to them that persecute you.' " 

The recruiting of Colored troops in Pennsylvania was carried 
on, perhaps, with more vigor, intelligence, and enthusiasm than 
in any of the other free States. A committee for the recruiting 
of men of color for the United States army was appointed at 
Philadelphia, with Thomas Webster as Chairman, Cadwalader 
Biddle, as Secretary, and S. A. Mercer, as Treasurer. This com- 
mittee raised $33,3<S8.00 for the recruiting of Colored regiments. 
The 54tli and 55th Massachusetts regiments had cost about 
$60,000, but this committee agreed to raise three regiments at a 
cost of $10,000 per regiment. 

The committee founded a camp, and named it '' Camp 
William Penn," at Shelton Hill, near Philadelphia. On the 
26th of June, 1863, the first squad of eighty men went into 
camp. On the 3d of February, 1864, the committee made the 
following statement, in reference to the raising of regiments : 

On the 24th July, 1S63, the First (3d United States) regiment was 
full. 

" On the 13th September, 1S63, the Second (6th United States) 
regiment was full. 

" On the 4th December, 1863, the Third (8th United States) regi- 
ment was full. 



?94 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" On the 6th January, 1S64, the Fourth (22d United States) regi- 
ment was full. 

" On the 3d February, ICS64, the Fifth (25th United States) regi- 
ment was full. 

" August 13th, 1863, the Third United States regiment left Camp 
William I'enn, and was in front of Fort Wagner when it surrendered. 

" October 14th, 1863, the Sixth United States regiment left for 
Yorktown. 

" January i6th, 1864, the Eighth United States regiment left for 
Hilton Head. 

" The 22d and 25th regiments are now at Camp William Pcnn, 
waiting orders from the Government." 

■ The duty of recruiting "Colored troops" in the Department 
of the Cumberland was committed by Secretary Stanton to an 
able, honest, and patriotic man, Mr. George L. Stearns, of Massa- 
chusetts. Mr. Stearns had devoted his energies, wealth, and 
time to the cause of the slave during the holy anti-slavery agita- 
tion. He was a wealthy merchant of Boston ; dwelt, with a noble 
wife and beautiful children, at Medford. He had been, from the 
commencement of the agitation, an ultra Abolitionist. He re- 
garded slavery as a gigantic system of complicated evils, at war 
with all the known laws of civilized society ; inimical to the 
fundamental principles of political economy ; destructive to 
republican institutions ; hateful in the sight of God, and ever 
abhorrent to all honest men. He hated slavery. He hated 
truckling, obsequious, cringing hypocrites. He put his feelings 
into vigorous English, and keyed his deeds and actions to the 
sublime notes of charity that filled his heart and adorned a long 
and eminently useful life. He gave shelter to the majestic and 
heroic John Brown. His door was — like the heavenly gates — 
ajar to every fugitive from slavery, and his fiery earnestness 
kindled the flagging zeal of many a conservative friend of God's 
poor. 

Such a man was chosen to put muskets into the hands of the 
Negroes in the Department of the Cumberland. His rank was 
that of m^ijor, with the powers of an assistant adjutant-general. 
He took up his headquarters at Nashville, Tennessee. He carried 
into the discharge of the duties of his important office large 
executive ability, e.xccllent judgment, and rare fidelity. He 
organized the best regiments that served in the Western army. 
When he had placed the work in excellent condition he com- 



EMPLOYMENT OE X EG ROES AS SOLDIERS. 295 

initted it to the care of Capt. R. D. Musscy, who afterward was 
made the Colonel of the looth U. S. Colored Troops. 

The intense and unrelenting prejudice against the Negroes, 
and their ignorance of military tactics, made it necessary for the 
Government to provide suitable white commissioned officers. 
The prospect was pleasing to many young white men in the 
ranks; and ambition went far to irradicate prejudice against 
Negro soldiers. Nearly every white private and non-commis- 
sioned officer was expecting the lightning to strike him ; every 
one expected to be promoted to be a commissioned ofTicer, and, 
therefore, had no prejudice against the men they hoped to com- 
mand as their superior officers. To prepare the large number of 
applicants for commissions in Colored regiments a " Free Mili- 
tary -School" was established at No. i2io Chestnut Street, 
Philadelphia, Pa. Secretarj' Stanton gave the school the follow- 
ing official endorsement in the spring of 1864. 

" War Department, [ 

"Washington City, March 21, 1864. ) 

" Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman, 

" 1 2 10 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 

" Sir : The project of establishing a free Military School for the 
education of candidates for the position of commissioned officers in 
the Colored Troops, received the cordial approval of this Dciiartmciit. 
Sufficient success has already attended the workings of the institution 
to afford the promise of much usefulness hereafter in sending into 
the service a class of instructed and efficient officers. 

" Very respectfully, 

"Your obedient servant, 

" EuwiN M. Stanton, 

" Secretary of War." 

In reply to a letter from Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman, 
etc., of the Recruiting Committee, General Casey sent the fol- 
lowing letter : 

" Washincton-, I). C, March 7. 1864. 

"Dear Sir; Yours of the 4th instant is received, and I have 
directed the Secretary of the Board to attend to your request. 

" It gives me great pleasure to learn that your School is prospering, 
and I am also pleased to inform you that the Board of which I am 
President has not as yet rejected one of your candidates. I am grati- 



296 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

fied to see thnt the necessity of procuring competent officers for the 
armies of the RepubHc is beginning to be better appreciated by the 
piibUc. 

" I trust I shall never have occasion to regret my agency in sug- 
gesting the formation of your School, and I am sure the country owes 
your Committee much for the energy and judgment with which it has 
carried it out. The liberality which opens its doors to the young 
men of all the States is noble, and does honor to those citizens of 
Philadelphia from whom its support is principally derived. 

" Truly yours, 

"Silas Casey, 

' ^ Major- General. 
" To Thomas Webster, Esq., Chairman, 

" 1 2 10 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia." 

In reference to applicants the following letter was written by 
the Adjutant-General : 

" General Orders, \ 

"No. 125." ) "War Department, 

" Adjutant-Gen. 's Office, 

"Washington, March 29, 1864. 

" Furloughs, not to exceed thirty days in each case, to the non- 
commissioned officers and privates of the army who may desire to 
enter the Free Military School at Philadelphia, may be granted by the 
Commanders of Armies and Departments, when the character, conduct, 
and capacity of the applicants are such as to warrant their immediate 
and superior commanders in recommending them for commissioned ap- 
pointments in the regiments of colored troops. 

" By order of the Secretary of War. 

" E. D. TOWNSEND, 

''Assistant Adjutant- General." 

The organization of the school was as follows : 

Chief Preceptor. 

JOHN H. TAGGART 

(Late Colonel 12th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps), 

Professor of Infantry Taeties and Army Regulations. 



EMPLOYMENT OE NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 297 

Assistant Professors. 
MILITARY STAFF. 

ALBERT L. MAGILTON 

(Graduate of West Point Military Academy, and late Colonel 4th 

Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Corps), 

Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations. 

LEVI FETTERS 

(Late Captain 175th Pennsylvania Regiment), 

Professor of Infantry Tactics and Army Regulations, 

Student DANL. W. HERR 

(Late ist Lieutenant Co. E., i22d Pennsylvania Regiment), 

Post Adjutant. 

Student J- HALE SYPHER, of Pennsylvania, 
Field Adjutant. 

Student LOUIS M. TAFT. M.D. 

(Graduate of University of Penn.), 

Surgeon. 

ACADEMIC .'^TAFF. 

JOHN P. BIRCH, A.M., 

A. E. ROGERSON, A.M., 

Professors of Mathematics. Geography, and History 

Wm. L. WILSON, 
Librarian and Phonographic Clerk. 

Student CHARLES BENTRICK, Sk., 
Poitmaster. 
i 

JAMES BUCHANAN (Colored), 
Messenger. 

Within less than six months 1,031 applicants had been exam- 
ined; 560 passed, and 491 were rejected. 

Four regular classes were formed, and in addition to daily 
recitations the students were required to drill twice every day. 
The school performed excellent work; and furnished for the ser- 
vice many brave and efficient officers. 

By December, 1863, 100,000 Colored Troops were in the ser- 
vice. About 50,000 Vr'ere armed by that time and in the field. 



298 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Everywhere they were winning golden laurels by their apti- 
tude in drill, their patient performance of the duties of the camp, 
and by their matchless courage in the deadly field. The young 
white officers who so cheerfully bore the odium of commanding 
Colored Troops, and who so heroically faced the dangers of capt- 
ure and cruel death, had no superiors in the army. They had 
the supreme satisfaction of commanding brave men to whom 
they soon found themselves deeply attached. Jt was a school in 
which the noblest and purest patriot might feel himself honored 
and inspired to the performance of deathless deeds of valor. 

The following tables indicate the manner in which the work 
was done. 

Analysis of Examination of Applicants for Command of Colored Troops, 
before the Board at IVas/iington, of which Major-General Silas 
Casey is E resident, from the organization of the Board to March 
2C)th, 1864, inclusive. 







.Nuuiljcr aece 


pted and for 






id 


what rank recommended. 




Rank. 


a 

s 






HI 
CI 

£ 


in 

V 

c 

_o 




en 

c 
U 

*-• 


05 



2? 


Captains. 


C 

c 

1— ( 


{/3 

c 

C 

5j 

'►J 

■X3 


Colonels .... 


4 








_, 


._ . 





2 


Lieutenant- Colonels 





— 


2 


— 


— 


I 


— 





Majors .... 


9 


2 


3 


I 


2 


— 


— 


I 


Captains 


68 


3 


7 


« 


20 


s 


3 


22 


ist Leutenants . 


,S2 


^ 


— 


4 


10 


8 


7 


20 


2d Lieutenants 


24 




— 


— 


9 


2 


3 


10 


Sergeants .... 
Cor|.)orals 






I 




62 
23 


75 
46 


64 


234 

97 


Privates .... 


449 


— — 


— 


26 


57 


124 


242 


Civilians 

Students of the Philadelphia 


429 


I 


6 


15 


48 


49 


94 


216 


>.773 


9 


19 


30 


200 


243 


428 


844 


Free Military School . . 


94 


2 


4 


6 


28 


25 


25 


4 


1,867 


1 1 


23 1 36 


228 


268 


453 


848 



EMPI.O YMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 



■2'.y) 



Analysis of the Examination to ^ist Marcii, 1864, of the Students of 
the Philadelphia Free Military School, before the Board of Ex- 
aminers at Washington, far Applicants for Command of Colored 
Troops, Major-General Silas Casey, President. 



Kark. 


■a 
c 

il 

t-l 

H 

3 

2: 


Number accepted and for 
what rank recommended. 


u 

l? 

E 


•-T. 

U 

c 

_o 


U 


U 


in 


'J-i 


If) 




Sergeants .... 

Corporals 

Privates .... 

Civilians ' . . . 


14 

39 


I 
I 


I 
3 


I 

5 


3 

9 
14 


4 
II 

6 


6 

10 
8 


I 

I 


94 


2 


4 


6 1 28 


24 


26 


4 



The following official table gives the entire number of Colored 
Troops in the army from beginning to end. 



States and Territories. 



Connecticut . 
Maine 

Massachusetts 
New Hampshire 
Rhode Island 
Vermont . 



Total of New England States 



New Jersey . 
New York 
Pennsylvania 



Total of Middle States 



Colored Troops furnished 
1861-65. 
1,764 
104 
3.9(^6 
125 

i.s:,7 
120 



7,916 

1,185 
4.1-^5 

S,6i2 



13-9^ 



Many of these lia<l previously heen in the ihrce monlhs', nine mouths', and three 
years' service, from wliich they liad been honorably discharged. 



300 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 



States and Territories. — {Continued?) 



Colorado Ter. 

Dakota Ter. 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa .... 

Kansas ... 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Nebraska Ter. 

New Mexico Ter. 

Ohio .... 

Wisconsin 

Total, Western States and Territories 



California 

Nevada 

Oregon 

Washington Ter. 

Delaware 

Dist. Columbia 

Kentucky 

Maryland . 

Missouri 

West Virginia . 



Total, Border States 



Alabama 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Georgia 

Louisiana . 

Mississippi 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas . 

Virginia 



Colored Troops furnished 
1 861-65. 

95 



1,811 

1.537 

440 

2,080 



Total, Southern States 



,387 
104 



5.092 
^ 

12,711 



954 
3-269 

23.703 
8,718 

S,344 
196 

45.184 

4,969 
5.526 
1,044 



3.486 
17,869 

5.03s 
5.462 

20,133 

47 



63.571 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 301 

States and Territories.— (Cuw/zV/wr/.) 

Colored Troops furnished 



Indian Nation . 
Colored Troops' . 



1861-65. 



Grand Total 173079 

At Large 733 

Not accounted for 5.0S3 

Officers 7,122 



Total 186,017 

NotwithstandlniT the complete demonstration of fact that 
Negroes were required as United Slates soldiers, there were many 
opposers of the movement. Some of the L^st men and leading 
journals were very conservative on this question. An elaborate 
and cautious editorial in the " New York Times " of February 
16, 1863, fairly exhibits the nervousness of the North on the 
subject of the military employment of the Negro 

" Use of Negroes as Soldiers. 

"One branch of Congress has rejected a bill authorizing the enh'st- 
ment of negro soldiers. Mr. Sumner declares his intention to persist in 
forcing the passage of such a law by offering it as an amendment to 
some other bill. Meantime the President, by laws already enacted, 
has full authority over the subject, and we can see no good object to be 
attained by forcing it into the discussions of Congress and adding it to 
the causes of dissension already existing in the country at large. 

" A law of last Congress authorized the President to use the negroes 
as laborers or ot/ierwise, as they can be made most useful in the work of 
quelling the rebellion. Under this authority, it is understood that he 
has decided to use them in certain cases as soldiers. Some of them are 
already employed in garrisoning Southern forts, on the Mississippi 
Kiver, which whites cannot safely occupy on account of the climate. 
Governor Sprague has autliority to raise negro regiments in Rhode 
Island, and has proclaimed his intention to lead them when raised in 
person, and Gov Andrew has received similar authority for the State of 
Massachusetts. We see, therefore, not the slightest necessity for any 
further legislation on this subject, and hope Mr. Sumner will consent 
that Congress may give its attention, during the short remainder of its 
session, to topics of pressing practical importance. 



' This gives Colored Troops enlisted in the States in rebtl c-; this, there 

were 92,576 Colored Troops (included wiih the while soldiers) m ihc ijuotas of the 
several States. 



302 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Whether negroes shall or shall not be employed as soldiers, seems 
to us purely a question of expediency, and to be solved satisfactorily 
only by experiment. As to our right so to employ them, it seems ab- 
surd to question it for a moment. The most bigoted and inveterate 
stickler for the absolute divinity of slavery in the Southern States would 
scarcely insist that, as a matter of right, either constitutional or moral, 
we could not employ negroes as soldiers in the army. Whether they 
are, or are not, by nature, by law, or by usage, the equals of the white 
man, makes not the slightest difference in this respect. Even those at 
the North who are so terribly shocked at the prospect of their being 
Ihus employed, confine their objections to grounds of expediency. They 
urge: 

" ist. That the negroes will not fight. This, if true, is exclusive 
against their being used as soldiers. But we see no way of testing the 
question except by trying the experiment. It will take but a very short 
time and but very few battles to determine whether they have courage, 
steadiness, subjection to military discipline and the other qualities es- 
sential to good soldiership or not. If they have, this objection will 
fall, if not then beyond all question they will cease to be employed. 

" 2d. It is said that the whites will not fight with them — that the 
prejudice against them is so strong that our own citizens will not enlist, 
or will quit the service, if compelled to fight by their side, — and that we 
shall thus lose two white soldiers for one black one that we gain. If 
this is true, they ought not to be employed. The object of using them 
is to strengthen our military force ; and if the jiroject does not accom- 
plish this, it is a failure. The question, moreover, is one of fact, not of 
theory. It matters nothing to say that it ougJit not to have this effect — 
that the prejudice is absurd and should not be consulted. The jioint is, 
not what men oiiglit to do, but what they will do. M'e have to deal with 
human nature, with prejudice, with passion, with habits of thought and 
feeling, as well as with reason and sober judgment and the moral sense. 
Possibly the Government may have made a mistake in its estimate of 
the effect of this measure on the public mind. The use of negroes as 
soldiers may have a worse effect on the army and on the people than 
they have supposed. 

■' But this is a matter of opinion upon which men have differed. 
Very prominent and influential persons. Governors of States, Senators, 
popular Editors and others have predicted the best results from such a 
measure, while others have anticipated the worst. The President has 
resolved to try the experiment. If it works well, the country will be 
the gainer. If not, we have no doubt it will be abandoned. If the 
effect of using negroes as soldiers upon the army and the country, 
proves to be depressing and demoralizing, so as to weaken ratlier than 
strengthen our military operations, they will cease to be employed. 



EMPLOYMENT OF XEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 303 

The President is a practical man, not at all disposed to sacrifice practi- 
cal results to abstract theories. 

" 3d. It is said we shall get no negroes — or not enough to prove of 
any service. In the free States very few will volunteer, and in the 
Slave States we can get but few, because the Rebels will push them 
Soutliward as fast as we advance upon them. This may be so. We 
confess we share, with many otliers, the opinion that it will. 

" But we may as well wait patiently the short time recpiircd to settle 
the point. When we hear more definitely from Gov. Sprague's black 
battalions and Gov. .Andrew's negro brigades, we shall know more 
accurately what to think of the measure as one for the Free States ; 
and when we hear further of the success of Gen. Banks and Gen. Sax- 
ton in enlisting them at the South, we can form a better judgment of 
the movement there. If we get very few or even none, the worst that 
can be said will be that the project is a failure ; and the demonstration 
that it is so will have dissipated another of the many delusions which 
dreamy people have cherished about this war. 

■' 4th. The use of negroes will exasperate the South ; and some of 
our Peace Democrats make that an objection to the measure. We 
presume it will ; but so will any other scheme we may adopt which is 
warlike and effective in its character and results. If that consideration is 
to govern us, we must follow Mr.Vallandingham's advice and stop the war 
entirely, or as Mr. McMasters puts it in his Newark speech, go 'for an 
immediate and iiricomiitio/ial peace.' We. are not quite ready for t/iai yet. 

" The very best thing that can be done under existing circumstances, 
in our judgment, is to possess our souls in ])atience while t/ic experimoit 
is being tried. Tlie jjroblem will ]irobably speeilily solve itself — much 
more speedily tlian heated discussion or harsh criminations can solve it."' 

It did n't require a great deal of time for the Black troops to 
make a good impression; and while the Congress, the press, and 
tlie people were being exercised over the probable out-come, the 
first regiment of ex-slaves ever equipped for the service was 
working a revolution in public .sentiment. On the last day of 
January, 1S63, the " New York Tribune" printed the following 
editorial on the subject : 

■' A disloyal minority in the House is factiously resisting the pas- 
sage of the Steven's bill, authorizing the President to raise and c(iuip 
150,000 soldiers of African descent. Meanwhile, in the Department of 
the South a full regiment of blacks has been enlisted under Gen. 
Saxton ; is already uniformed and armed, and has been actively drill- 
ing for the last seven weeks. A letter which we printed on Wednesday 
from our Special Correspondent, who is usually well (]ualified to judge 



304 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE' IN AMERICA. 

of its military proficiency, says of this regiment that no honest-minded, 
unrlrejudiced observer could come to any other conclusion than that it 
had attained a remarkable proficiency in the short period during which 
it had been drilled. We have in addition from an ofificer of the regi- 
ment, who is thoroughly informed as to its condition, a very interesting 
statement of its remarkable progress, and some valuable suggestions on 
the employment of negro troops in general. 

" ' This regiment — the ist South Carolina Volunteers, Colonel 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson — marched on the 17th for the first 
time through the streets of Beaufort. It was the remark of many 
bitterly pro-slavery officers that they looked "splendidly." They 
marched through by ]jlatoons, and returned by the flank ; the streets 
were filled with soldiers and citizens, but every man looked straight 
before him and carried himself steadily. How many white regiments 
do the same? One black soldier said : "We did n't see a thing in 
Beaufort ; ebery man hold his head straight up to de front, ebery step 
was worth a half dollar." 

" ' Many agreed with what is my deliberate opinion,' writes this 
officer, 'that no regiment in this department can, even now, surpass this 
one. In marching in regimental line I have not seen it equalled. In 
the different modes of passing from line into column, and from column 
into line, in changing front, countermarching, forming divisions, and 
forming square, whether by the common methods, or by Casey's 
methods, it does itself the greatest credit. Nor have I yet discovered 
the slightest ground of inferiority to white troops. 

■' 'So far is it from being true that the blacks as material soldiers are 
inferior to white, that they are in some respects manifestly superior ; 
especially in aptness for drill, because of their imitativeness and love of 
music ; docility in discipline, when their confidence is once acquired ; 
and enthusiasm for the cause. They at least know what they are fight- 
ing for. They have also a pride as soldiers, which is not often found 
in our white regiments, where every private is only too apt to think 
himself specially qualified to supersede his officers. They are above 
all things faithful and trustworthy on duty from the start. In the best 
white regiments it has been found impossible to trust newly-enlisted 
trooi>s with the countersign — they invariably betray it to their com- 
rades. There has been but one such instance in this black regiment, 
and that was in the case of a mere boy, whose want of fidelity excited 
the greatest indignation among his comrades. 

" ' Drunkenness, the bane of our army, does not exist among the 
black troops. There has not been one instance in the regiment. 
Enough. The only difficulty which threatened to become at all serious 
was that of absence without leave and overstaying passes, but this was 
checked by a few decided measures and has ceased entirely. 



EMPLO YMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 303 

" ' When this regiment was first organized, some months ago, it had 
to encounter bitter hostility from the white troops at Port Royal, and 
there was great exultation when General Hunter found himself obliged 
to disband it. Since its reorganization this feeling seems to have 
almost disappeared. • There is no complaint by the privates of insult or 
ill-treatment, formerly disgracefully common from their white comrades. 

" ' It has been sujjposed that these black troops would prove fitter 
for garrison duty than active service in the field. No impression could 
be more mistaken. Their fidelity as sentinels adapts them especially, 
no doubt, to garrison duty ; but their natural place is in the advance. 
There is an inherent dash and fire about them which white troops of 
more sluggish Northern blood do not emulate, and their hearty enthu- 
siasm shows itself in all ways. Such qualities are betrayed even in 
drill, as anybody may know who has witnessed the dull, mechanical 
way in which ordinary troops make a bayonet charge on the parade 
ground, and contrasts it with the spirit of those negro troops in the 
same movement. They are to be used, moreover, in a country which 
they know perfectly. Merely from their knowledge of wood-craft and 
water-craft, it would be a sheer waste of material to keep them in gar- 
rison. It is scarcely the knowledge which is at once indispensable and 
impossible to be acquired by our troops. See these men and it is 
easier to understand the material of which the famous Chasseurs 
d' Afrique are composed.' 

'■ General Saxton, in a letter published yesterday, said : ' In no regi- 
ment have I ever seen duty performed with so mucli cheerfulness and 
alacrity. * * * In the organization of this regiment I have labored 
under difficulties which might have discouraged one who had less faith 
in the wisdom of the measure ; but I am glad to report that the e.xperi- 
ment is a complete success. My belief is that when we get a footing 
on the mainland regiments may be raised which will do more than any 
now in the service to put an end to this rebellion.' 

"We are learning slowly, very slowly, in this war to use the means 
of success which lie ready to our hands. AVe have learnt at last that 
the negro is essential to our success, but we are still hesitating whether 
to allow him to do all he can or only a part. 

" It will not take many such proofs as this black regiment now offers 
to convince us of the full value of our new allies. But we ought to go 
beyond that selfishness which regards only our own necessities and re- 
member that the negro has a right to fight for his freedom, and that he 
will be all the more fit to enjoy his new destiny by helping to achieve it." 

On the 28th of March, 1863, Mr. Greeley sent forth the fol- 
lowing able and sensible editorial on the Negro as a soldier: 



3o6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Negro Troops. 

" Facts are beginning to dispel prejudices. Enemies of the negro 
race, who have persistently denied the capacity and doubted the 
courage of the Blacks, are unanswerably confuted by the good conduct 
and gallant deeds of the men whom they persecute' and slander. From 
many quarters come evidence of the swiftly approaching success which 
is to crown what is still by some persons deemed to be the experiment 
of arming whom the Proclamation of Freedom liberates. 

"The ist and 2d South Carolina Volunteers, under Colonels Hig- 
ginson and Montgomery, have ascended the St. John's River in Florida 
as far as Jacksonville, and have re-occupied that important town which 
was once before taken and afterward abandoned by the Union forces. 
Many of the negroes composing these regiments had been slaves in this 
very place. Their memory of old wrongs, of .the privations, outrages and 
tortures of Slavery, must here, if anywhere, have been fresh and vivid, 
and the passions which opportunity for just revenges stimulates even in 
white breasts, ought to have been roused more than in all other places 
on the spot where they had suffered. 

" If, then, Jacksonville were to-day in ashes, and the ghastly sjjirit 
visions of ' The World' materialized into terrible realities, the negro 
haters would have no cause to be disappointed. ' The World' hailed 
the alleged repulse and massacre of the negroes and white ofificers — a 
report which it invented outright, in sheer malignity, in order to fore- 
stall public opinion by creating a belief in the failure of the expedition 
— would ha\e changed into agonized shrieks over the outrages on its 
Southern brethren. The experiment of subjecting negroes to military 
rules and accustoming them to those amenities of civilized warfare 
which the rebels so uniformly j^ractice would again have been declared 
to be a hopeless failure ; and for the hundredth time the Proclamation 
and the radicals who advised it would have been pilloried for public 
execration. 

" Since, however, the contrary of all this is true, it may be presumed 
by a confiding public which does not read it that 'The JForld' has 
honestly acknowledged tlie injustice of its slanders. It is unpleasant to 
disabuse a confiding public on any subject, but we who are sometimes 
obliged to look at that paper as a professional duty, regret to say that we 
have not discovered a single evidence of its repentance. The facts 
are, however, that Colonel Higginson's men landed quietly at Jackson- 
ville, marched through its streets in perfect order, committed no out- 
rages or excesses of any kind, and by the testimony of all witnesses 
conducted themselves with a military decorum and perfect discipline 
which is far from common among wiiite regiments in similar circum- 
stances. They have gone before this time still further into the interior, 



EMPLOYMENT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 307 

and will doiiblless do good service in a direction where their presence 
has been least expected by the Rebels. In the only instance in which 
the white chivalry ventured to make a stand against them, the whites 
were defeated and driven off the field by the Blacks. 

'•The truth is that the fitness of negroes to be soldiers has long 
since, in this country and elsewhere, been amply demonstrated, and the 
success of Col. Higginson's Black Troops is no matter of surprise to 
any person tolerably well informed about the history of the race. If it 
were in any sense an experiment, the only thing to be tested was the 
obstinacy of our Saxon prejudice which denied the possibility of suc- 
cess, and d(d what it could to prevent it. But even Saxon prejudice 
must sliortly yield to the logic of facts." 

In the face of the fact that the United States Government 
had employed Negroes as soldiers to fight the battles of the 
Union, there were men of intelligence who held that it was all 
wrong in fact, in policy, and in point of law. And this opinion 
attained such proportions that the Secretary of War felt called 
upon to request the opinion of Judge Advocate Holt. It is 
given here. 

Enlistment of Sl.-wes. 

In a letter to Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, dated Aug. 
20, 1863, Judge Advocate Holt said : "The right of the Government 
to employ for the suppression of the rebellion persons of African De- 
scent held to service or labor under the local law, rests firmly on two 
grounds : 

■' First, as property. Both our organic law and the usages of our 
institutions under it recognize fully tlie authority of the Government to 
seize and apply to public use private property, on making compensation 
therefor. What the use may be to which it is to be applied does not 
enter into the question of the right to make the seizure, which is un- 
trammelled in its exercise, save by the single condition mentioned. 

" Secondly, as persons. While those of African Descent held to 
service or labor in several of the States, occupy under the laws of such 
States, the status of property ; they occupy also under the Federal 
Government, the status of 'persons.' They are referred to so nomine 
in the Constitution of the United States, and it is not as property but 
as ' persons ' tliat they are represented on the floor of Congress, and 
thus form a prominent constituent element alike in the organization and 
practical administration of the Government. 

"The obligation of all persons— irrespective of creed or color — to 
bear arms, if physically capable of doing so, in defence of the Govern 



3oS HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

ment under which they live and by which they are protected, is one that 
is universally acknowledged and enforced. Corresponding to this ob- 
ligation is the duty resting on those charged with the administration of 
the Government, to employ such persons in the military service when- 
ever the public safety may demand it. Congress realized both this ob- 
ligation on the one hand, and this duty on the other when, by the 12th 
section of the Act of the 17th of July, 1862, it was enacted that 'the 
President be and is hereby authorized to receive into the service of the 
United States for the purpose of constructing intrenchments, or per- 
forming camp service or any other labor, or any military or naval service 
for which they may be found competent, persons of African Descent, 
and such persons shall be enrolled and organized under such regula- 
tions not inconsistent with the Constitution and the laws, as the Presi- 
dent may prescribe.' 

" The terms of this Act are without restriction and no distinction is 
made, or was intended to be made, between persons of African Descent 
held to service or labor or those not so held. 

" The President is empowered to receive them all into the military 
service, and assign them such duty as they may be found competent to 
perform. 

" The tenacious and brilliant v.ilor displayed by troops of this race 
at Port Hudson, Milliken's Bend, and Fort Wagner, has sufficiently dem- 
onstrated to the President and to the country, the character of service 
of which they are capable. In the interpretation given to the Enrol- 
ment Act, free citizens of African Descent are treated as citizens of the 
United States, in the sense of the law, and are everywhere being drafted 
into the military service. 

" In reference to the other class of persons of this race — those held 
to service or labor — the 12th section of the Act of July 17th is still in 
full force, and tlie President may in his discretion receive them into the 
army and assign them to such field of duty as he may deem them pre- 
pared to occupy. In view of the loyalty of this race, and of tlie ob- 
stinate courage which they have shown themselves to possess, they cer- 
tainly constitute at this crisis in our history a most powerful and reliable 
arm of the public defence. AVhether this arm shall now be exerted is 
not a question of power or right, but purely of policy, to be determined 
by the estimate which may be entertained of the conflict in which we 
are engaged, and of the necessity that presses to bring this waste of 
blood and treasure to a close. A man precipitated into a struggle foi 
his life on land or sea, instinctively and almost necessarily puts forth 
every energy with which he is endowed, and eagerly seizes upon every 
source of strength within his grasp ; and a nation battling for existence, 
that does not do the same, may well be regarded as neither wise not 
obedient to that great law of self-preservation, from which are derived 



EMrLOYME.VT OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 309 

our most urgent and solemn duties. That there exists a prejudice 
against the employment of persons of African Descent is undeniable ; 
it is, however, rapidly giving way, and never had any foundation in rea- 
son or loyalty It originated with and has been diligently nurtured by 
those in sympathy with the Rebellion, and its utterance at this moment 
is necessarily in the interests of treason. 

" Should the President feel that the public interests require he shall 
exert the power with which he is clothed by the 12th section of the Act 
of the 17th of July, his action should be in subordination to the Consti- 
tutional principle which exacts that compensation shall be made for 
jjiivate property devoted to the public uses. A just compensation to 
loyal claimants to the service or labor of jiersons of African Descent 
enlisted in our army, would accord with the uniform practice of the 
Government and the genius of our institutions ! 

"Sokiiers of this class, after having perilled their lives in the defence 
of the Republic, could not be re-ensl.ived without a national dishonor 
revolting and unendurable for all who are themselves to be free. The 
compensation made, therefore, should be such as entirely to exhaust the 
interest of claimants ; so that when soldiers of this class lay down their 
arms at the close of the war, they may at once enter into the enjoyment 
of that freedom symbolized by the flag which they have followed and 
defended." 

The Negro was now a soldier, legally, "constitutionally." He 
had donned the uniform of an American soldier; was entrusted 
with the honor and defence of his country, and had set before 
him liberty as his exceeding great reward. Rejected at first he 
was at last urged into the service — even drafted! He was 
charged with the solution of a great problem — his fitness, his 
valor. History shall record his deeds of patriotism, his marvel- 
lous achievements, his splendid triumphs. 



iio HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 



CHAPTER XIX. 

NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 

Justification of the Federai. Government in the Employment of Slaves as Soldiers. — 
Trials of the Negro Soldiek. — He undergoes Persecution from the White Northern 
Troops, and Barbarous Treatment from the Rebels. — Editorial of the "New York 
Times'* on the Negro Soldier in Battle. — Report of the "TrhjI'Ne" on the Gallant 
Exploits of the ist South Carolin.\ Volunteers. — Negro Troops in all the Depart- 
ments. — Negro Soldiers in the Battle op Port Hudson. — Death of Captain .Andre 
Callioux. — Death of Color-Sercrant .-Xnselmas Planciancois. — An Account of the 
Battle of Port Hudson. — Officl^l Report of Gen. Banks. — He applauds the Valor 
OF the Colored Regi.ments at Port Hudson. — George H. Borer's Poem on "The 
Black Regiment." — Battle of Milliken's Brnd, June, 1863. — Description of the 
Battle. — Memorable Events of July, 1863. — 'Battle on Morris Island. — Bravery of 
Sergeant Carney. — An Account of the 54TH Massachusetts Regiment by Edward L. 
Pierce to Governor Andrew. — Death of Col. Shaw. — Colored Troops in the Army 
OF THE Potomac. — Battle of Petersburg. — Table showing the Losses at Nashville. 
— Adjt.-Gen. Thomas on Negro Soldiers. — An Extract from the "New York Tribune" 
IN Behalf of the Soldierly Ql'alities of the Negroes. — Letter received by Col. Dar- 
ling from Mr. Aden and Col. F'oster praising the Eminent Qualifications of the 
Negro for ^Jilitarv Life. — History records their Deeds of Valor in the Preserv.\» 
TION of the Union. 

AT.L history, ancient and modern. Pagan and Christian, 
justified the conduct of the Federal Government in the 
employment of slaves as soldiers. Greece had tried the 
experiment ; and at the battle of Marathon there were two regi- 
ments of heavy infantry composed of slaves. The beleaguered 
city of Rome offered freedom to her slaves who should volun- 
teer as soldiers; and at the battle of Cannae a regiment of Ro- 
man slaves made Hannibal's cohorts reel before their unequalled 
courage. When Abraham heard of the loss of his stock, he 
armed his slaves, pursued the enemy, and regained his posses- 
sions. Negro officers as well as soldiers had shared the perils 
and glories of the campaigns of Napoleon Bonaparte ; and even 
the royal guard at the Court of Imperial France had been 
mounted with black soldiers. In two wars in North America 
Negro soldiers had followed the fortunes of military life, and won 
the applause of white patriots on two continents. .So then all his- 
tory furnished a precedent for the guidance of the United States 
Government in the Civil War in America. 



{ 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 3[i 

But there were several aggravating questions whicli had to be 
referred to the future. In both wars in this country the Negro 
had fought a foreign foe — an enemy representing a Christian civil- 
ization. He had a sense of security in going to battle with the 
colonial fathers ; for their sacred battle-songs gave him purpose 
and courage. And, again, the Negro knew that the English sol- 
dier had never disgraced the uniform of Hampden or Wellington 
by practising the cruelties of uncivilized warfare upon helpless 
prisoners. In the Rebellion it was altogether different. Here 
was a war between the States of one Union. Here was a war 
between two sections differing in civilization. Here was a war all 
about the Negro ; a war that was to declare him forever bond, or 
forever free. Now, in such a war the Negro appeared in battle 
against his master. For two hundred and forty-three years the 
Negro had been learning the lesson of obedience and obsequious 
submission to the white man. The system of slavery under 
which he had languished had destroyed the family relation, the 
source of all virtue, self-respect, and moral growth. The ten- 
dency of slavery was to destroy the confidence of the slave in 
his ability and resources, and to disqualify him for those rela- 
tions where the noblest passion of mankind is to be exercised 
in an intelligent manner — amor patria;. 

Negro soldiers were required by an act of Congress to fight 
for the Union at a salary of %\o per month, with S3 deducted 
for clothing — leaving them only $7 per month as their actual 
pay. Wiiite .soldiers received $13 per month and clothing." 

The Negro soldiers had to run the gauntlet of the persecuting 
hate of white Northern troops, and, if captured, endure the 
most barbarous treatment of the rebels, without a protest on the 
part of the Government — for at least nearly a year. Hooted at, 
jeered, and stoned in the streets of Northern cities as they 
marched to the front to fight for the Union ; scoffed at and 
abused by white troops under the flag of a common country, 
there was little of a consoling or inspiring nature in the experi- 
ence of Negro soldiers. 

' This was remedied at lenglh, after the ;4th Massachusetts Infaiury had refused 
pay for a ye.Tr, unless the regiment could be treated as other regiments. Major 
Stui^es, .\geiit for ihe State of Massachusetts, made up the difference between $7 and 
$13 to disabled and discharged soldiers of this regiment, until the 15th June, 1S64, 
when the Government came to its senses respecting this great injustice to its gallant 
soldiers. 



312 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" But none of these things " moved the Negro soldier. His 
qualifications for the profession of arms were ample and admir- 
able. To begin with, the Negro soldier was a patriot of the 
highest order. No race of people in the world are more thor- 
oughly domestic, have such tender attachments to home and 
friends as the Negro race. And when his soul was quickened 
with the sublime idea of liberty for himself and kindred — that 
his home and country were to be rid of the triple curse of slavery 
— his enthusiasm was boundless. His enthusiasm was not mere 
animal e.\citement. No white soldier who marched to the music 
of the Union possessed a more lofty conception of the sacred- 
ness of the war for the Union than the Negro. The intensity of 
his desires, the sincerity of his prayers, and the sublimity of his 
faith during the long and starless night of his bondage made the 
Negro a poet, after a fashion. To him there was poetry in our 
flag- — the red, white, and blue. Our national odes and airs found 
a response in his soul, and inspired him to the performance of 
heroic deeds. He was always seeing something " sublime," 
"glorious," "beautiful," "grand," and "wonderful" in war. 
There was poetry in the swinging, measured tread of companies 
and regiments in drill or battle ; and dress parade always found 
the Negro soldier in the height of his glory. His love of har- 
monious soundg, his musical faculty, and delight of show aided 
him in the performance of the most difficult manoeuvres. His 
imitativeness gave him facility in handling his musket and sabre; 
and his love of domestic animals, and natural strength made him 
a graceful cavalryman and an efficient artilleryman. 

The lessons of obedience the Negro had learned so 
thoroughly as a slave were turned to good account as a 
soldier. He obeyed orders to the letter. He never used 
his discretion ; he added nothing to, he subtracted noth- 
ing from, his orders; he made no attempt at reading be- 
tween the lines; he did not interpret — he obeyed. Used to out- 
door life, with e.Kcellent hearing, wonderful eyesight, and gteat 
vigilance, he was a model picket. Heard every sound, observed 
every moving thing, and was quick to shoot, and of steady aim. 
He was possessed of exceptionally good teeth, and, tlierefore, 
could bite his cartridge and hard tack. He had been trained to 
long periods of labor, poor food, and miserable quarters, and 
therefore, could endure extreme fatigue and great exposure. 

His docility uf nature, patient endurance, and hopeful dispo- 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 313 

sition enabled him to endure long marches, severe hardships, and 
painful wounds. His joyous, boisterous songs on the march and 
in the camp ; his victorious shout in battle, and his merry laugh- 
ter in camp proclaimed him the insoluble enigma of military life. 
He never was discouraged ; vielancliolia had no abiding place in 
his nature. 

But how did the Negro meet his master in battle? How 
did he stand fire? On the 31st of July, 1863, the " New York 
Times," editorially answered these questions as follows : 

"Negro soldiers have now been in battle at Port Hudson and at 
Milliken's Bend in Louisiana ; at Helena in Arkansas, at Morris Island 
in South Carolina, and at or near Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory. 
In two of these instances they assaulted fortified jjositioiis and led the 
assault ; in two they fought on the defensive, and in one they attacked 
rebel infantry. In all of them they acted in conjunction with white 
troops and under command of white officers. In some instances they 
acted with distinguished bravery, and in all they acted as well as could 
be expected of raw troops. 

" Some of these negroes were from the cotton States, others from 
New England States, and others from the slave States of tlie Northwest. 
Those who fought at Port Hudson were from New Orleans ; those who 
fought at Battery Wagner were from Boston ; tiiose who fought at 
Helena and Young's Point were from the river counties of .\rkansas, 
Mississippi, and Tennessee. Those who fought in the Indian Territory 
were from Missouri." 

This is warm praise from a journal of the high, though con- 
.servative, character of the " Times." Warmer praise and more 
unqualified praise of the Negro soldier's fighting qualities could 
not be given. And it was made after a careful weighing of all 
the facts and evidence supplied from careful and reliable corre- 
spondents. But more specific evidence was being furnished on 
every hand. The 1st South Carolina Volunteers — the first regi- 
ment of Negroes enlisted during the war, — commanded by Col. 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, was the first Black regiment of 
its character under the fire of the enemy. The regiment covered 
itself with glory during an expedition upon the St. John's River 
in Florida. The " Times " gave the following editorial notice of 
the expedition at the time, based upon the official report of the 
colonel and a letter from its special correspondent: 



314 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" The Negroes in Battle. 

"Colonel Higginson, of the ist S. C. Volunteers, furnishes an enter- 
taining official report of the exploits of his black regiment in Florida. 
He seems to think it necessary to put his case strongly, and in 
rather exalted language, as well as in such a way as to convince the 
public that negroes will fight. In this ex])edition, his battalion was 
repeatedly under fire — had rebel cavalry, infantry, and, says he, ' even 
artillery ' arranged against them, yet in every instance came off with 
unblemished honor and undisputed triumph. His men made the 
most urgent appeals to him to be allowed to press the flying enemy. 
They exhibited the most fiery energy beyond anything of which Col- 
onel Higginson ever read, unless it may be in the case of the French 
Zouaves. He even says that ' it would have been madness to attempt 
with the bravest white troops what he successfully accomplished with 
black ones.' No wanton destruction was permitted, no personal out- 
rages desired, during the expedition. The regiment, besides the vic- 
tories which it achieved, and the large amount of valuable property 
which it secured, obtained a cannon and a flag which the Colonel 
very properly asks permission for the regiment to retain. The officers 
and men desire to remain permanently in Florida, and obtain sup- 
plies of lumber, iron, etc., for the Government. The Colonel puts 
forth a very good sugggstion, to the effect that a ' chain of such posts 
would completely alter the whole aspect of the war in the seaboard 
slave States, and would accomplish what no accumulation of Northern 
regiments can so easily effect.' This is the very use for negro soldiers 
suggested in the Proclamation of the President. We have no doubt 
that the whole State of Florida might easily be held for the Government 
in this way, by a dozen negro regiments." ' 

On the nth of February, 1863, the " Times" gave the fol- 
lowing account of the exploits of this gallant regiment in the 
following explicit language: 

"' Account of a Successful Expedition into Georgia and 
Florida with a Force of Four Hundred and Sixty- 
two Officers and Men of the ist South 
Carolina Volunteers. 

" The bravery and good conduct of the regiment more than equalled 
the high anticipations of its connnander. The men were repeatedly 
under fire, — were ojiposed by infantry, cavalry, and artillery, — fought 
on board a steamer exposed to heavy musketry fire from the banks of a 

'Times, Feb. 10, 1S63. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 315 

narrow river, — were tried in all ways, and came (jIT invariably with honor 
and success. They brough.t away property to a large amount, capturing 
also a cannon and a flag, which the Colonel asks leave to keep for the 
regiment, and which he and they have fairiy won. 

" It will not need many such rejjorts as this — and there have 
been several before it — to shake our inveterate Sa.xon prejudice 
against the capacity and courage of negro troops. Everybody knows 
that they were used in the Revolution, and in the last war with Great 
Britain fouglit side by side with white troojis, and won equal jiraises 
from Washington and Jackson. It is shown also that black sailors 
employed on our men-of-war, are vaJued by their commanders, and 
are on equal terms with their white comrades. If on the sea, why 
not on the land ? No officer who has commanded black troops has 
yet reported against them. They are tried in the most unfavorable and 
difficult circumstances, but never fail. When shall we learn to use the 
full strength of the formidable ally who is only waiting for a summons 
to rally under the flag of the Union ? Colonel Higginson says : ' No 
officer in this regiment now doubts that the successful prosecution of 
this war lies in the unlimited employment of l)lack troops.' The re- 
mark is true in a military sense, and it has a still deeper political 
significance. 

" When General Hunter has scattered 50,000 muskets among the 
negroes of the Carolinas, and General Hutler has organized che 100,000 
or 200,000 blacks for whom he may perhaps shortly carry arms to New- 
Orleans, the possibility of restoring the Union as it was, with slavery 
again its dormant i)ower, \vill be seen to have finally passed away. The 
negro is indeed the key to success." ' 

So here, in the Department of the South, where General 
Hunter had displayed such aclmirablc military judgment, first, in 
emancipating the slave, and second, in arming them ; here where 
the white Union soldiers and tlicir officers had felt themselves 
insulted; and where the President had disarmed the 1st regiment 
of ex-slavcs and removed the officer who had organized it, a few 
companies of Negro troops had fought rebel infantry, cavalry, 
artillery, and guerillas, and put them all to flight. They had in- 
vaded the enemy's country, made pri.soncrs, and captured arms 
and flags; and without committing a single depredation. Preju- 
dice gave room to praise, and the exclusive, distant spirit of 
white soldiers was converted into the warm and close admiration 
of comradeship. The most sanguine expectations and high opin- 

' Times. Feb. 11, 1863. 



3i6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

ions of the advocates of Negro soldiers were more than realized, 
while the prejudice of Negro haters was disarmed by the flinty 
logic and imperishable glory of Negro soldiership.' 

Every Department had its Negro troops by this time ; and 
everywhere the Negro was solving the problem of his military 
existence. At Port Hudson in May, 1863, he proved himself 
worthy of his uniform and the object of the most extravagant 
eulogies from the lips of men who were, but a few months before 
the battle, opposed to Negro soldiers. Mention has been made 
in another chapter of the Colored regiment raised in New Orleans 
under General Butler. After remaining in camp from the 7th of 
September, 1862, until May, 1863, they were quite efficient in 
the use of their arms. The 1st Louisiana regiment was ordered 
to report to General Dwiglit. The regiment was at Baton Rouge. 
Its commanding officer, Colonel Stafford [white], was under arrest 
when the regiment was about ready to go to the front. 

The line officers assembled at his quarters to assure him that 
the regiment would do its duty in the day of battle, and to ten- 
der their regrets that he could not lead them on the field. At 
this moment the color-guard marched up to receive the regimen- 
tal flags. Colonel Stafford stepped into his tent and returned 
with the flags. He made a speech full of patriotism and feeling, 
and concluded by saying : " Color-guard, protect, defend, die for, 
but do not surrender these flags ! " Sergeant Planciancois said : 
" Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in honor, or report 
to God the reason why ! " Noble words these, and brave ! And 
no more fitting epitaph could mark the resting-place of a hero 
who has laid down his life in defence of human liberty! A king 
might well covet these sublime words of the dauntless Plancian- 
cois ! 

PORT HUDSON. 

It was a question of grave doubt among white troops as to 
the fighting qualities of Negro soldiers. There were various 
doubts expressed by the ofificers on both sides of the line. The 
Confederates greeted the news that " niggers " were to meet them 
in battle with derision, and treated the whole matter as a huge 
joke. The Federal soldiers were filled with amazement and fear 
as to the issue. 

' For the official report of Colonel Higginson and the war conespoiident, see Re- 
belliou Records, vol. vii. Document, pp. 176-17S. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 317 

It was the determination of the commanding officer at Port 
Hudson to assign this Negro regiment to a post of honor and 
danger. The regiment marched all night before the battle of 
Port Hudson, and arrived at one Dr. Chambers's sugar house on 
the 27th of May, 1863. It was just 5 .\. M. when the regiment 
stacked arms. Orders were given to rest and breakfast in one 
hour. The heat was intense and the dust thick, and so thorough- 
ly fatigued were the men that many sank in their tracks and 
slept soundly. 

Arrangements were made for a field hospital, and the drum 
corps instructed where to carry the wounded. Officers' call was 
beaten at 5:30, when they received instructions and encourage- 
ment. " Fall in " was sounded at 6 o'clock, and soon thereafter 
the regiment was on the marcli. The sun was now shining in his 
full strength upon the field where a great battle was to be fought. 
The enemy was in his stronghold, and his forts were crowned with 
angry and destructive guns. The hour to charge had come. It 
was 7 o'clock. There was a feeling of an.xiety among the white 
troops as they watched the movements of these Blacks in blue. 
The latter were anxious for the fray. At last the command 
came, " Forward, double-quick, march ! " and on they went over 
the field of death. Not a musket was heard until the command 
was within four hundred yards of the enemy's works, when a 
blistering fire was opened upon the left wing of the regiment. 
Unfortunately Companies A, B, C, D, and E wheeled suddenly 
by the left flank. Some confusion followed, but was .soon over. 
A shell — the first that fell on the line— killed and wounded about 
twelve men. The regiment came to a right about, and fell back 
for a few hundred yards, wheeled by companies, and faced the 
enemy again with the coolness and military precision of an old 
regiment on parade. The enemy was busy at work now. . Grape, 
canister, shell, and musketry made the air hideous with their 
noi.se. A masked battery commanded a bluff, and the guns 
could be depressed sufficiently to sweep the entire field over 
which the regiment must charge. It must be remembered that 
this regiment occupied the extreme right of the charging line. 
The masked battery worked upon the left wing. A three-gun 
battery was situated in the centre, while a half dozen large pieces 
shelled the right, and enfiladed the regiment front and rear every 
time it charged the battery on the bluff. A bayou ran under 
the bluff, immediately in front of the guns. It was too deep to 



3iS HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

be forded by men. These brave Colored soldiers made six des- 
perate charges with indifferent success, because 

" Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon in front of them 

Volleyed and thundered ; 
Stormed at with shot and shell." 

The men behaved splendidly. As their ranks were thinned 
by shot and grape, they closed up into place, and kept a good 
line. But no matter what high soldierly qualities these men 
were endowed with, no matter how faithfully they obeyed the 
oft-repeated order to " cliarge," it was both a moral and physical 
impossibility for these men to cross the deep bayou that flowed 
at their feet — already crimson with patriots' blood — and capture 
the battery on the bluff. Colonel Nelson, who commanded this 
black brigade, despatched an orderly to General Dwight, inform- 
ing him that it was not in the nature of things for his men to 
accomplish any thing by further charges. " Tell Colonel Nel- 
son," said General Dwight, " I shall consider that he has accom- 
plished nothing unless he takes those guns." This last order of 
General Dwight's will go into history as a cruel and unnecessary 
act. He must have known that three regiments of infantry, torn 
and shattered by about fifteen or twenty heavy guns, with an 
impassable bayou encircling the bluff, could accomplish nothing 
by charging. But the men, what could they do? 

" Theirs not to make reply. 
Theirs not to reason why, 
Theirs but to do and die." 

Death of Captain Andre Callioux. 

Again the order to charge was given, and the men, worked up 
to a feeling of desperation on account of repeated failures, raised 
a cry and made another charge. The ground was covered with 
dead and wounded. Trees were felled by shell and solid shot; 
and at one time a company was covered with the branches of a 
falling tree. Captain Callioux was in command of Company E, 
the color company. He was first wounded in the left arm — the 
limb being broken above the elbow. He ran to the front of his 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 319 

Goinpany, waving liis sword and cryini,^ " Follow me." ]5iit when 
within about fifty yards of the enemy he was struck by a shell 
and fell dead in front of his company. 

Many Greeks fell defending; the pass at Thermopyhe against 
the Persian army, but history has made peculiarly conspicuous 
Leoiiidas and his four hundred Spartans. In a not distant future, 
when a calm and truthful histor\' of the battle of Port Hudson 
is written, notwithstanding many men fought and died there, the 
heroism of the "Black Captain," the accomplished gentleman 
and fearless soldier, Andre Calliou.x, and his faithful followers, 
will make a most fascinating picture for future generations to 
look upon and study. 

Dkath or C(jlor-Sf,rgf.ant Anselmas Planciancois. 

" Colonel, I will bring back these colors to you in honor, or 
report to God the reason why." It was now past I I A.M., May 
27, 1863. The men were struggling in front of the bluff. The 
brave Callioux was lying lifeless upon the field, that was now 
sli])pery with gore and crimson with blood. The enemy was di- 
recting his shell and shot at the flags of the First Regiment. A 
shell, about a si.x-pounder, struck the flag-staff, cut it in two, and 
carried away part of tiie head of PlancianciMs. He fell, and the 
fl.ig covered him as a canopy of glory, and drank of the crimson 
tide that flowed from his mutilated head. Corporal Heath caught 
up the flag, but no sooner had he shouldered the dear old banner 
than a musket ball went crashing through his head and scattered 
his brains upon the flag, and lie, still clinging to it, fell deatl upon 
the body of Sergeant Planciancois. Another corporal caught up 
the banner and bore it through the fight with pride. 

This was the last charge — the seventh ; and what was left of 
tliis gallant Black brigade came back from the hell into which 
tluy had plunged with so much daring and forgetfulness seven 
times. 

They did not captvire the battery on the bluff it's true, but 
they convinced the white soldiers on both sides that they were 
both willing and able to lielp fight the battles of the Union. 
And if any person doubts the abilities of the Negro as a soldier, 
let him talk with General Banks, as we have, and hear" his golden 
eloquence on the black brigade at Port Hud.son." 

A few days after the battle a " New York Times " corre 
spondent sent the following account to that journal: 



320 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Battle of Port Hudson. 

" In an account of t'le Battle of Port Hudson, the 'Times" corre- 
spondent says : ' Hearing the firing apparently more fierce and continu- 
ous to the right than anywhere else, I hurried in that direction, past the 
sugar house of Colonel Chambers, where I had slept, and advanced to 
near the pontoon bridge across the Big Sandy Bayou, which the negro 
regiments had erected, and where they were fighting most desperately. 
I had seen these brave and hitherto despised fellows the day before as 
I rode along the lines, and I had seen General Banks acknowledge their 
respectful salute as he would have done that of any white troops ; but 
still the question was— witli too many, — '" Will they fight ? " The black 
race was, on this eventful day, to be put to the test, and the question to 
be settled — now and forever, — whether or not they are entitled to assert 
their right to manhood. Nobly, indeed, have they acquitted themselves, 
and proudly may every colored man hereafter hold up his head, and 
point to the record of those who fell on that bloody field. 

" ' General Dwight, at least, must have had the idea, not only that 
they were men, but something more than men, from the terrific test to 
which he put their valor. Before any impression had been made u]ion 
the earthworks of the enemy, and in full face of the batteries belching 
forth their 62 pounders, these devoted people rushed forward to en- 
counter grape, canister, shell, and musketry, with no artillery but two 
small howitzers — that seemed mere pop-guns to their adversaries — and 
no reserve whatever. 

" 'Their force consisted of the ist. Louisiana Native Guards (with 
colored field-officers) under Lieut. -Colonel Bassett, and the 3d Louisiana 
Native Guards, Colonel Nelson (with white field-officers), the whole under 
command of the latter officer. 

" ' On going into action they were 1,080 strong, and formed into four 
lines, Lieut. -Colonel Bassett, ist Louisiana, forming the first line, and 
Lieut. -Colonel Henry Finnegas the second. When ordered to charge 
up the works, they did so with the skill and nerve of old veterans, 
(black people, be it remembered who had never been in action before,) 
but the fire from the rebel guns was so terrible upon the unprotected 
masses, that the first few shots mowed them down like grass and so 
continued. 

'■ ' Colonel Bassett being driven back. Colonel Finnegas took his 
place, and his men being similarly cut to pieces, Lieut. -Colonel Bassett 
reformed and recommenced ; and thus these brave people went in, from 
morning until 3:30 p. m., under the most hideous carnage that men ever 
had to withstand, and that very few white ones would have had nerve to 
encounter, even if ordered to. During this time, they ralhed, and were 
oidered to make six distinct charges, losing thirty-seven killed, and one 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 52; 

hundred and fifty-five wounded, and one luindred and sixteen missing, 
— the majority, if not all, of these being, in all probability, now lying 
dead on the gory field, and without the rites of sepulture ; for when, by 
flag of truce, our forces in other directions were permitted to reclaim 
their dead, the benefit, through some neglect, was not extended to these 
black regiments. 

The deeds of heroism ])crformcd by these colored men were such as 
the proudest white men might emulate. Their colors are torn to pieces 
by shot, and literally bespattered by blood and brains. The color- 
sergeant of the 1st. La., on being mortally wounded, hugged the 
colors to his breast, when a struggle ensued between the two color-cor- 
jiorals on each side of him, as to who sliould have the honor of bearing 
the sacred standard, and during this generous contention one was seri- 
ously wounded. One black lieutenant actually mounted the enemy's 
works three or four times, and in one charge the assaulting party came 
within fifty paces of them. Indeed, if only ordinarily s\ipported by 
artillery and reserve, no one can convince us that they would not have 
opened a passage through the enemy's works. 

" ' Capr. Callioux of the ist. La., a m.nn so black that he actually 
prided himself upon his blackness, died the death of a hero, leading 
on his men in the thickest of the fight. One poor wounded fellow 
came along with his arm shattered by a shell, and jauntily swinging it 
with the other, as he said to a friend of mine : " Massa, guess I can 
fight no more." I was with one of the captains, looking after the 
wounded going in the rear of the hosjiital, when we met one limping 
along toward the front. On being asked where he was going, he said : 
" I been shot bad in the leg, captain, and dey want me to go to de hos- 
pital, but I guess I can gib 'em some more yet." I could go on filling 
your columns with startling facts of tliis kind, but I hope I have told 
enough to prove that we can hereafter rely upon black arms as well as 
white in crushing this iniernal rebellion. I long ago told you there was 
an army of 250,000 men ready to leap forward in defence of freedom at 
the first call. You know where to find them and what they are worth. 

'■ ' -Mthough repulsed in an attempt which — situated as things were — 
was all but impossible, these regiments, though badly cut up, are still 
on hand, and burning with a p.ission ten times hotter from their fierce 
baptism of blood. Who knows but that it is a black hand which shall 
first ]ilant the standard of the Republic upon the doomed ramparts of 
Port Hudson ?" ' 

The official report of Gen. Banks is given in full. It show.s 
the disposition of the troops, and applauds the valor of the 
Colored regiments. 



' New York Times, June • j. 



322 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

''Headquarters Armv of the Gulf, ( 
"Before Port Hudson, May 30, 1863. \ 

''^ Major -General H. W. Halleck, General iii-Chief, Washington. 

" General : — Leaving Soramesport on the Atchafalaya, where my 
command was at the date of my last dispatch, I landed at Bayou Sara 
at two o'clock on the morning of the 21st. 

" A portion of the infantry were transported in steamers, and the 
balance of the infantry, artillery, cavalry, and wagon-train moving down 
on the west bank of the river, and from this to Bayou Sara. 

" On the 23d a junction was effected with the advance of Major- 
General Augur and Brigadier-General Sherman, our line occupying the 
Bayou Sara road at a distance five miles from Port Pludson. 

" Major-General Augur had an encounter with a portion of the 
enemy on the Bayou Sara road in the direction of Baton Rouge, which 
resulted in the repulse of the enemy, with heavy loss. 

"On the 25th the enemy was compelled to abandon his first line of 
works. 

" General Weitzel's brigade, which had covered our rear in the march 
from Alexandria, joined us on the 26th, and on the morning of the 27th 
a general assault was made upon the fortifications. 

" The artillery opened fire between 5 and 6 o'clock, which was con- 
tinued with animation during the day. At 10 o'clock Weitzel's brigade, 
with the division of General Grover, reduced to about two brigades, 
and the division of General Emory, temporarily reduced by detachments 
to about a brigade, under command of Colonel Paine," with two regi- 
ments of colored troops, made an assault upon the right of the enemy's 
works, crossing Sandy Creek, and driving them tli rough the woods to 
their fortifications. 

"The fight lasted on this line until 4 o'clock, and w,is very severely 
contested. On the left, the infantry did not come up until I-^ter in the 
day ; but at 2 o'clock an assault was opened on the centre ami left of 
centre by the divisions under Major-General Augur and Brigadier Gen- 
eral Sherman. 

" The enemy was driven into his works, and our troops moved Uj> 
to the fortifications, holding the opposite sides of the parapet with the 
enemy on the right. Our troops still hold their position on the left. 
After dark the main body, being e.\posed to a flank fire, withdrew 
to a belt of woods, the skirmishers remaining close upon the fortifica- 
tions. 

" In the assault of the 27th, the behavior'of the officers and men was 
most gallant, and left nothing to be desired. Our limited acquaintance 
of the ground and the character of the works, which were almost hid- 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 323 

den from our observation until tlic moment of approach, alone prevented 
the cajiture of the post. 

"On the extreme right of our line I posted the first and third regi- 
ments of negro troops. The First regiment of Louisiana Engineers, 
composed exclusively of colored men, excepting the officers, was also en- 
gaged in the operations of the day. The position occupied by these 
troops was one of importance, and called lor the utmost steadiness and 
bravery in those to whom it was confided. 

"It gives me pleasure to report that tliey answered every expecta- 
tion. Their conduct was heroic. No troops could be more determined 
or more daring. They made, during the day, three charges upon the 
batteries of the enemy, suffering very heavy losses, and holding their 
position at nightfall with the other troops on the right of our line. The 
highest commendation is bestowed upon them by all the officers in com- 
mand on the right. Whatever doubt may have existed before as to the 
efficiency of organizations of this character, the history of this day proves 
conclusively to those who were in a condition to observe the conduct of 
these regiments, that the Government will find in this class of troops 
effective supporters and defenders. 

" The severe test to which they were subjected, and the determined 
manner in which they encountered the enemy, leave upon my mind no 
doubt of their ultimate success. They require only good officers, com- 
mands of limited numbers, and careful discipline, to make them excel- 
lent soldiers. 

" Our losses from the 23d to this date, in killed, wounded, and 
missing, are nearly 1,000, including, I deeply regret to say, some of 
the ablest officers of the corps. I am unable yet to report them in 
detail. 

'■ I have the honor to be, with much respect 
'■ Your obedient servant, 

" N. P. Banks, 

"Major- General Commanding. " 

The effect of this battle upon the country can .scarcely be de- 
scribed. Glowing accounts of the charge of the Black Regi- 
ments appeared in nearly all the leading journals of the \orth. 
The hearts of orators and poets were stirred to elegant utter- 
ance. The friends of the Xegro were encouraged, and their 
number multiplied. The Colored people themselves were jubi- 
lant. Mr. George H. Boker, of Philadelphia, the poet friend of 
the Negro, wrote the following elegant verses on the gallant 
charge of the 1st Louisiana: 



324 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

THE BLACK REGIMENT, . 
May 27, 1863. 
By George \\. Boker. 



Dark as the clouds of even, 
Ranked in the western heaven, 
Waiting the breath that lifts 
All the dread mass, and drifts 
Tempest and falling brand 
Over a ruined land ; — 
So still and orderly, 
Arm to arm, knee to knee, 
Waiting the great event, 
Stands the black regiment. 

Down the long dusky line 
Teeth gleam and eyeballs shine ; 
And the bright bayonet, 
Bristling and firmly set, 
Flashed with a purpose grand, 
Long ere the sharp command 
Of the fierce rolling drum 
Told them their time had come, 
Told them what work was sent 
For the black regiment. 

" Now," the flag-sergeant cried, 
" Though death and hell betide. 
Let the whole nation see 
If we are fit to be 
Free in this land ; or bound 
Down, like the whining liound — 
Bound with red stripes of pain 
In our old chains again ! " 
Oh ! what a shout tliere went 
From the black regiment ! 

" Charge 1 " Trump and drum awoke, 
Onward the bondmen broke ; 
Bayonet and sabre-stroke 
Vainly opposed their rush. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS 325 

Through the wild battle's crush, 
With but one thought aflush, 
Driving their lords like chaff, 
In the guns' mouths they laugh ; 
Or at the slippery brands 
Leaping with open hands, 
Down they tear man and horse, 
Down in their awful course ; 
Trampling with bloody heel 
Over the crashing steel. 
All their eyes forward bent. 
Rushed the black regiment. 

" Freedom ! " their battle-cry — 
" Freedom ! or leave to die ! " 
Ah ! and they meant the word, 
Not as with u^; 't is heard. 
Not a mere party-shout : 
They gave their spirits out • 
Trusted the end to God, 
And on the gory sod 
Rolled in triumphant blood. 
Glad to strike one free blow, 
Whether for weal or woe ; 
Glad to breathe one free breath. 
Though on the lips of death. 
Praying — alas ! in vain ! — 
That they might fall again, 
So they could once more see 
That burst to liberty ! 
This was what " freedom " lent 
To the black regiment. 

Hundreds on hundreds fell ; 
But they are resting well ; 
Scourges and shackles strong 
Never shall do them wrong. 
Oh, to the living few, 
Soldiers, be just and true ! 
Hail them as comrades tried ; 
Fight with them side by side ; 
Never, in field or tent, 
Scorn the black regiment I 



326 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on the 6th of June, 
1863. The troops at this point were under the command of 
Brig-Gen. E. S. Dennis. The force consisted of the 23d Iowa, 
160 men; 9th La., 500; nth La., 600; 1st Miss., 150; total, 
1,410. Gen. Dennis's report places the number of his troops 
at 1,061 ; but evidently a clerical error crept into the report. 
Of the force engaged, 1,250 were Colored, composing the gth 
and iith Louisiana and the 1st Mississippi. The attacking 
force comprised si.K Confederate regiments — about 3,000 men, — 
under the command of Gen. Henry McCulloch. This force, 
coming from the interior of Louisiana, by the way of Richmond, 
struck the 9th Louisiana and two companies of Federal cavalry, 
and drove them within sight of the earthworks at the Bend. It 
was now nightfall, and the enemy rested, hoping and believing 
himself able to annihilate the Union forces on the morrow. 

During the night a steamboat passed the Bend, and Gen. 
Dennis availed himself of the opportunity of sending to Admiral 
Porter for assistance. The gun-boats, " Choctaw " and " Lexing- 
ton " were despatched to Milliken's Bend from Helena. As the 
"Choctaw " was coming in sight, at 3 o'clock in the morning, the 
rebels made their first charge on the Federal earthworks, filling 
the air with their vociferous cries: '■^ No quarter!'''' to Negroes 
and th.eir officers. The Negro troops had just been recruited, and 
hence knew little or nothing of the manual or use of arms. But 
the desperation with which they fought has no equal in the an- 
nals of modern wars. The enemj' charged the works with des- 
perate fury, but were checked by a deadly fire deliberately de- 
livered by the troops within. The enemy fell back and charged 
the flanks of the Union columns, and, by an enfilading fire, drove 
them back toward the river, where they sought the protection of 
the gun-boats. The " Choctaw " opened a broadside upon the 
e.xulting foe, and caused him to beat a hasty retreat. The Negro 
troops were ordered to charge, and it was reported by a " Tri- 
bune " correspondent that many of the Union troops were killed 
before the gun-boats could be signalled to " tfrt.sfyf^-///^'." The 
following description of the battle was given by an eye-witness 
of the affair, and a gentleman of exalted character: 

" My informant states that a force of about one thousand negroes 
and two hundred men of the Twenty-third Iowa, belonging to the 
Second brigade, Carr's division (the Twenty-third Iowa had been up 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 327 

the river with jirisoners, and was on its way back to this place), was 
surprised in camp by a rebel force of about two thousand men. The 
first intimation that the commanding officer received was from one of 
the black )nen, who went intu tile colonel's tent and said . ' Massa, the 
secesh arc in cainp.' The colonel ordered him to have the men load 
their guns at once. He instantly replied : ' We have done did dat 
now, massa.' Before the colonel was ready, the men were in line, ready 
for action.' As before stated, the rebels drove our force toward the 
gun-boats, taking colored men prisoners and murdering them. This so 
enraged them that they rallied and charged the enemy more heroi- 
cally and desperately than has been recorded during the war. It was a 
genuine bayonet charge, a hand-to-hand fight, that has never occurred to 
any e.\tent during this ])rolonged conflict. U])on both sides men were 
killed with the butts of muskets. White and black men were lying side 
by side, pierced by bayonets, and in some instances transfixed to the 
earth. In one instance, two men, one white and the other black, were 
found dead, side by side, each having the other's bayonet through his 
body. If facts prove to be what they are now represented, this engage- 
ment of Sunday morning will be recorded as the most desperate of this 
war. Broken limbs, broken heads, the mangling of bodies, all prove 
that it was a contest between enraged men : on the one side from hatred 
to a race ; and on the other, desire for self-preservation, revenge for jjast 
grievances and the inhuman murtier of their ('omrades. One brave 
man took his former master prisoner, and brought him into camp with 
great gusto. -V rebel prisoner made a particidar request, that his own 
negroes should not be placed o\er him as a guard. Dame Fortune is 
capricious 1 His request was not granted. Their mode of warfare does 
not entitle them to any privileges. If any are granted, it is from mag- 
nanimity to a fellow-foe. 

" The rebels lost five cannon, two hundred men killed, four hundred 
to five hundred wounded, and about two hundred prisoners. Our loss 
is reported to be one hundred killed and five hundred wounded ; but 
few were white men." ' 

Mr. G. G. Edwards, who was in the fitjht, wrote, on the 13th 
of June : 

" Tauntingly it has been said that negroes won't fight. Who say it, 
and who but a dastard and a brute will dare to say it, when the battle 
of Milliken's Bend finds its place among the heroic deeds of this war? 
This battle has significance. It demonstrates the fact that the freed 
slaves will fight." 

' Rebellion Records, vol. vii. Doc, p. 15. 



328 ///SrOJ^y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The month of July, 1S63, was memorable. Gen. Mead had 
driven Lee from Gettysburg, Grant had captured Vicksburg, 
Banks had captured Port Hudson, and Gillmore had begun liis 
operations on Morris Island. On the 13th of July the New York 
Draft Riot broke out. The Democratic press had advised the 
people that they were to be called upon to fight the battles of 
the "Niggers" and "Abolitionists"; while Gov. Seymour " r^- 
qucstcd" the rioters to await the return of his adjutant-general 
whom he had despatched to Washington to have the President 
suspend the draft. The speech was either cowardly or trea- 
sonous. It meant, when read between the lines, it is unjust for 
the Government to draft you men ; I will try and get the Gov- 
ernment to rescind its order, and until then you are respectfully 
requested to suspend your violent acts ■d.^MWiX. property. But the 
riot went on. When the troops under Gen. Wool took charge of 
the city, thirteen rioters were killed, eighteen wounded, and 
twenty-four made prisoners. The rioters rose ostensibly to resist 
the draft, but tliere were three objects before them : robbery, 
the destruction of the property of the rich sympathizers with the 
Union, and the assassination of Colored persons wherever found. 
They burned the Colored Orphans' As3'lum, hung Colored men 
to lamp posts, and destroyed the property of this class of citizens 
with impunity. 

During these tragic events in New York a gallant Negro regi- 
ment was preparing to lead an assault upon the rebel Fort 
Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina. On the morning of 
the i6th of July, 1S63, the 54th Massachusetts — first Colored 
regiment from the North — was compelled to fall back upon Gen. 
Terry from before a strong and fresh rebel force from Georgia. 
This was on James Island. The 54th was doing picket duty, and 
these early visitors thought to find Terry asleep; but instead 
found him awaiting their coming with all the vigilance of an old 
soldier. And in addition 10 the compliment his troops paid 
the enemy, the gunboats " Pawnee," " Huron," " Marblehead." 
" John Adams," and " Mayflower " paid their warmest respects 
to the intruders. They soon withdrew, having sustained a loss 
of 200, while Gen. Terry's loss was only about 100. It had 
been arranged to concentrate the Union forces on Morris Island, 
open a bombardment upon Fort Wagner, and then charge and 
take it on the iSth. The troops on James Island were put in 
motion to form a junction with the forces already upon Morris 



NEGROES AS SOLJ)I f.RS. 329 

Island. The marcli of tlie 54th Mass., Dej;an on the night of the 
1 6th and continued until the afternoon of the iSth. Through 
ugly marshes, over swollen streams, and broken dykes — through 
darkness and rain, the regiment made its way to Morris Island 
where it arrived at 6 A. M. of the iSthof July. The bombard- 
ment of Wagner was to have opened at daylight of this day; 
but a terrific storm sweeping over land and sea prevented. It was 
12:30 I'.M. when the thunder of siege guns, batteries, and gun- 
boats announced the opening of the dance of death. A semi- 
circle of batteries, stretching across the island for a half mile, sent 
their messages of destruction into Wagner, while the fleet of iron 
vessels battered down the works of the haughty and impregna- 
ble little fort. All the afternoon one hundred great guns thun- 
dered at the gates of Wagner. Toward the evening the bom- 
bardment began to slacken until a death-like stillness ensued. 
To close this part of the dreadful programme Nature lifted her 
hoarse and threatening voice, and a severe thunder-storm broke 
over the scene. Darkness was coming on. The brave Black 
regiment had reached Gen. Strong's headquarters fatigued, hun- 
gry, and damp. No time could be allowed for refreshments. 
Col. Shaw and Gen. Strong addressed the regiment in eloquent, 
inspiring language. Line of battle was formed in three brigades. 
The first was led by Gen. Strong, consisting of the 54th Massa- 
chusetts (Colored), Colonel Robert Gould Shaw ; the 6th Con- 
necticut, Col. Chatfield ; the 48th New York, Col. Harton ; the 
3d New Hampshire, Col. Jackson; the 76th Pennsylvania, Col. 
Strawbridge ; and the 9th Maine. The 54th was tlie only regi- 
ment of Colored men in the brigade, and to it was assigned the 
post of honor and danger in the front of the attacking column. 
The shadows of night were gathering thick and fast. Gen. 
Strong took his position, and the order to charge was given. On 
the brave Negro regiment swept amid the shot and shell of Sum- 
ter, Cumming's Point, and Wagner. Within a few minutes the 
troops had double-quicked a half mile : and but few had suffered 
from the heavy guns; but suddenly a terrific fire of small arms 
was opened upon the 54th. But with matchless courage the regi- 
ment dashed on over the trenches and up the side of the fort, 
upon the to[) of which Scrgt. Wm. H. Carney planted the colors 
of the regiment. l^ut the howitzers in the bastions raked the 
ditch, and hand-grenades from the parapet tore the brave men as 
they climbed the battle-scarred face of the fort. Here waves the 



3jO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

flag of a Northern Negro regiment ; and here its brave, beautiful, 
talented young colonel, Robert Gould Shaw, was saluted by 
death and kissed by immortality ! Gen. Strong received a mor- 
tal wound, while Col. Chatfield and many other heroic officers 
yielded a full measure of devotion to the cause of the Union, 
Three other colonels were wounded, — Barton, Green, ar 1 Jack- 
son. The shattered brigade staggered back into line under the 
command of Major Plympton, of the 3d New Hampshire, while 
the noble 54th retired in care of Lieutenant Francis L. Higginson. 
The second brigade, composed of the 7th New Hampshire, 
Col. H. S. Putnam; 62d Ohio, Col. Steele; 67th Ohio, Col. 
Vorhees ; and the looth New York, under Col. Danby, was led 
against the fort, by Col. Putnam, who was killed in the assault. 
So this brigade was compelled to retire. One thousand and five 
hundred (1,500) men were thrown away in this fight, but one fact 
was clearly established, that Negroes could and would fight as 
bravely as white men. The following letter, addressed to the 
Military. Secretary of Gov. Andrew, of Massachusetts, narrates an 
instance of heroism in a Negro soldier which deserves to go into 
history: 

" Headquarters 54TH Massachusetts Vols., ) 
" Morris Island, S. C, Oct. 15, 1863. ) 

" Colonel : I have the honor to forward you the following letter, 
received a few days since from Sergeant \V. H. Carney, Com|)any C, of 
this regiment. Mention has before been made of his heroic conduct in 
preserving the American flag and bearing it from the field, in the 
assault on Fort Wagner on the i8th of July last, but that you may have 
the history complete, I send a simple statement of the facts as I have 
obtained them from him, and an officer who was an eye-witness : 

" When the Sergeant arrived to within about one hundred yards of 
the fort — he was with the first battalion, which was in the advance of 
the storming column — he received the regimental colors, pressed for- 
ward to the front rank, near the Colonel, who was leading the men over 
the ditch. He says, as they ascended the wall of the fort, the ranks 
were full, but as soon as they reached the top, ' they melted away' before 
the enemy's fire ' almost instantly.' He received a severe wound in 
the thigh, but fell only upon his knees. He ])lanted the flag upon the 
parapet, lay down on the outer slope, that he might get as much 
shelter as possible ; there he remained for over half an hour, till the 
2d brigade came uj). He kept the colors flying until the second con- 
flict was ended. When our forces retired he followed, creeping on one 
knee, still holding u|) the flag. It was thus that Sergeant Carney came 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 331 

from the field, having held the emblem of liberty over the walls of Fort 
Wagner during the sanguinary conflict of the two brigades, and having 
received two very severe wounds, one in the thigh and one in the head. 
Still he refused to give up his sacred trust until he found an officer of 
his regiment. 

" When he entered the fieUl liospit.il, whore his wounded comrades 
were being brought in, they cheered him and the colors. Though 
nearly exluuisted with the loss of blood, lie said : ' Boys, tlie old flag 
never touched the ground.' 

" Ot him as a man and soldier, I can speak in the iiighest term of 
praise. 

" I have the honor to be, Colonel, very respectfully, 

'' Your most obedient servant, 

" M. S. LiTTLEFIELD, 

" Col. Comifg 54M lieg't Mass. Vols. 
" Col. A. G. Brown, Jr., Military Sccrctaiy to his Excellency yohn A. 
Andrew, Mass." 

It was natural that Massachusetts should feel a deep interest 
in her Negro regiment: for it was an cxpcriinetit ; and the fair 
name of the Old Bay State had been committed to its keeping. 
Edward L. Pierce gave the following account of the regiment to 
Gov. John A. Andrew: 

"Beaufort, July 22, T863. 

" Mv Dear Sir : You will probably receive an official report of 
the losses in the l'"ifty-fourth Massachusetts by the mail whicii leaves 
to-morrow, but perhaps a word from me may not be unwelcome. I 
saw tlie officers and men on James Island on the thirteenth instant, and 
on Saturday last saw them at Brigadier-Oeneral Strong's tent, as they 
jxissed on at six or half-jiast six in the evt-ning to Fort Wagner, which 
is some two miles beyond. I had been the guest of (ieneral Strong, 
who conunanded the advance since Tuesday. Colonel Shaw had be- 
come attached to Oeneral Strong at St. Helena, where he was under 
him, and the regard was mutual. When the troojis left St. Helena they 
were separated, the Fifty-fourth going to James Island. While it was 
there. General Strong received a letter from Colonel Sliaw, in which the 
desire was expressed for the transfer of the Fifty-fourth to Ceneral 
Strong's brigade. So when the troops were brought away from James 
Island, Cjeneral Strong took this regiment into his command. It left 
James Island on Thursday, July sixteenth, at nine i'. m., and marched 
to Cole's Island, which they reached at four o'clock on Friday morning, 
marching all night, most of the way in single file, over swampy and 



332 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

muddy ground. There they remained during the day, with hard-tack 
and coffee for their fare, and this only what was left in their haver- 
sacks ; not a regular ration. From eleven o'clock of Friday evening 
until four o'clock of Saturday they were being put on the transport, the 
General Hunter, in a boat which took about fifty at a time. There 
they breakfasted on the same fare, and had no other food before enter- 
ing into the assault on Fort Wagner in the evening. 

"The General Hunter left Cole's Island for Folly Island at six 
A.M., and the troops landed at the Pawnee Landing about half-past 
nine .\.\\., and thence marched to the point opposite Morris Island, 
reaching there about two o'clock in the afternoon. They were trans- 
ported in a steamer across the inlet, and at five p.m. began their march 
for Fort "Wagner. They reached Brigadier-General Strong's quarters, 
about midway on the island, about six or half-past six, where they 
halted for five minutes. I saw them here, and they looked worn and 
weary. 

" General Strong expressed a great desire to give them food and 
stimulants, but it was too late, as they were to lead the charge. They 
had been without tents during the pelting rains of Thursday and Friday 
nights. General Strong had been impressed with the high character of 
the regiment and its officers, and he wished to assign them the post 
where the most severe work was to be done, and the highest honor was 
to be won. I had been his guest for some days, and knew how lie re- 
garded them. The march across Folly and Morris Islands was over a 
very sandy road, and was very wearisome. The regiment went through 
the centre of the island, and not along the beach where the marching 
was easier. When they had come within about one thousand six hun- 
dred yards of Fort Wagner, they halted and formed in line of battle — • 
the Colonel leading the right and the Lieutenant-Colonel the left wing. 
They then marched four hundred yards further on and halted again. 
There w-as little firing from the enemy at this point, one solid shot 
falling between the wings, and another falling to the right, but no 
musketry. 

" .^t this point the regiment, together with the next supporting regi- 
ments, the Sixth Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and others, remained half 
an hour. The regiment was addressed by General Strong and Colonel 
Shaw. Then at half-past seven or a quarter before eight o'clock the 
order for the charge was given. The regiment advanced at quick time, 
changed to double-quick when at some distance on. The intervening 
distance between the place where the line was formed and the Fort was 
run over in a few minutes. When within one or two hundred yards of 
the Fort, a terrific fire of grape and musketry was poured upon them 
along the entire line, and with deadly results. It tore the ranks to 
pieces and disconcerted some. They rallied again, went through the 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 333 

ditch, in vvliich were some three feet of water, .ind then up the parapet. 
They raised the flag on the jjarapet, where it remained for a few min- 
utes. Here they melted away before the enemy's fire, their bodies fall- 
ing down the slope and into the ditch. Others will give a more detailed 
and accurate account of what occurred during the rest of the conflict. 

" Colonel Shaw reached the parapet, leading his men, and was prob- 
ably killed. Adjutant James saw him fall. Private Thomas Burgess, 
of Company I, told nie that he was close to Colonel Shaw ; that he 
waved his sword and cried out : ' Onward, boys ! ' and, as he did so, 
fell. Burgess fell, wounded, at the same time. In a minute or two, as 
he rose to crawl away, he tried to pull Colonel Shaw along, taking hold 
of his feet, which were near his own head, but there a|)peared to be no 
life in him. There is a report, however, that Colonel Shdw is wounded 
and a prisoner, and that it was so stated to the officers who bore a flag of 
truce from us, but I cannot find it well authenticated. It is most likely 
that this noble youth has given his life to his country and to mankind. 
Brigadier-General Strong (himself a kindred spirit) said of him to-day, 
in a message to his parents : ' I had but little ojijiortunity to be with 
him, but I already loved him. No man ever went more gallantly into 
battle. None knew but to love him.' I parted with Colonel Shaw be- 
tween si.v and seven, Saturday evening, as he rode forward to his regi- 
ment, and he gave me the private letters and papers he had with him, 
to be delivered to his father. Of the other officers, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hallowcll is severely wounded in the groin ; Adjutant James has a 
wound from a grape-shot in his ankle, and a flesh-wound in his side 
from a glancing ball or ])iece of shell. Ca|)tain Pope has had a musket- 
ball extracted from his shoulder. Captain Appleton is wounded in the 
thumb, and also has a contusion on his right breast from a hand-gre- 
nade. Captain Willard has a wound in the leg, and is doing well. Cap- 
tain Jones was wounded in the right shoulder. The ball went through 
and he is doing well. Lieutenant Honians wounded by a ball from a 
smooth-bore musket entering the left side, which has been extracted 
from the back. He is doing well. 

" The above-named officers are at Beaufort, all but the last arriving 
there on Sunday evening, whither they were taken from Morris Island 
to Pawnee Landing, in the Alice Price, and thence to Beaufort in the 
Cosmopolitan, which is specially fitted up for hospital service and is 
provided with skilful surgeons under the direction of Dr. Bontecou. 
They are now tenderly cared for with an ade(iuate corps of surgeons 
and nurses, and provided with a plentiful supply of ice, beef and 
chicken broth, and stimulants. Lieutenant Smith was left at the hos- 
pital tent on Morris Island. Captain Kmilio and Lieutenants Grace, 
Appleton, Johnston. Reed, Howard. Dexter, Jennison, and Emerson, 
were not wounded and are doing duty. Lieutenants Jewett and 



334 fl/STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Tucker were slightly wounded and are doing duty also. Lieut. Pratt 
was wounded and came in from the field on the following day. Cap- 
tains Russell and Simpkins are missing. The Quartermaster and Sur- 
geon are safe and are with the regiment. 

" Dr. Stone remained on the Alice Price during Saturday night, 
caring for the wounded until she left Morris Island, and then returned 
to look after those who were left behind. The Assistant Surgeon was 
at the camp on St. Helena Island, attending to duty there. Lieuten- 
ant Littlefield was also in charge of the camp at St. Helena. Lieuten- 
ant Higginson was on Folly Island with a detail of eighty men. Cap- 
tain Bridge and Lieutenant Walton are sick and were at Beaufort or 
vicinity. Ca|5tain Partridge has returned from the North, but not in 
time to participate in the action. 

'' Of the privates and non-commissioned officers I send you a list of 
one hundred and forty-four who are now in the Beaufort hospitals. A 
few others died on the boats or since their arrival here. There may 
be others at the Hilton Head Hospital ; and others are doubtless on 
Morris Island ; but I have no names or statistics relative to them. 
Those in Beaufort are well attended to — just as well as the white sol- 
diers, the attentions of the surgeons and nurses being supplemented 
by those of the colored people here, who have shown a great interest 
in them. The men of the regiment are very patient, and where their 
condition at all permits them, are cheerful. They express their readi- 
ness to meet the enemy again, and they keep asking if Wagner is yet 
taken. Could any one from the North see these brave fellows as they 
lie here, his prejudice against them, if he had any, would all pass away. 
They grieve greatly at the loss of Colonel Shaw, who seems to have ac- 
quired a strong hold on their affections. They are attached to their 
other officers, and admire General Strong, whose courage was so con- 
spicuous to all. I asked General Strong if he had any testimony in 
relation to the regiment to be communicated to you. These are his 
precise words, and I give them to you as I noted them at the time : 

'' ' The Fifty-fourth did well and nobly, only the fall of Colonel Shaw 
prevented them from entering the Fort. They moved up as gallantly 
as any troops could, and with their enthusiasm they deserve a better 
fate.' The regiinent could not have been under a better officer than 
Colonel Shaw. He is one of the bravest and most genuine men. His 
soldiers loved him like a brother, and go where you would through the 
camps you would hear them speak of him with enthusiasm and affec- 
tion. His wound is severe, and there are some ajjprehensions as to his 
being able to recover from it. Since I found him at the hospital tent 
on Morris Island, about half-past nine o'clock on Saturday, I have 
been all the time attending to him or the otficers of the Fifty-fourth, 
both on the boats and here. Nobler spirits it has never been my fort- 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 335 

une to be with. General Strorii;, as he lay on the stretcher in the 
tent, was grieving all the while for the poor fellows who lay iincared 
for on tiie battle-field, and the officers of the l-'ifty-fourth have had 
nothing to say of their own misfortunes, but have mourned constantly 
for the hero who led them to the ciiarge from which he did not return. 
I remember well the beautiful day when the flags were presented at 
Readville, and you told the regiment that your reputation was to be 
identilied with its fame. It was a day of festivity and cheer. I walk 
now in these hospitals and see mutilated forms with every variety of 
wound, and it seems all a dream. But well has tiie regiment sus- 
taineii the liope which you indulged, and justified the identity of fame 
which you trusted to it. 

" 1 ought to add in relation to the fight on James Island, on July 
sixteenth, in which the regiment lost fifty men, driving back tiie rebels, 
and saving, as it is stated, three companies of the Tenth Connecticut, 
that General Terry, who was in command on that Island, said to Adju- 
tant James : 

"' Tell your Colonel that I am exceedingly pleased with the conduct 
of your regiment. They have done all they could do.' 

" Vouis truly, 

"Edward L. riERCE."' 

The Ncijro in the Mississippi Valley, and in tlie Department 
of the South had won an excellent reputation as a soldier. In 
the sprin<j of 1864 Colored Troops made their dcbitt in the army 
of the Potomac. In the battles at Wilson's Wharf, Petersburg, 
Deep Bottom, Chapin's Farm, Fair Oaks, Hatcher's Run, Farm- 
ville, and many other battles, these soldiers won for themselves 
lasting glory and golden opinions from the officers and men of 
the white organizations. On the 24th of May, 18(34, Gen. Fitz- 
II ugh Lee called at Wilson's Wharf to pay his respects to two 
Negro regiments iiiulcr the command of Gen. \'\'ild. Jnit tlie 
chivalry of the South were compelled to retire belore the de- 
structive fire of Negro soldiers. A "Tribune" correspondent 
who witnessed the engagement gave the following account the 
next day : 

" .'\t first the fight raged fiercely on the left. The woods were 
riddled with bullets ; the dead and wounded of the rebels were taken 
away from this part of the field, but I am informed by one accustomed 
to judge, and who went over the field to-day, that from the pools of 

•Rebellion Recs., vol. vii. Doc, p. 215, 216. 



336 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

blood and other evidences the loss must have been severe. Finding 
that the left could not be broken, Fitz-Hugh Lee hurled his chivalry — 
dismounted of course — upon the right. Steadily they came on, through 
obstructions, through slashing, past abattis without wavering. Here oie 
of the advantages of colored troops was made apparent. They obeyed 
orders, and bided their time. When well tangled in the abattis the 
death-warrant, ' Fire,' went forth. Southern chivalry quailed before 
Northern balls, though fired by negro hands. Volley after volley was 
rained upon the superior by the inferior race, and the chivalry broke 
and tried to run." 

On the 8th of June Gen. Gillmore, at the head of 3,500 
troops, crossed the Appomattox, and moved on Petersburg by 
turnpike from the north. Gen. Kautz, with about 1,500 cavalry, 
was to charge the city from the south, or southwest ; and two 
gun-boats and a battery were to bombard Fort Clinton, defending 
the approach up the river. Gillmore was somewhat dismayed at 
the formidable appearance of the enemy, and, thinking himself 
authorized to use his own discretion, did not make an attack. 
On the loth of June, Gen. Kautz advanced without meeting any 
serious resistance until within a mile and one half of the city, 
drove in the pickets and actually entered the city ! Gillmore 
had attracted considerable attention on account of the display 
he made of his forces; but when he declined to fight, the rebels 
turned upon Kautz and drove him out of the city. 

Gen. Grant had taken up his headquarters at Bermuda Hun- 
dreds, whence he directed Gen. Butler to despatch Gen. W. 
F. Smith's corps against Petersburg. The rebel general, A. P. 
Hill, commanding the rear of Lee's army, was now on the south 
froiit of Richmond. Gen. Smith moved on toward Petersburg, 
and at noon of the 15th of June, 1S64, his advance felt the out- 
posts of the enemy's defence about two and one half miles from 
the river. Here again the Negro soldier's fighting qualities were 
to be tested in the presence of our white troops. Gen. Hinks 
commanded a brigade of Negro soldiers. This brigade was to 
open the battle and receive the fresh fire of the enemy. Gen. 
Hinks — a most gallant soldier — took his place and gave the 
order to charge the rebel lines. Here, under a clear Virginia 
sky, in full view of the Union white troops, the Black brigade 
swept across the field in magnificent line. The rebels received 
them with siege gun, musket, and bayonet, but they never wa- 
vered. In a short time they had carried a line of rifle-pits, 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 337 

driven the enemy out in confusion, and captured two large guns. 
It was a supreme moment; all tliat was needed was tlie order, 
" On to Petersburg," and the city could have been taken by the 
force there was in reserve for the Black brigade. But he who 
doubts is damned, and he who dallies is a dastard. Gen. Smith 
hesitated. Another assault was not ordered until near sundown, 
when the troops cleared another line of rifle-pits, made three 
hundred prisoners, and captured si.xteen guns, sustaining a loss 
of only six hundred. The night was clear and balmy : there was 
nothing to hinder the battle from being carried on ; but Gen. Smith 
halted for the night — a fatal halt. During the night the enemy 
was reenforced by the flower of Lee's army, and when the sun- 
light of the next morning fell upon the battle field it revealed an 
almost new army, — a desperate and determined cnemw Then 
it seems that Gens. Meade and Hancock did not know that 
Petersburg was to be attacked. Hancock's corps had lingered 
in the rear of the entire arm\-, and did not reach the froi!t until 
dusk. Why Gen. Smith delayed the assault until evening was 
not known. Even Gen. Grant, in his report of the battle, said: 
" Smith, for some reason that I have never been able to satisfacto- 
rily understand, did not get ready to assault the enemy's main 
lines until near sundown." But whatever the reason was, his 
conduct cost many a noble life and the postponement of the end 
of the war. 

On the i6th of June, 1S64, Gens. Burnside and Warren came 
up. The 18th corps, under Gen. Smith, occupied the right of 
the Federal lines, with its right touching the Appomattox River. 
Gens. Hancock, Burnside, and Warren stretched away to the ex- 
treme left, which was covered by Kautz's cavalry. After a con- 
sultation with Gen. Grant, Gen. Meade ordered a general attack 
all along the lines, and at 6 P..M. on the i6th of June, the bat- 
tle of Petersburg was opened again. Once more a division 
of Black troops was hurled into the fires of battle, and once 
more proved that the Negro was equal to all the sudden 
and startling changes of war. The splendid fighting of these 
troops awakened the kindliest feelings for them among the white 
troops, justified the Government in employing them, stirred the 
North to unbounded enthusiasm, and made the rebel army feel 
that the Negro was the equal of the Confederate soldier under all 
circumstances. Secretary Stanton was in a state of ecstasy over 
the behavior of the Colored troops at Petersburg, an unusual 
thing for him. In his despatch on this battle, he said : 



338 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" The hardest fighting was done by the black troops. The forts 
they stormed were the worst of all. After the affair was over Gen. 
Smith went to thank them, and tell them he was proud of their courage 
and dash. He says they cannot be e.xceeded as soldiers, and that 
hereafter he will send them in a difficult place as readily as the best 
white troops." ' 

The " Tribune " correspondent wrote on the day of the 
battle : 

" The charge upon the advanced works was made in splendid 
style; and as the ' dusky warriors ' stood shouting upon the parapet, 
Gen. Smith decided that ' they would do,' and sent word to storm the 
first redoubt. Steadily these troops moved on, led by officers whose 
unostentatious bravery is worthy of emulation. With a shout and 
rousing cheers they dashed at the redoubt. Grape and canister were 
hurled at them by the infuriated rebels. They grinned and pushed on, 
and with a yell that told the Southern chivalry their doom, rolled irre- 
sistibly over and into the work. The guns were speedily turned upon 
those of our ' misguided brethren,' who forgot that discretion was the 
better part of valor. Another redoubt was carried in the same splendid 
style, and the negroes have established a reputation that they will 
surely maintain. 

" Officers on Gen. Hancock's staff, as they rode by the redoubt, 
surrounded by a moat with water in it, over which these negroes 
charged, admitted that its capture was a most gallant affair. The 
negroes bear their wounds quite as pluckily as the white soldiers." 

Here the Colored Troops remained, skirmishing, fighting, 
building earthworks, and making ready for the next assault 
upon Petersburg, which was to take place on the 30th proximo. 
In the actions of the iSth, 21st, 23d, 24th, 25th, and 28th of June, 
the Colored Troops had shared a distinguished part. The follow- 
ing letter on the conduct of the Colored Troops before Peters- 
burg, written by an ofificer who participated in all the actions 
around that city, is worth its space it gold : 

" In the FlSLD, NEAR PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA, ) 

" June 27, 1864. j 

" The problem is solved. The negro is a man, a soldier, a hero. 
Knowing of your laudable interest in the colored troops, but particu- 
larly those raised under the immediate auspices of the Supervisory 

' Herald, June iS, 1864. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 339 

Committee, I have thought it proper that I should let you know how 
they acquitted themselves in the late actions in front of Peterslnirg, of 
which you have already received newspaper accounts. If you re- 
member, in my conversations upon the character of these troo])s, I 
carefully avoided saying anything about their fighting qualities till I 
could have an opportunity of trying thtm. 

" That opportunity came on the fitteenth instant, and since, and I 
am now prepared to say that 1 never, since the beginning of this war, 
saw troops fight better, more bravely, and with more determination and 
enthusiasm. Our division, commanded by General Hinks, took the 
advance on the morning of the fifteenth instant, arrived in front of the 
enemy's works about nine o'clock .■\..m., formed line, charged them, and 
took them most handsomely. Our regiment was the first in the enemy's 
works, having better ground to charge over than some of the others, 
and the only gun that was taken on this first line was taken by our men. 
The color-sergeant of our regiment planted his colors on the works of 
the enemy, a rod in advance of any officer or man in the regiment. 
The effect of the colors being thus in advance of the line, so as to be 
seen l)y all, was truly inspiring to our men, and to a corresponding de- 
gree dispiriting to the enemy. We pushed on two and a half miles 
further, till we came in full view of the main defences of Petersburg. 
We formed line at about two o'clock p.m.. reconnoitred and skirmished 
the whole afternoon, and were constantly subject to the shells of the 
enemy's artillery. At sunset we charged these strong works and carried 
them. Major Cook took one w'ith the left wing of our regiment as 
skirmishers, by getting under the guns, and then preventing their gun- 
ners from using their pieces, while he gained the rear of the redoubt, 
where there was no defence but the infantry, which, classically speak- 
ing, 'skedaddled.' We charged across what appeared to be an almost 
impassable ravine, with the right wing all the time subject to a hot fire 
of grape and canister, until we got so far under the guns as to be 
sheltered, w-hen the enemy took to their rifle-pits as infantrymen. Our 
brave fellows went steadily through the swamp, and up the side of a 
hill, at an angle of almost fifty degrees, rendered nearly impassable by 
fallen timber. Here again our color-sergeant x^as conspicuous in keep- 
ing far ahead of the most advanced, hanging on to the side of the hill, 
till he would turn about and wave the stars and stripes at his advancing 
comrades ; then steadily advancing again, under the fire of the enemy, 
till he could almost have reached their rifle-pits with his flagstaff. 
How he kept from being killed I do not know, unless it can be attribu- 
ted to the fact that the party advancing up the side of the hill always 
has the advantage of those who hold tlie crest. It was in this way that 
we got such decided advantage over the enemy at South Mountain. 
We took, in these two redoubts, four more guns, making, in all, five for 



340 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

our reyiment, two redoubts, and part of a rifle-pit as our day's work. 
The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh United States colored troops advanced 
against works more to the left. The Fourth United States colored 
troops took one more redoubt, and the enemy abandoned the other. 
In these two we got two more guns, which made, in all, seven. The 
Sixth regiment did not get up in time, unfortunately, to have much of 
the sport, as it had been previously formed in the second line. We left 
forty-three men wounded and eleven killed in the ravine, over which 
our men charged the last time. Our loss in the whole day's operations 
was one luindred and forty-three, including six officers, one of whom 
was killed. Sir, there is no underrating the good conduct of these fel- 
lows during these charges ; with but a fev/ exceptions, they all went in 
as old soldiers, but with more enthusiasm. I am delighted that our first 
action resulted in a decided victory. 

"The commendations we iiave received from the Army of tlie Poto- 
mac, including its general officers, are truly gratifying. Hancock's 
corps arrived just in time to relieve us (we being out of ammunition), 
before the rebels were reinforced and attempted to retake these strong 
works and commanding positions, without which they could not held 
Petersburg one hour, if it were a part of Grant's plan to advance against 
it on the right here. 

" General Smith speaks in the highest terms of the day's work, as 
you have doubtless seen, and he assured me, in person, that our division 
should have the guns we took as trophies of honor. He is also making 
his word good in saying that he could hereafter trust colored troops in 
the most responsible positions. Colonel Ames, of the Sixth United 
States colored troops, and our regiment, have just been relieved in the 
front, where we served our tour of forty-eight hours in turn with the 
other troops of the corps. While out, we were subjected to some of the 
severest shelling I have ever seen, Malvern Hill not excepted. The 
enemy got twenty guns in position during the night, and opened on us 
yesterday morning at daylight. Our men stood it, behind their works, 
of course, as well as any of the white troops. Our men, unfortunately, 
owing to the irregular features of ground, took no prisoners. Sir, we 
can bayonet the enemy to terms on this matter of treating colored sol- 
diers as prisoners of war far sooner than the authorities at Washington 
can bring him to it by negotiation. This I am morally persuaded of. 
I know, further, that the enemy won't fight us if he can help it. I am 
sure that the same number of white troops could not have taken those 
works on the evening of the fifteenth ; prisoners that we took told me 
so. I mean prisoners who came in after the abandonment of the fort, 
because they could not get away. They excuse themselves on the 

ground of ptide ; as one of them said to me : ' D d if men educated 

as we have been will fight with niggers, and your government ought not 



A'£GA'0£:S AS SOLDIERS. 341 

to expect it.' The real fact is, the rebels will not stand against our col- 
ored soldiers when tliere is any chance of their being taken prisoners, 
for they are conscious of what they justly deserve. Our men went into 
Ihese works after they were taken, yelling ' Fort Pillow ! ' The enemy 
well knows what this means, and I will venture the assertion, that that 
piece of infernal brutality enforced by them there has cost the enemy 
already two men for every one they so inluimanly murdered." ' 

The Qtli corps, under Burnside, containincj a splcndiil brigade 
of Colored Troops, had finally pushed its way up to one hundred 
and fifty yards of the enemy's works. In the immediate front a 
small fort projected out quite a distance beyond the main line of 
the enemy's works. It was decided to place a mine under this 
fort and destroy it. Just in the rear of the 9th corps was a ra- 
vine, which furnished a safe and unobserved starting-point for the 
mine. It was pushed forward with great speed and care. When 
the point was reached directly under the fort, cliambers were 
made to the right and left, and then packed with powder or other 
combustibles. It was understood from the commencement that 
the Colored Troops were to have the post of honor again, and 
charge after the mine should be sprung. The inspecting officer 
having made a thorough examination of the entire works re- 
ported to Gen. Burnside that the " Black Division was the fittest 
for this perilous service." But Gen. Grant was not of the same 
opinion. Right on the eve of the great event he directed the 
three white commanders of divisions to draii,' lots — who should 
not go into the crater I The lot fell to the poorest officer, for a 
dashing, brilliant movement, in the entire army. Gen. Ledlie. 

The mine was to be fired at 3:30 A.M., on the morning of the 
30th of July, 1864. The match was applied, but the train did not 
work. Lieut. Jacob Douty and Sergt. Ilcnry Rees, of the 48th 
Pennsylvania, entered the galler)-, removed the hindering cause, 
and at 4:45 A.M. the match was applied and the explosion took 
place. The fort was lifted into the air and came down a mass 
of ruins, burying 300 men. Instead of a fort there was a yawning 
chasm, 150 feet long, 25 feet wide, and about 25 or 30 feet deep. 
At the same moment all the guns of the Union forces opened 
from one end of their line to the other. It was verily a judgment 
morn. Confusion reigned among tiie Confederates. The enemy 
fled in disorder from his works. The way to Petersburg was 

' Rebellion Recs., vol. xi. Doc. pp. 5S0, 581. 



342 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

open, unobstructed for several hours ; all the Federal troops had 
to do was to go into the city at a trail arms without firing a gun. 
Gen. Ledlie was not equal to the situation. He tried to mass his 
division in the mouth of the crater. The loth New Hampshire 
went timidly into line, and when moved forward broke into the 
shape of a letter V, and confusion indescribable followed. Gens. 
Potter and Wilcox tried to support Ledlie, but the latter division 
had halted after they had entered the crater, although the enemy 
had not recovered from the shock. Gen. Potter, by soiitc means, 
got his division out of the crater and gallantly led a charge tow- 
ard the crest, but so few followed him that he was compelled to 
retire. After all had been lost, after the rebels had regained 
their composure. Gen. Burnside was stiffcrcd to send in liis 
" Black Division." It charged in splendid order to the right of 
the crater toward the crest, but was hurled back into the crater 
by a destructive fire from batteries and muskets. But they 
rallied and charged the enemy again and again until nightfall ; 
exhausted and reduced in numbers, they fell back into the 
friendly darkness to rest. The Union loss was 4,400 killed, 
wounded, and captured. Again the Negro had honored his 
country and covered himself with glory. Managed differently, 
with the Black Division as the charging force, Petersburg would 
have fallen, the war would have ended before the autumn, and 
thousands of lives would have been saved. But a great sacrifice 
had to be laid upon the cruel altar of race prejudice. 

In the battles around Nashville about 8,000 or 10,000 Colored 
Troops took part, and rendered efficient aid. Here the Colored 
Troops, all of them recruited from slave States, stormed fortified 
positions of the enemy with the bayonet through open fields, and 
behaved like veterans under the most destructive fire. In his re- 
port of the battle of Nashville, Major-Gen. James B. Steedman said : 

" The larger portion of these losses, amounting in tlie aggregate to 
fully twenty-five per cent, of the men under my command who were 
taken into action, it will be observed, fell upon the Colored Troops. 
The severe loss of this part of my troops was in the brilliant charge on 
the enemy's works on Overton Hill on Friday afternoon. I was unable 
to discover that color made any difference in the fighting of my troops. 
All, white and black, nobly did their duty as soldiers, and evinced 
cheerfulness and resolution, such as I have never seen excelled in any 
campaign of the war in which I have borne a part." ' 

' Rebellion Recs.,vol. xi. Doc, p. 89. 



1\ EG ROES AS SOLDIERS. 
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344 ins TOR V OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

At the battle of Appomattox a division of picked Colored 
Troops (Gen. Birney') accomplished some most desperate and 
brilliant fighting, and received the praise of the white troops who 
acted as their support. 

I'Vom the day the Government put arms into tlie hands of 
Negro soldiers to the last hour of the Slave-holders' Rebellion 
they rendered effective aid in surpressing the rebellion and in 
saving the Union. They fought a twofold battle — conquered 
the prejudices and fears of the white people of the North and the 
swaggering insolence and lofty confidence of the South. 

As to the efflciency of Negroes as soldiers abundant testi- 
mony awaits the hand of the historian. The following letter 
speaks for itself. 



ADJ.-GEN. THOMAS ON NEGRO SOLDIERS 

Dep't, Adj. -General's Of 
Washington, May 30, 1864. 



"Hon. H. Wilson 



''War Dep't, Adj. -General's Office,) 



" Dear Sir : On several occasions when on the Mississippi River, 
I contemplated writing to you respecting the colored troops and to sug- 
gest that, as they have Ijeen fully tested as soldiers, their pay should be 
raised to that of white troops, and 1 desire now to give my testimony in 
their behalf. You are aware that I liave been engaged in the organiza- 
tion of freednien for over a year, and have necessarily been thrown in 
constant contact witli them. 

" The negro in a state of slavery is brpught up l)y the master, from 
early childhood, to strict obedience and to obey implicitly the dictates 
of the white man, and they are thus led to believe that they are an in- 
ferior race. Now, when organized into troops, they carry this habit of 
obedience with tlieni, and their officers being entirely white men, the ne- 
groes ])romi)tly obey their orders. 

"A regiment is thus rapidly brought into a state of discipline. They 
are a religious peo|)le — another high quality for making good soldiers. 
They are a musical ])eople, and thus readily learn to march and accu- 
rately perform their manoeuvres. They take pride in being elevated as 
soldiers, and keep themselves, as their camp grounds, neat and clean. 
This I know from sjjecial inspection, two of my staff-officers being con- 
stantly on inspecting duty. They have proved a most important addi- 

' I remember now, as I was in the battle of Appomattox Court House, that Gen. 
Birney was relieved just after the battle of Farmville, because he refused to march his 
division in the rear of all the white troops. It was doubtless Gen. Foster who led the 
Colored Troops in the action at Appomattox. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 345 

tion to our forces, enabling the Generals in active o])erations to take a 
large force of white troops into the field ; and now brigades of blacks 
are placed with the whites. The forts erected at the important points 
on the river are nearly all garrisoned by blacks— artillery regiments 
raised for the purpose,— say at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky, 
Memphis, Tennessee, Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississijjpi and most of 
the works around New Orleans. 

" E.xperience proves that they manage heavy guns very well. Their 
fighting qualities have also been fully tested a number of times, and I 
am yet to hear of the first case where they did not fully stand up to 
their work. I passed over the ground where the ist Louisiana made 
the gallant charge at Port Hudson, by far the stronger part of the rebel 
works. The wonder is that so many have made their escape. .A.t Mil- 
liken's Bend where I had three incomplete regiments, — one without 
arms until the day previous to the attack, — greatly superior numbers of 
the rebels charged furiously up to the very breastworks. The negroes 
met the enemy on the ramparts, and both sides freely used the bayonet 
— a most rare occurrence in warfare, as one of the other (larty gives 
way before coming in contact with the steel. The rebels were defeated 
with heavy loss. The bridge at Moscow, on the line of railroad from 
Memphis to Corinth, was defended b)- one small regiment of blacks. .\ 
cavalry attack of three times their number was made, the blacks de- 
feating them in three charges made by the Rebels. 

" They fought them hours till our cavalry came up, when the defeat 
was made complete, many of the dead being left on the field. 

" A cavalry force of tiiree hundred and fifty attacked three hundred 
rebel cavalry near the Big Black with signal success, a number of pris- 
oners being taken and marched to Vicksburg. Forrest attacked Padu- 
cah with 7,500 men. The garrison was between 500 and 600, nearly 
400 being colored troops recently raised. What troops could have 
done better ? So, too, they fought well at Fort Pillow till overpowered 
by greatly superior numbers. 

" The above enumerated cases seem to me sufficient to demonstrate 
the value of the colored troops. 

" I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" L. Thom.\s, AJj.-Gcrieral. 

In regard to the conduct of the Colored Troops at I'eters- 
burg, a correspondent to the " Boston Journal " gave the follow- 
ing account from the lips of Gen. Smith : 

" A few days ago I sat in the tent of ('.en. W. F. Sinith, commander 
of the i8th Corps, and heard his narration of the manner in which 



34(5 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Gen. Hinks' division of colored troops stood the fire and charged upon 
the Rebel works east of Petersburg on the i6th of June. There were 
thirteen guns pouring a constant fire of shot and shell upon those 
troops, enfilading the line, cutting it lengthwise and crosswise, 'Yet 
they stood unmoved for six hours. Not a man flinched. [These are 
the words of the General.] It was as severe a test as I ever saw. But 
they stood it, and when my arrangements were completed for charging 
the works, they moved with the steadiness of veterans to the attack. I 
expected that they would fall back, or be cut to pieces ; but when I 
saw them move over the field, gain the works and ca])ture the guns, 
I was astounded. They lost between 500 and 600 in doing it. There 
is material in the negroes to make the best troops in the world, if they 
are properly trained.' 

" These are the words of one of the ablest commanders and engi- 
neers in the service. A graduate of West Point, who, earlier in the war, 
had the prejudices which were held by many other men against the 
negro. He has changed his views. He is convinced, and honorably 
follows his convictions, as do all men who are not stone blind or per- 
versely wilful." ' 

Gen. Blunt in a letter to a friend speaks of the valor of Col- 
ored Troops at the battle of Honey Springs. lie says: 

"The negroes (ist colored regiment) were too much for the enemy, 
and let me here say that I never saw such fighting as was done by that 
negro regiment. They fought like veterans, with a coolness and valor 
that is unsurpassed. They preserved their line pjerfect throughout the 
whole engagement, and although in the hottest of the fight, they never 
once faltered. Too much praise cannot be awarded them for their gal- 
lantry. The question that negroes will fight is settled, besides they 
make better soldiers in every respect, than any troops I have ever had 
under my command."^ 

Tiie following from the Washington correspondent of the 
"New York Tribune " is of particular value : 

" In speaking of the soldierly qualities of our colored troops, I do 
not refer specially to their noble action in the perilous edge of battle ; 
that is settled, but to their docility and their patience of labor and suf- 
fering in the camp and on the march. 

" I have before me a private letter from a friend, now Major in one 
of the Pennsylvania colored regiments, a portion of which I think the 

'Tribune, July 26, 1864. ^Tribune, August 19, 1863. 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 347 

public sliould find in your columns. He says in speaking of service in 
his regiment ; ' I am delighted with it. I find tiiat these colored men 
learn every thing tliat i)ertains to the duties of a soldier much faster 
than any white soldiers I have ever seen. The reason is apparent, — 
not that they are smarter than white men, but they feel promoted ; they 
feel as though their whole sphere of life was advanced and enlarged. 
They are willing, obedient, and cheerful ; move with agility, and are 
full of music, vvhicii is almost a sine t/ua iion to soldierly bearing.' 

"Soon after the letter of which the above is an e.\tract was written, 
the regiment was ordered to the field from which the Major writes 
again : ' The more I know and see of these negro regiments, the more 
I am delighted with the whole enter|)rise. It is truly delightfid to 
command a regiment officered as these are. In all my experience I 
have never known a better class of officers. ... I have charge 
of the scliool of non-commissioned officers here. I drill them once a 
day and have them recite from the oral instructions given them the day 
before. I find them more anxious to learn their duties and more ready 
to perform them when they know them than any set of non-commis- 
sioned officers I ever saw. . . . There is no discount on these 
fellows at all. Give me a thous.ind such men as compose this regiment 
and I desire no stronger battalion to lead against an enemy that is at 
once their oppressors and traitors to my, and my soldiers' country.' 

" This testimony is worth a chapter of s[)eculation. The Major al- 
ludes to one fact above, moreover, to whii h the public attention has 
not been often directed — the excellent and able men who are in com- 
mand of our colored troops. They are generally men of heart — men of 
opinions — men whose generous imi>ulses have not been chilled in " the 
cold shade of West Point.' 

" The officer from whose letter I have (juoted was a volunteer in the 
ranks of a Pennsylvania regiment from the day of the attack on Sumter 
until August, 1862. His bravery, his devotion to the principles of free- 
dom, his zeal in the holy cause of his country through all the campaigns 
of the calamitous McClellan, won the regard and attention of our loyal 
Governor Ciirtin, who, with rare good sense and discrimination, took 
him from the ranks and made him first, Lieut. -Colonel, and then 
Colonel of a regiment in the nine months' service. He carried iiimself 
through all in such a manner as fully justified tiie Governor's confidence, 
and has stepped now into a position where his patriotic zeal can con- 
centrate the valor of these untutored free men in defense of our imper- 
rillcd country. So long as these brave colored men are officered by 
gallant, high-hearted, slave-hating men, we can never despair of the 
Republic." ' 

' New York Trilnini.-. Nov. 14, 1S63. 



34S HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Mr. D. Aden in a letter to Col. Darling, dated Norfolk, Va., 
Feb. 22, 1864, said : 

" During the expedition last October to Charles City Court House, 
on the Peninsula, the colored troops marchetl steadily through storm 
and mud ; and on coming up with the enemy, behaved as bravely under 
fire as veterans. An officer of the ist N. Y. Mounted Rifles — a most 
bitter opfionent and reviler of colored troops — wlio was engaged in this 
affair, \ulunteered the statement that they had fought bravely, and, in 
his own language, more expressive than elegant, were ' bully boys ' — 
which coming from such a source, might be regarded as the highest 
praise. 

" During the recent advance toward Richmond to liberate the Union 
prisoners, the 4th, 5th, and 9th regiments formed part of the expedition 
and behaved splendidly. They marched thirty miles in ten hours, and 
an unusually small number straggled on the route." 

Col. John A. Foster of the 175th New York, in January, 1864, 
wrote to Col. Darling as follows: 

"While before Port Hudson, during the siege of that place, I was 
acting on Col. Oooding's staff, prior to the arrival of my regiment at 
that place. On the assault of May 27, 1863, Col. Gooding was ordered 
to proceed to the extreme right of our lines and oversee the charge of 
the two regiments constituting the negro-brigade, and I accompanied 
him. 

" We witnessed them in line of battle, under a very heavy fire of 
musketry, and siege and field i)ieces. There was a deep gully or bayou 
before them, which they could not cross nor ford in the presence of the 
enemy, and hence an assault was wholly impracticable. Yet they made 
five several attempts to swim and cross it, preparatory to an assault on 
the enemy's works ; and in this, too, in fair view of the enemy, and at 
short musket range. Added to this, the nature of the enemy's works 
was such that it allowed an enfilading fire. .Success was impossible ; 
yet they behaved as cool as if veterans, and when ordered to retire, 
marched off as if on [larade. I feel satisfied that, if the position of the 
bayou had been known and the assault made a quarter of a mile to the 
left of where it was, the place would have been taken by this negro 
brigade on that day. 

" On that day I witnessed the attack made by the divisions of Gen- 
erals Grover and Paine, and can truly say I saw no steadier fighting by 
those daring men than did the negroes in this their first fight. 

"On the second assault, June 14th, in the assault made by Gen. 
Paine's division, our loss was very great in wounded, and, as there was 



NEGROES AS SOLDIERS. 349 

a want of ambulance men, I ordered about a hundred negroes, who 
were standing idle and unharmed, to take the stretchers and carry the 
wounded from the field. Under a most severe fire of musketry, grape, 
and canister, they performed this duty with unflinching courage and 
nonchalance. They suffered severely in this duty l)oih in killed and 
wounded ; yet not a man faltered. These men had just been recruited, 
and were not even partially disciplined. But I next saw the negroes 
(engineers) working in these trenches, under a heavy fire of the enemy. 
They worked faithfully, and wholly regardless of exposure to the ene- 
my's fire." 

Mr. Cadwallader in his despatch concerning the battle of 
Spottsylvania, dated May i8th, says: 

" It is a subject of considerable merriment in camp that a charge of 
the famous Hani])ton Legion, the flower of Southern chivalry, was re- 
pulsed by the Colored Troops of General Ferrero's command." ' 

These are but a /rrc of the tributes that brave and true white 
men cheerfully gave to the valor and loyalty of Colored Troops 
during the war. No officer, whose privilege it was to command 
or observe the conduct of these troops, has ever hesitated to give 
a full and cheerful endorsement of their worth as men, their 
loyalty as Americans, and their eminent qualifications for the 
duties and dangers of military life. No history of the war has 
ever been written, no history of the war ever can be written, with- 
out mentioning the patience, endurance, fortitude, and heroism 
of the Negro soldiers who prayed, wept, fought, bled, and died 
for the preservation of the Union of the- United States of 
America ! 

' New York Herald, May 20, 1S64. 



350 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XX. 

CAPTURE AND TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 

The Military Employment of Negroes Distasteful to the Rebel Authorities. — The Con- 
federates THE First to employ Negroes as Soldiers. — Jefferson Davis befeks to the 
Subject in his Message, and the Confrdrrath Congress orders All Negroes captured 

TO BE TURNED OVER TO THE StaTE AUTHORITIES, AND RAISES THE " BlACIC Flac" UPON 

White Officers commanding Negko Soldiers. — The New York Press calls upon the 
Government to protect its Negro Soldiers. — Secreiarv Stanton's Action, — The 
President's Order. — Correspondence detween Gem. Peck and Gen. Pickett in Regard 
to the Killing of a Colored Man after he had surrendered at the Battle of Neu- 
bern. — Southern Press on ihe Capture aj^d Treatment of Negro Soldiers. — The 
Rebels refuse to exchange Negro Soldiers captured on Morris and James Islands on 
Account of the Order of the Confederate Congress which rkquired them to be 

TURNED over TO THE AUTHORITIES OF THE SeVERAL StATES. — JeFFERSON DaVIS ISSUES A 

Proclamation outlawing Gen. B. F. Butler. — He is to be hung without Trial by 
ANY Confederate Officer who may capture him. — The Battle of Fort Pillow. — The 
Gallant Defence by the Little Band of Union Troops. — It refuses to capitulate 

AND IS ASSAULTED .AND CAPTURED IIV AN OVERWHELMING FOKCE. — ThE UnION TrOOPS 

butchered in Cold Blood. —The Woi;nued are carried into Houses which are fired 

AND burned WITH THEIR HeLPLESS VlCFlMS.— MeN ARE NAILED TO THF. OUTSIDE OF BUILD- 
INGS THROUGH THEIR HaNDS AND FeET AND BURNT ALIVE. — ThE WoUNDED AND DviNC; 
ARE BRAINED WHERE THEY LAY IN THEIR EbBING BlOOD. — ThE OUTRAGES ARE RENEWED 

IN THE Morning. — Dead and Living find a Common Sepulchre in the Trench.— Geneical 
Chalmers orders the Killing of a Negro Child. — Testimony of the Few Union 
Soldiers who were enabled to crawl out of the Gilt Edge, Fire Proof Hell at 
Pillow. — They give a Sickening Account of the Massacre before the Senate 

Co.MMlTTEE on THE CoNDUCT OF THE WaR. — GeN. FoRREST's F'UTILE ATTEMPT TO DE- 
STROY THE Record of his Foul Cri.me. — Fort Pillow Massacre without a Parallel 
IN History. 

THE appearance of Negroes as soldiers in tlie armies of the 
United States seriously offended the Southern view of 
*' the eternal fitness of things." No action on the part of 
the Federal Government was so abhorrent to the rebel army. It 
called forth a bitter wail from Jefferson Davis, on the I2th of 
January, 1863, and soon after the Confederate Congress elevated 
its olfactory organ and handled the subject with a pair of tongs. 
After a long discussion the following was passed : 

" Resolved, by ihe Coin^rcss of the Confederate States of America, In 
response to the message of the President, transmitted to Congress at 
the commencement of the present session, That, in the opmion of 
Congress, the commissioned officers of the enemy ought not to be de- 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 351 

livered to the authorities of the respective States, as suggested in the 
said message, but all captives taken by the Confederate forces ought 
to be dealt with and disposed of by the Confederate Government. 

"Sec. 2. That, in the judgment of Congress, the proclamations of 
the President of the United States, dated respectively September 22, 
1862, and January i, 1S63, and the other measures of the Government 
of the United States and of its authorities, commanders, and forces, 
designed or tending to emancipate slaves in the Confederate States, 
or to abduct such slaves, or to incite them to insurrection, or to em- 
ploy negroes in war against the Confederate States, or to overthrow 
the institution of African Slavery, and bring on a servile war in these 
States, would, if successful, produce atrocious consoiuences, and they 
are inconsistent with the spirit of those usages which, in modern war- 
fare, prevail .among civilized nations ; they may, therefore, be properly 
and lawfully repressed by retaliation. 

" Sec. 3. That in every case wherein, during the present war, any 
violation of the laws or usages of war among civilized nations shall 
be, or has been, done and perpetrated by those acting under the 
authority of the Government of the United Slates, on the persons or 
[troperty of citizens of the Confederate States, or of those under the 
protection or in the land or naval service of the Confederate States, 
or of any State of the Confederacy, the President of the Confederate 
States is hereby authorized to cause full and ample retali.ition to be 
made for every such violation, in such manner and to such extent as he 
may think proper. 

" Sec. 4. That every white person, being a commissioned officer, 
or acting as such, who, during the present war, shall command negroes 
or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, or who shall arm, 
train, organize, or jirepare negroes or mulattoes for military service 
against the Confederate States, or who shall voluntarily aid negroes or 
mulattoes in any military enterprise, attack, or conllict in such service, 
shall be deeme<l as inciting servile insurrection, and shall, if capt- 
ured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the discretion of the 
court. 

" Sec. 5. Every person, being a commissioned officer, or acting 
as such in the service of the enemy, who shall, during the present 
war, excite, attempt to excite, or cause to be excited, a servile insur- 
rection, or who shall incite, or cause to be incited, a slave or rebel, 
shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise punished at the dis- 
cretion of the court. 

" Sec. 6. Every person charged with an offence punishable un- 
der the preceding resolutions shall, during the present war, be tried 
before the military court attached to the army or corps by the troops of 
which he shall have been captured, or by such other military court as the 



353 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

President may direct, and in such manner and under such regulations 
as the President shall prescribe ; and, after conviction, the President may 
commute the ])unishment in such manner and on such terms as he may 
deem proper. 

" Sec. 7. All negroes and mulattoes who shall be engaged in 
war, or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or shall 
give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate States, shall, 
when captured in the Confederate States, be delivered to the au- 
thorities of the State or States in which they shall be captured, to 
be dealt with according to the present or future laws of sucli State 
or States." 

This document stands alone among the resolves of the civil- 
ized governments of all Christendom. White persons acting as 
commissioned officers in organizations of Colored Troops were 
to "be put to death!" And all Negroes and Mulattoes taken in 
arms against tlie Confederate Government were to be turned over 
to the authorities — civil, of course — of the States in which they 
should be captured, to be dealt with according to the present or 
future laws of such States! Now, what were the laws of the 
Southern States respecting Negroes in arms against white people ? 
The most cruel death. And fearing some of those States had 
modified their cruel slave Code, the States were granted the right 
to pass ex post facto laws in order to give the cold-blooded mur- 
der of captured Negro soldiers the semblance of law, — and by a 
civil law too. Colored soldiers and their ofificers had been butch- 
ered before this in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Florida, notwithstanding the rebels were the first to arm Negroes, 
as has been already shown. If tiie Confederates had a right to 
arm Negroes and include them in their armies, why could not 
the Federal Government pursue the same policy? But the 
Rebel Government had determined upon a barbarous policy 
in dealing with captured Negro soldiers, — and barbarous as 
that policy was, the rebel soldiers exceeded its cruel provisions 
tenfold. Their treatment of Negroes was perfectly fiendish. 

But what was the attitude of the Federal Government ? Si- 
lence, until the butcheries of its gallant defenders had sickened 
the civilized world, and until the Christian governments of Europe 
frowned upon the inhuman indifference of the Governinent that 
would y'c'rcr its slaves to fight its battles and then allow them to 
be tortured to death in the name of " State laivs f " Even the 
most conservative papers of the North began to feel that some 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO- SOLDIERS. 353 

policy ought to be adopted whereby the lives of Colored soldiers 
could be protected against the inhuman treatment bestowed upon 
them when captured by the rebels. In the spring of 1S63, the 
" Tribune," referring to this subject, said, editorially : 

" The Government has sent Adj. -General 'I'homas to the West with 
full authority to arm and organize the negroes for service against the 
Rehels. They are to be employed to protect the navigation of the 
Mississippi and other rivers against guerrillas, and as garrisons at forti- 
fied posts, and are evidently destined for all varieties of military duty. 
Seven thousand soldiers who listened to this announcement at Fort 
Curtis received it with satisfaction and applause. Gen. Thomas, here- 
tofore known as opposed to this and all similar measures, urged in his 
address that the Blacks should be treated with kindness ; declared his 
belief in their capacity, and informed the officers of the army that no 
one would be permitted to oppose or in any way interfere with this 
policy of the Government. 

" It is not directly stated, but may be inferred from the Despatch, 
that the negroes are not to be encouraged to enlist, but are to be drafted. 
At all events, the policy of the Government to employ Black Troops in 
active service is definitely established, and it becomes — as indeed it 
has been for months — a very serious question what steps are to be 
taken for their protection. The Proclamation of Jefferson Davis re- 
mains unrevoked. By it he threatened death or slavery to every negro 
taken in arms, and to their white officers the same fate. What is the 
response of our Government ? Hitherto, silence. The number of 
negroes in its service has already increased ; in South Carolina they 
have already been mustered into regiments by a sweejjing conscription, 
and now in the West apparently the same policy is adopted and rigor- 
ously enforced. 

" Does the Government mean that the men are to be exposed not 
merely to the chances of battle, but to the doom which the unanswered 
Proclamation of the Rebel President threatens ? 

" Every black soldier now marches to battle with a halter about his 
neck. The simple question is : Shall we protect and insure the ordi- 
nary treatment of a prisoner of war ? Under it, every negro yet capt- 
ured has suffered death or been sent back to the hell of slavery from 
which he had escaped. The bloody massacre of black prisoners at 
Murfreesboro, brooked, so far as the public knows, no retaliation at 
Washington. The black servants captured at Galveston— free men and 
citizens of Massachusetts — were sold into slavery and remained there. 
In every instance in which they have had the opportunity, the rebels 
have enforced their barbarous proclamation. How much longer are 
they to be suffered to do it without remonstrance? 



354 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Gen. Hunter — at this moment in the field, ^General Butler, and 
hundreds of other white officers are incUided in this Proclamation, or 
were previously outlawed and adjudged a felon's death. Delay re- 
monstrance much longer, and retaliation must supersede it. If the 
Government wishes to be spared the necessity of retaliating, it has only 
to say that it will retaliate — to declare by proclamation or general order 
that all its soldiers who may be captured must receive from the Rebels 
the treatment to which, as prisoners of war, they are, by the usages of 
war, entitled. Tiie Government can know no distinction of color 
under its flag. The moment a soldier shoulders a musket he is invested 
with every military right which belongs to a white soldier. He is at 
least and above ail things entitled to the safeguards which surround 
his white comrades. 

"It is not possible to suppose the Government means to withhold 
them; we only urge that the wisest, safest, and humanest, as well as 
the most honorable policy, is at once to announce its purpose."' 

The able article just quoted had a wholesome effect upon 
many thoughtful men at the South, and brought the blush to 
the cheek of the nation. A few of the Southern journals agreed 
with Mr. Greeley that the resolves of the Confederate Congress 
were unjustifiable ; that the Congress had no right to say what 
color the Union soldiers should be; and that such action would 
damage their cause in the calm and humane judgment of all 
Europe. But the Confederate Congress was unmoved and un- 
movable upon this subject. 

Three Colored men had been captured in Stone River on the 
gun-boat " Isaac Smith." They were free men ; but, notwith- 
standing this, they were placed in close confinement and treated 
like felons. Upon the facts reaching the ear of the Government, 
Secretary Stanton took three South Carolina prisoners and had 
them subjected to the same treatment, and the facts telegraphed 
to the Rebel authorities. Commenting upon the question of the 
treatment of captured Colored soldiers the " Richmond Exam- 
iner " said ; 

" It is not merely the pretension of a regular Government afTecting 
to deal with 'Rebels,' but it is a deadly stab which they are aiming at 
our institutions themselves — because they know that, it we were in- 
sane enough to yield this point, to treat Black men as the equals of 
White, and insurgent slaves as equivalent to our brave soldiers, the very 
foundation of Slavery would be fatally wounded." 

' New York Tribune, April 14, 1863. 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 355 

Shortly after this occurrence an exchange of prisoners took 
place in front of Charleston. The rebels returned only white 
prisoners. When upbraided by the Union officers for not ex- 
changing Negroes the reply came that under the resolutions of 
the Confederate Congress they could not deliver up any Negro 
soldiers. This fact stirred the heart of the North, ar.d caused 
the Government to act. The following order was issued by the 
President : 

" Executive Mansion, [ 
"Washington, July 30, 1863. j 

" It is the duty of every Government to give protection to its citi- 
zens, of whatever class, color, or condition, and especially to those who 
are duly organized as soldiers in the public service. The law of nations, 
and the usages and customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, 
permit no distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as 
public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person, on account of 
his color, and for no offense against the laws of war, is a relapse into 
barbarism, and a crime against the civilization of the age. 

"The Government of the United States will give the same protec- 
tion to all its soldiers ; and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one 
because of his color, the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon 
the enemy's prisoners in our possession. 

'' It is therefore ordered that, for every soldier of the United States 
killed in violation of the laws of war, a Rebel soldier shall be executed ; 
and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into Slavery, a Rebel 
soldier shall be placed at hard labor on public works, and continued at 
such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment 
due to a prisoner of war. 

" Abraham Lincoln. 
" By order of the Secretary of War. 
" E. D. Towss^tiD, Assistant ^(fJiitaiit-Gerteiai." 

In the early spring of 1864, there was a great deal said in the 
Southern journals and much action had in the rebel army re- 
specting the capture and treatment of Negro soldiers. The 
"Richmond Examiner " contained an account of the battle of 
Nevvbern, North Carolina, in which the writer seemed to gloat 
over the fact that a captured Negro had been hung after he had 
surrendered. It came to the knowledge of Gen. Peck, command- 
ing the army of the District of North Carolina, when the follow- 
ing correspondence took place : 



356 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" Headquarters of the Army and District of ) 

"North Carolina, Newbern, North j- 

" Carolina, Feb. ii, 1S64. ) 

" Major-General Pickett, Depaitincni of Virginia and North Carolina, 
" Confederate Army, Petersburg. 

" General : I have tlie honor to inclose a sHp cut from the Rich- 
mond ' Examiner,' February eighth, 1864. It is styled 'The Advance 
on Newbern,' and appears to have been extracted from the Petersburg 
'Register,' a paper published in the city where your headquarters are 
located. 

"Your attention is particularly invited to that paragraph which 
states ' that Colonel Shaw was shot dead by a negro soldier from the 
other side of the river, which he was spanning with a pontoon bridge, 
and that ' the negro was watched, followed, taken, and hanged after 
the action at Thomasville.' 

" ' The Advance on NEVi^BERN. — The Petersburg " Register gives 
the following additional facts of the advance on Newbern : Oar army, 
according to the report of passengers arriving from Weldon, has fallen 
back to a point sixteen miles west of Newbern. The reason assigned 
for this retrograde movement was that Newbern could not be taken by 
us without a loss on our part which would find no equivalent in its capt- 
ure, as the place was stronger than we had anticipated. Yet, in spite 
of this, we are sure that the expedition will result in good to our cause. 
Our forces are in a situation to get large supplies from a country still 
abundant, to ])revent raids on points westward, and keep tories in check, 
and hang them when caught. 

■ " ' From a private, who was one of the guard that brought the batch 
of prisoners through, we learn that Colonel .Shaw was shot dead by a 
negro soldier from the other side of the river, which he was spanning 
with a pontoon bridge. The negro was watched, followed, taken, and' 
hanged after the action at Thomasville. It is stated that when our 
troops entered Thomasville, a number of the enemy took shelter in the 
houses and fired upon them. The Yankees were ordered to surrender, 
but refused, whereupon our men set fire to the houses, and their occu- 
pants got, bodily, a taste in this world of the flames eternal.' 

" The Government of the United States has wisely seen fit to enlist 
many tliousand colored citizens to aid in putting down the rebellion, 
and has placed them on the same footing in all respects as her white 
troops. 

• •*•••••• 

" Believing that this atrocity has been perpetrated without your 
knowledge, and that you will take prompt steps to disavow this violation 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 357 

of the usages of war, and to bring llie offenders to justice, I shall re- 
frain from executing a rebel soldier until I learn your action in the 
premises. 

" I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" John J. Peck, 

" Major- General." 

Reply of General Tickett. 

"Headquarters ok the Department ok North ) 
"Carolina, Fetersuurg, Virginia, February 16, 1864. \ 

" Major-General John J. Peck, U. S. A., Commamling at Ne^vbern : 

"General: Vour communication of the eleventh of February is 
received. I have the honor to state in reply, that the paragraph from a 
newspaper inclosed therein, is not only without foundation in fact, but 
so ridiculous that I should scarcely have supposed it worthy of consid- 
eration ; but I would respectfully inform you that had I caught any 
vegro, who had killed either officer, soldier, or citizen of the Confederate 
States, I should have caused him to be immediately executed. 

" To your threat expressed in the following extract from your com- 
munication, namely : 'Believing that this atrocity has been perpetrated 
without your knowledge, and that you will take promj)! steps to disavow 
this violation of the usages of war, and to bring the offenders to justice, 
I shall refrain from executing a rebel soldier until I learn of your action 
in the iiremises,' I have merely to say that I have in my hands and 
subject to my orders, captured in the recent operations in this depart- 
ment, some four hundred and fifty officers and men of the United States 
army, and for every man you hang I will hang ten of the United States 
army. 

" I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" J. E. Pickett, 
" Alajor-Geiicral Commanding." * 

As already indicated, some of the Southern Journals did not 
endorse the extreme hardships and cruelties to which the rebels 
subjected the captured Colored men. During the month of July, 
1863, quite a number of Colored soldiers had fallen into the 
hands of the enemy on Morris and James islands. The rebels 
did not only refuse to exchange them as prisoners of war, but 
treated them most cruelly. 

On this very important subject, in reply to some strictures of 

' Rebellion Recs., vol. viii. Doc. pp. 41S, 419. 



358 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the Charleston " Mercury " (made under inisapprcliensio)i), the 
Chief of Staff of General Beauregard addressed to that journal 
the following letter: 

" Headquarters, Department of S. C, Ga., and Fla., , 
"Charleston, S. C, August 12, 1S63. \ 

" Colonel R. B. Rhett, Jr., Editor of ' Mercury': 

" In the ' Mercury of this date you appear to have written under 
a misapprehension of the facts connected with the present status of the 
negroes captured in arms on Morris and James Islands, which permit 
me to state as fqllows : 

"The Proclamation of the President, dated Decemher twenty-fourth, 
1862, directed that all negro slaves captured in arms should be at once 
delivered over to the executive authorities of the respective States to 
which they belong, to be dealt with according to the laws of said States. 

" An informal application was made by the State authorities for the 
negroes captured in this vicinity ; but as none of them, it appeared, had 
been slaves of citizens of South Carolina, they were not turned over to 
the civil autliority, for at the moment there was no official information 
at these headquarters of the Act of Congress by which ' all negroes and 
mulattoes, who shall be engaged in war, or be taken in arms against the 
confederate States, or shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the 
confederate States,' were directed to be turned over to the authorities 
of ' State or States in which they shall be captured, to be dealt with 
according to the present or future laws of such State or States.' 

" On the twenty-first of July, however, the Commanding General 
telegraphed to the Secretary of War for instructions as to the disposition 
to be made of the negroes captured on Morris and James Islands, and 
on tlie twenty-second received a reply that they must l)e turned over to 
the State authorities, by virtue of the joint resolutions of Congress in 
question. 

" Accordingly, on the twenty-ninth July, as soon as a copy of the 
resolution or act was received, his Excellency Governor Bonham was 
informed that the negroes captured were held subject to his orders, to 
be dealt with according to the laws of South Carolina. 

" On the same day (twenty-ninth July) Governor Bonham requested 
that they should be retained in mihtary custody until he could make 
arrangements to dispose of them ; and in that custody they still remain, 
awaiting the orders of the State authorities. 

" Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" Thomas Jordan, 

" Chief of Staff." 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 359 

The Proclamation of Jefferson Davis, referred to in the second 
paragraph of Mr. Jordan's letter, had declared Gen. Butler "a 
felon, an outlaw, and an enemy of mankind." It recited his 
hanging of Mumford ; the neglect of the I'ederal Government to 
explain or disapprove the act ; the imprisonment of non-comba- 
tants ; Butler's woman order; his secjuestration of estates in 
Western Louisiana; and the inciting to insurrection and arming 
of slaves. Mr. Davis directed any Confederate officer who should 
capture Gen. liutler to hang him immediately and without trial. 
Mr. Davis's proclamation is given here, as history is bound to hold 
him personally responsible for the cruelties practised upon Negro 
soldiers captured by the rebels from that time till the close of 
the war. 

" First. That all commissioned officers in the command of said 
Benjamin F. Butler be declared not entitled to be considered as soldiers 
engaged in iionorable warfare, but as robbers and criminals, deserving 
death ; and that they and each of tliem be, whenever captured, reserved 
for execution. 

" Second. That the private soldiers and non-commissioned officers 
in the army of said Butler be considered as only the instruments used 
for the commission of crimes perpetrated by liis orders, and not as free 
agents ; that they, therefore, be treated, when raptured as prisoners of 
war, with kindness and humanity, and be sent home on the usual parole 
that they will in no manner aid or serve the United States in any ca- 
pacity during the continuance of this war, unless duly exchanged. 

" Third. That all negro slaves captured in arms be at once deliv- 
ered over to the executive authorities of the respective States to which 
they belong, to be dealt with according to the laws of said States. 

" Fourth. That the like orders be executed in all cases with respect 
to all commissioned officers of the United States, when found serving 
in company with said slaves in insurrection against the authorities of the 
different States of this Confederacy. 

"[Signed and sealed at Richmond, Dec. 23, 1862.] 

" jEFKr.KSON Dwis." 

The ghastly horrors of Fort Pillow stand alone in the wide 
field of war cruelties. The affair demands great fortitude in the 
historian who would truthfully give a narrative of such bloody, 
sickening detail. 

On the i8th of April, 1864, Gen. N. B. Forrest, commanding 
a corps of Confederate cavalry, appeared before Fort Pillow, situ- 



360 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

ated about forty miles above Memphis, Tennessee, and de- 
manded its surrender. It was held by Major L. F. Booth, with 
a garrison of 557 men, 262 of whom were Colored soldiers of the 
6th U. S. Heavy Artillery; the other troops were white, under 
Major Bradford of the 1 3th Tennessee Cavalry. The garrison 
was mounted with six guns. From before sunrise until nine A.M. 
the Union troops had held an outer line of intrenchments ; but 
upon the death of Major Booth Major Bradford retired his force 
into the fort. It was situated upon a high bluff on the Missis- 
sippi River, flanked by two ravines with sheer declivities and par- 
tially timbered. The gun-boat "New Era" was to have cooper- 
ated with the fort, but on account of the extreme height of the 
bluff, was unable to do much. The fighting continued until 
about two o'clock in the afternoon, when the firing slackened on 
both sides to allow the guns to cool off. The " New Era," 
nearly out of shell, backed into the river to clean her guns. 
During this lull Gen. Forrest sent a flag of truce demanding the 
unconditional surrender of the fort. A consultation of the Fed- 
eral officers was held, and a request made for twenty minutes to 
consult the officers of the gun-boat. Gen. Forrest refused to 
grant this, saying that he only demanded the surrender of the 
fort and not the gun-boat. He demanded an immediate surren- 
der, which was promptly declined by Major Bradford. During 
the time these negotiations were going on, Forrest's men were 
stealing horses, plundering the buildings in front of the fort, and 
closing in upon the fort through the ravines, which was unsol- 
dierly and cowardly to say the least. Upon receiving the refusal 
of Major Booth to capitulate, Forrest gave a signal and his troops 
made a frantic charge upon the fort. It was received gallantly 
and resisted stubbornly, but there was no use of fighting. In ten 
minutes the enemy, assaulting the fort in the centre, and striking 
it on the flanks, swept in. The Federal troops surrendered ; 
but an indiscriminate massacre followed. Men were shot down 
in their tracks; pinioned to the ground with bayonet and sa- 
bre. Some were clubbed to death while dying of wounds ; 
others were made to get down upon their knees, in which con- 
dition they were shot to death. Some were burned alive, hav- 
ing been fastened into the buildings, while still others were 
nailed against the houses, tortured, and then burned to a crisp. 
A little Colored boy only eight years old was lifted to the 
horse of a rebel who intended taking him along with him, when 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 361 

Gen. Forrest meeting tlie soldier ordered him to put the child 
down and shoot him. The soldier remonstrated, but the stern 
and cruel order was repeated, emphasized with an oath, and 
backed with a threat tliat endangered the soldier's life, so he 
put the chiki on the ground and shot him dead ! From three 
o'clock in the afternoon until the merciful darkness came and 
threw the sable wings of night over the carnival of death, the 
slaughter continued. The stars looked down in pity upon the 
dead — ah ! they were beyond the barbarous touch of the rebel 
fiends — and the dying ; and the angels found a spectacle worthy 
of their tears. And when the morning looked down upon the 
battle-field, it was not to find it peaceful in death and the human 
hyenas gone. Alas ! those who liad survived the wounds of the 
day before were set upon again and brained or shot to death. 

The Committee on the Conduct and E.Kpenditures of the War 
gave this " Horrible Massacre " an investigation. They examined 
such of the Union soldiers as escaped from death at Fort Pillow 
and were sent to the Mound City Hospital, Illinois. The follow- 
ing extracts from the testimony given before the Committee, the 
Hons. Ben. 1'. Wade and D. W. Gooch, give something of an 
idea of this the most cruel and inhuman affair in the history 
of the civilized world. 

Manuel Nichols (Colored), private, Company B, Sixth United 
States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined. 

By Mr. Gooch : 

Question. Were you in the late fight at Fort Pillow ? 

Answer. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you wounded there ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. When ? 

A. I was wounded once about a half an hour before w'e gave up. 

Q. Did tiiey do any tiling to you after you surrendered ? 

A. Yes, sir ; they shot me in the head under my left ear, and the 
morning after the fight they shot me again in the riglit arm. \Vhcn 
they came up and killed the wounded ones, I saw some four or five 
coming down the hill. I said to one of our boys : "Anderson, I ex- 
pect if those fellows come here they will kill us." I was lying on my 
right side, leaning on my elbow. One of the black soldiers went into 
the house where the white soldiers were. I asked him if there was any 
water in there, and he said yes ; I wanted some, and took a stick and 
tried to get to the house. I did not get to the house. Some of them 



362 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

came along, ami saw a little boy belonging to Company D. One of 
them had his musket on his shoulder, and shot the boy down. He 
said : " All you damned niggers come out of the house ; I am going 
to shoot you." Some of the white soldiers said: " Boys, it is only 
death anyhow ; if you don't go out they will come in and carry you 
out." My strength seemed to come to me as if I had never been 
shot, and I jumped up and ran down the hill. 1 met one of them 
coming up the hill ; he said : " Stop ! " but I kept on running. As I 
jumped over the hill, he shot me through the right arm. 

(). How many did you see them kill after they had surrendered ? 

A. After I surrendered I did not go down the hill. A man shot 
me under the ear, and I fell down and said to myself : " If he don't 
shoot me any more this won't hurt me." One of their officers came 
along and hallooed : " Forrest says no (juarter ! no quarter ! " and 
the next one hallooed : " Black flag ! black fiag ! " 

Q. What did they do then ? 

A. They kept on shooting. I could hear them down the hill. 

Q. Did you see them bury any body ? 

A. Yes, sir ; they carried me around right to the corner of the 
Fort, and I saw them pitch men in there. 

Q. Was there any alive ? 

A. I did not see them bury any body alive. 

(2- How near to you was the man who shot you under the ear ? 

A. Right close to my head. When I was shot in the side, a man 
turned me over, and took my pocket-knife and jtocket-book. I had 
some of these brass things that looked like cents. They said : " Here 's 
some money; here's some money." I said to myself: "You got 
fooled that time." 

Major William.s (Colored), private. Company B, Sixth United 
States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined. 
( By the Chairman : 

Q. Where were you raised ? 

A. In Tennessee and North MississippL 

Q. Where did you enlist .' , 

A. In Memphis. 

Q. Who was your captain.' 

A. Captain Lamburg. 

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Was your captain with you ? 

A. No, sir ; I think he was at Memphis. 



CAPTURE OF NF.GRO SOLDIERS. 363 

Q. Who commanded your company ? 

A. Lieutenant Hunter and Sergeant Fox were all the officers we 
had. 

Q. What did you see done liicre ? 

A. We fought them right hard during the battle, and killed some 
of them. After a time they sent in a (lag of truce. They said after- 
ward that they did it to make us stop firing until their reinforcements 
could come up. They said that they never coidd have got in if they 
had not done that ; that we had whipped them ; that they had never 
seen such a fight. 

Q. Did you see the flag of truce ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

C^. What did they do when the flag of truce was in ? 

A. Tliey kept coming up nearer, so that they coidd charge quick. 
A heap of them came up after we slopped firing. 

(). When did you surrender ? 

A. I did not surrender until they all ran. 

Q. Were you wounded then ? 

A. Yes, sir ; after the surrender. 

Q. At what time of day was tliat ? 

A, They told mo it was aljout half after one o'clock, I was wounded. 
Immediately we retreated. 

Q. Did you liave any arms in your hands when they shot you ? 

A. No, sir ; I was an artillery man, and had no arms. 

Q. Did you see the man who shot you ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Did you hear him say any thing ? 

A. No, sir ; I heard nothing. He shot me, and I was bleeding 
])retty free, and I thought to myself : " I will make out it was a dead 
shot, and maybe 1 will not get another." 

Q. Did you see any others shot ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Was there any thing said about giving quarter ? 

.\. Major Bradford brought in a black flag, whicli meant no quar- 
ter, I heard some of the rebel officers say : " You damned rascals, if 
you had not fought us so hard, but had stopped when we sent in a flag 
of truce, we would not have done any thing to you." I heard one of 
the officers say: "Kill all the niggers"; another one said: "No; 
Forrest says take them and carry them with him to wait upon him and 
cook for him, and put them in jail and send them to tlieir masters." 
Still they kept on shooting. They shot at me after that, but did not 
hit me ; a rebel officer shot at me. He took aim at my side ; at the 
(rack of his pistol I fell. He went on and said : "There's another 
dead nigger." 



364 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Q. Was there any one shot in the hospital that day ? 

A. Not that I know of. I think they all came away and made a 
raft and floated across the mouth of the creek and got 'into a flat 
bottom. 

Q. Did you see any buildings burned ? 

A. I stayed in the woods all day Wednesday. I was there Thurs- 
day and looked at the buildings. I saw a great deal left that they did 
not have a chance to burn up. I saw a white man burned up who was 
nailed up against the house. 

Q. A private or an officer ? 

An olYicer ; I think it was a lieutenant in the Tennessee cav- 



A 
airy. 

Q. 

A, 

Q 

A 

Q 

A 

Q 

A 



How was he nailed ? 

Through his hands and feet right against the house. 

Was his body burned ? 

Yes, sir ; burned all over — I looked at him good. 

When did you see that ? 

On the Thursday after the battle. 

Where was the man ? 

Ritfht in front of the Fort. 



Jacob Thompson (Colored), sworn and examined. 
By Mr. Gooch : 

Q. Were you a soldier at Fort Pillow ? 

A. No, sir ; 1 was not a soldier ; but I went up in the Fort and 
fought with the rest. I was shot in the hand and the head. 

Q. When were you shot ? 

A. After I surrendered. 

Q. How many times were you shot ? 

A. I was shot but once ; but I threw my hand up, and the shot 
went through my hand and my head. 

Q. Who shot you ? 

A. A private. 

Q. What did he say ? 

A. He said : " God damn you, I will shoot you, old friend." 

Q. Did you see anybody else shot ? 

A. Yes, sir ; they just called them out like dogs, and shot them 
down. I reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there. 
They nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the logs on fire. 

Q. When did you see that ? 

A. When I went there in the morning I saw them ; they were burn- 
ing all together. 



CAPTU/iE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 365 

Q. Did they kill them before they burned them? 

A. No, sir ; they nailed them to the logs ; drove the nails right 
through their hands. 

Q. How many did you see in that condition ? 

A. Some four or five ; I saw two white men burned. 

Q. AVas there any one else there who saw that ? 

A. I reckon there was ; I could not tell who. 

Q. When was it that you saw them ? 

A. I saw them in the morning after the fight ; some of them were 
burned almost in two. I could tell they were white men, because they 
were whiter than the colored men. 

Q. Did you notice how they were nailed .' 

A. I saw one nailed to the side of a house ; he looked like he was 
nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to the boat 
when I saw it. 

Q. Did you see them kill any white men ? 

A. They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed more 
than twenty after it was all over ; called them out from under the hill, 
and shot them down. They would call out a white man and shoot him 
down, and call out a colored man and shoot him down ; do it just as 
fast as they could make their guns go off. 

Q. Did you see any rebel officers about there when this was going 
on ? 

A. Yes, sir ; old Forrest was one. 

Q. Did you know Forrest ? 

.\. Yes, sir ; he was a little bit of a man. I had seen him before 
at Jackson. 

Ransom Anderson (Colored), Company B, Sixth United States 
Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined. 
By Mr. Gooch: 



Q 



Where were you raised ? 



A. In Mississippi. 

Q. Were you a slave ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Where did you enlist ? 

A. At Corinth. 

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow f 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Describe what you saw done there. 

A. Most all the men that were killed on our side were killed after 
the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down. Then 



366 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

they put some in the houses and shut them up, and then burned the 
houses. 

Q. Did you see them burn ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were any of them alive ? 

A. Yes, sir ; they were wounded, and could not walk. They put 
them in the houses, and then burned the houses down. 

Q. Do you know they were in there ? 

A. Yes, sir ; I went and looked in there. 

Q. Do you know they were in there when the house was burned ? 

A. Yes, sir ; 1 heard them hallooing there when the houses were 
burning. 

Q. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead men, when 
they were put in there ? 

A. Yes, sir ; they told them they were going to have the doctor see 
them, and then put them in there and shut them up, and burned them. 

Q. Who set the house on fire ? 

A. I saw a rebel soldier take some grass and lay it by the door, 
and set it on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy. 

Q. Was the door fastened up ? 

A. Yes, sir ; it was barred with one of those wide bolts. 

James Walls, sworn and examined. 
By Mr. Gooch : 



Q 



To what company did you belong? 



A. To Company E, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. 

Q. Under what officers did you serve ? 

A. I was under Major Bradford and Captain Potter. 

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. State what you saw there of the fight, and what was done after 
the place was captured. 

A. We fought them for some six or eight hours in the Fort, and 
when they charged our men scattered and ran under the hill ; some 
turned back and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag of truce 
came in I went down to get some water. As I was coming back I 
turned sick, and laid down behind a log. The secesh charged, and 
after they came over I saw one go a good ways ahead of the others. 
One of our men made to him and threw down his arms. The bullets 
were flying so thick there I thought I could not live there, so I threw 
down my arms and surrendered. He did not shoot me then, but as I 
turned around he or some other one shot me in the back 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. ' 367 

Q. Did they say any thing while they were shooting? 

A. All I heard was : '' Shoot him, shoot him ! " " Yonder he goes ! " 
" Kill him, kill him ! " That is about ail I heard. 

Q. How many do you su[)posc you saw shot after they sur- 
rendered ? 

A. I did not see but two or three shot around me. One of the boys 
of our company, named Taylor, ran up there, and I saw him shot and 
fall. Then another was shot just before me, like — shot down after he 
threw down his arms. 

Q. Those were white men ? 

A. Yes, sir. I saw them make lots of niggers stand up, and then 
they shot them down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around 
there waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying 
around there, and would come to a nigger, and say : " You ain't dead, 
are you?" They would not say any tiling; and then the secesh 
would get down off their horses, prick them in tlieir sides, and say : 
'■ Damn you, you ain't dead ; get up." Then they would make them 
get up on their knees, when they would shoot them down like hogs. 

Q. Did you see any rebel officers about while this shooting was 
going on ? 

A. I do not know as I saw any officers about when they were shoot- 
ing the negroes. A captain came to me a few minutes after I was shot ; 
he was close by me when I was shot. 

Q Did he try to stop the shooting? 

A. I did not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they 
were shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. 1 begged 
him not to let them shoot me again, and he said they would not. One 
man, after he was shot down, was shot again. .\tter I was shot down, 
the man I surrendered to went around the tree I was against and shot a 
man, and then came around to me again and wanted my pocket-book. 
I handed it up to him, and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at 
it, and got the watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow 
knife I had in my pocket. It was not worth five cents; was of no ac- 
count at all, only to cut tobacco with. 

Lieutenant McJ. Lemiiitj, sworn and examined. 
By Mr. Gooch-. 

Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow ? 
.\. Yes, sir. 

Q. What is your rank and position ? 

A. I am a First Lieutenant and .\djutant of the Thirteenth Tenne.=!- 
see Cavalry. A short time previous to the fight I was rost-.\djutant at 



368 IirSTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Fort Pillow, and during most of the engagement I was acting as Post- 
Adjutant. After Major Bootii was killed, Major Bradford was in com- 
mand. The pickets were driven in just before sunrise, which was the 
first intimation we had that the enemy were approaching. I repaired to 
the Fort, and found that Major Booth was shelling the rebels as they 
came up toward the outer intrenchments. They kept up a steady fire 
by sharp-shooters behind trees and logs and high knolls. The Major 
thought at one time they were planting some artillery, or looking for 
places to plant it. They began to draw nearer and nearer, up to the time 
our men were all drawn into the Fort. Two companies of the Thirteenth 
Tennessee Cavalry were ordered out as sharp-shooters, but were finally or- 
dered in. We were pressed on all sides. 

I think Major Booth fell not later than nine o'clock. His Adjutant, 
who was then acting Post-Adjutant, fell near the same time. Major 
Bradford then took the command, and I acted as Post-Adjutant. Pre- 
vious to this. Major Booth had ordered some buildings in front of the 
Fort to be destroyed, as the enemy's sharp- shooters were endeavoring to 
get possession o( them. There were four rows of buildings, but only 
the row nearest the fort was destroyed ; the sharp-shooters gained pos- 
session of the others before they could be destroyed. The fight con- 
tinued, one almost unceasing fire all the time, until about three o'clock. 
They threw some shells, but they did not do much damage with their 
shells. 

I think it was about three o'clock that a flag of truce approached. I 
went out, accompanied by Captain Young, the Provost-Marshal of the 
post. There was another officer, I think, but I do not recollect now par- 
ticularly who it was, and some four mounted men. The rebels announced 
that they had a communication from General Forrest. One of their 
officers there, I think, from his dress, was a colonel. I received the 
communication, and they said they would wait for an answer. As near 
as I remember, the communication was as follows : 

" Hf.adquarters Confederate Cavalry, ) 
"Near Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864. f 

" As your gallant defence of the Fort has entitled you to the treat- 
ment of brave men [or something to that effect], I now demand an 
unconditional surrender of your force, at the same time assuring you 
that they will be treated as prisoners of war. I have received a fresh 
supply of ammunition, and can easily take your position. 

" N. B. Forrest. 
" Major L. F. Booth, 

" Coiinnandiitg United States Forces." 

I took this message back to the Fort. Major Bradford replied 
that he desired an hour for consultation and consideration with his 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 369 

officers and the officers of tlie <;uii-bo:it. I took out this communication 
to them, and they carried it back to (Icnetal Forrest. In a few minutes 
another flag of truce appeared, antl I went out to meet it. Some one 
said, when they handed the communication to me : " That gives you 
twenty minutes to surrender ; I am General Forrest." I took it back. 
The substance of it was : " 'I'wenty minutes will be given you to take 
your men outside of the Fort. If in that time they are not out, I will 
immediately proceed to assault your works," or sometliing of that kind. 
To this Major Bradford replied : '' I will not surrender." I took it out 
in a sealed envelope, and gave it to him. The general opened it and 
read it. Nothing was said ; we simply saluted, anil they went their way, 
and 1 returned back into the Fort. 

Ahiiost instantly the firing began again. We mistrusted, while this 
fla'^ of truce was going on, that they were taking horses out at a camp 
we had. It was mentioned to them, the last time that this and other 
movements excited our suspicion, that they were moving their troops. 
They said that they had noticed it themselves, and had it stopped ; 
that it was unintentional on their part, and that it should not be 
repeated. 

It was not long after the last flag of truce had retired, that they 
made their grand charge. We kept them back for several minutes. 

What was called brigade or battalion attacked the centre of the 

Fort where several companies of colored troops were stationed. They 
finally gave way, and, before we could fill up the breach, the enemy got 
inside the Fort, and then they came in on the other two sides, and had 
complete possession of the Fort. In the mean time nearly all the 
officers had been killed, especially of the colored troops, and there was 
no one hardly to guide the men. They fought bravely indeed until 
that time. I do not think the men who broke had a commissioned 
officer over them. They fought with the most determined bravery, until 
the enemy, gained possession of the Fort. They kept shooting all the 
time. The negroes ran down the hill toward the river, but the rebels 
kept shooting them as they were running ; shot some again after they 
had fallen ; robbed and iilundered them. After every thing was all gone, 
after we had given up the Fort entirely, the guns thrown away and the 
firing on our part stopped, they still kept up their murderous lire, more 
especially on the colored troops, I thought, although the white troops 
suffered a great deal. I know the colored troops had a great deal the 
worst of it. I saw several shot after they were wounded ; as they were 
crawling around, the secesh would step out and blow their brains out. 

About this time they shot me. It must have been four or half-past 
four o'clock. I saw there was no chance at all, and threw down my 
sabre. A man took deliberate aim at me, but a short distance from me. 
certainlv not more than fifteen jiaces, and shot me. 



3;o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Q. With a musket or pistol ? 

A. I think it Avas a carbine ; it may have been a musket, but my im- 
pression is, that it was a carbine. Soon after I was shot I was robbed. 
A secesh soldier came along, and wanted to know if I had any greenbacks. 
I gave him my pocket-book. I had about a hundred dollars, I think, 
more or las,';, and a gold watch and gold chain. They took every thing 
in the way of valuables that I had. I saw them robbing others. That 
seemed to be the general way they served the wounded, so far as regards 
those who fell in my vicinity. Some of the colored troops jumped into 
the river, but were shot as fast as they were seen. One poor fellow was 
shot as he reached the bank of the river. They ran down and hauled 
him out. He got on his hands and knees, and was crawling along, when 
a secesh soldier put his revolver to his head, and blew his brains out. 
It was about the same thing all along, until dark that night. 

I was very weak, but I finally found a rebel who belonged to a 
society that I ani a member of (the Masons), and he got two of our 
colored soldiers to assist me up the hill, and he brought me some 
water. At that time it was about dusk. He carried me up just to the 
edge of the Fort, and laid me down. There seemed to be quite a num- 
ber of dead collected there. They were throwing them into the out- 
side trench, and I heard them talking about burying them there. I 
heard one of them say : " There is a man who is not quite dead yet." 
They buried a number there ; I do not know how many. 

I was carried that night to a sort of little shanty that the rebels had 
occupied during the day with their sharp-shooters. I received no med- 
ical attention that night at all. The next morning early I heard the 
report of cannon down the river. It was the gun-boat 28 coming up 
from Memphis; she was shelling the rebels along the shore as she 
came up. The rebels immediately ordered the burning of all the 
buildings, and ordered the two buildings where the wounded were to be 
fired. Some one called to the officer who gave the order, and said 
there were wounded in them. The building I was in began to catch 
fire. I prevailed upon one of our soldiers who had not been hurt 
much to draw me out, and I think others got the rest out. They drew 
us down a little way, in a sort of gully, and we lay there in the hot 
sun without water or any thing. 

About this time a squad of rebels came around, it would seem for 
the purpose of murdering what negroes they could find. They began 
to shoot the wounded negroes all around there, interspersed with the 
whites. I was lying a little way from a w^ounded negro, when a 
secesh soldier came up to him, and said : " What in hell are you doing 
here ? " The colored soldier said he wanted to get on the gun-boat. 
The secesh soldier said : " You want to fight us again, do you ? 
I)amn you, I '11 teach you," and drew up his gun and shot him dead. 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 371 

Another negro was standing'up-.erect a little way from mc — he did not 
seem to be luirt much. The rebel loaded his gun again immediately. 
The negro begged of him not to shoot him, but he drew up his gun 
and took deliberate aim at his head. The gun snapped, but he fixed it 
again, and then killed him. I saw tiiis. I heard tlicin shooting all 
around there — I suppose killing them 

By the Chairman : 

Q. Do you know of any rebel officers going on board our gun-boat 
after she came u[) ? 

A. I don't know about the gun-boat, but I saw some of them on 
board the " Platte Valley," after I had been carried on her. They came 
on board, and I think went into drink with some of our officers. I 
think one of the rebel officers was General Chalmers. 

Q. Do you know what officers of ours drank with them ? 

A. I do not. 

Q. You know that they did go on board the " Platte Valley " and 
drink with some of our officers ? 

A. I did not see them drinking at the time, but 1 have no doubt 
they did ; that was my impression from all I saw, and I thought our 
officers might have been in better business. 

Q. Were our officers treating these rebel officers with attention ? 

A. They seemed to be ; I did not see much of it, as they passed 
along by me. 

Q. Do you know whether or not the conduct of tiic privates, in 
murdering our soldiers after they had surrendered, seemed to have the 
approval of their officers ? 

A. I did not see much of their officers, especially during the worst 
of those outrages ; they seemed to be back. 

Q. Did you observe any effort on the part of their officers to sup- 
press the murders ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not see any where I was first carried ; just about 
dusk, all at once several shots were fired just outside. The cry was : 
"They are shooting the darkey soldiers." I heard an officer ride up 
and say: "Stop that firing; arrest that man." I supjiose it was a 
rebel officer, but I do not know. It was reported to me, at the time, 
that several darkeys were shot then. An officer who stood by me, a 
prisoner, said that. they had been shooting them, but that tlie general 
had had it stopped. 

Q. Do you know of any of our men in the hospital being murder^fl ? 

A. I do not. 

Q. Do you know any thing of the fate of your Quartermaster, 
Lieutenant Akerstrom.'' 



372 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

A. He was one of the officers wlio went with me to meet the flag of 
truce the last time. I do not know what became of him ; that was 
about the last I saw of him. I heard that he was nailed to a board 
and burned, and I have very good reason for believing that was the 
case, although T did not see it. The First Lieutenant of Company D 
of my regiment says that he has an affidavit to that effect of a man 
who saw it. 

Francis A. Alexander, sworn and examined. 
By the Chairman : 



Q 



Q 

A 

Q 

A 
men 

Q 

A, 

Q 

A 

Q 

A 



To what company and regiment do you belong? 



Company C, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. 
Were you at Fort Pillow at the fight there ? 
Yes, sir. 

Who commanded your regiment ? 

Major Bradford commanded the regiment, and Lieutenant 
Logan commanded our company. 

By what troops was the Fort attacked ? 
Forrest was in command. I saw him. 
Did you know Forrest ? 

I saw him there, and they all said it was Forrest. Their own 
said so. 

By what troops was the charge made 
They are Alabamians and Te.xans. 
Did you see any thing of a flag of truce ? 
Yes, sir. 

State what was done while the flag of truce was in. 
\V'hcn the flag of truce came up our officers went out and held 
a consultation, and it went back. They came in again with a flag of 
truce ; and while they were consulting the second time, their troops 
were coming up a gap or hollow, where we could have cut them to 
pieces. They tried it before, but could not do it. I saw them come up 
there while the flag of truce was in the second time. 
Q. That gave them an advantage ? 
A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you wounded there ? 

A. Not in the Fort. I was wounded after I left the Fort, and was 
going down the hill. 

Q. Was that before or after the Fort was taken ? 
• A. It was afterward. 

Q. Did you have any arms in your hand at the time they shot you? 
A. No, sir ; I threw my gun away, and started down the hill, and 
got about twenty yards, when I was shot througli the calf of the leg. 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 373 

Q. Did they shoot you more than once ? 

A. No, sir ; they shot at me, but did not hit me more than once. 

Q. Did they say why tiiey shot you after you had surrendered ? 

A. They said afterward they intended to kill us all for being there 
with their niggers. 

Q. Were any rebel officers there at the time this shooting was goinj.' 
on ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did they try to stop it ? 

A. One or two of them did. 

Q. What did the rest of tlieni do ? 

A They kept shouting and hallooing at the men to give no quar- 
ter. I heard that cry very frecjuent. 

Q. Was it the officers that said that ? 

A. I think it was. I think it was them, the way they were going 
on. When our boys were taken ])risoners, if anybody came up who 
knew them, they shot them down. .As soon as ever they recognized 
them, wherever it was, they shot them. 

Q. .\fter they had taken them jirisoners ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you know any thing about their siiooting men in the hos- 
pitals ? 

K. I know of their shooting negroes in there. 1 don't know about 
white men. 

Q. Wounded negro men ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Who did that ? 

A. Some of their troops. I don't know which of them. The next 
morning I saw several black people shot that were wounded, and some 
that were not wounded. One was going down the hill before me, and 
the officer made him come back up the hill ; and after I got in the 
boat I heard them shooting them. 

Q. You say you saw them shoot negroes in the hospital the ne.xt 
morning ? 

.\. Yes, sir ; wounded negroes who could not get along ; one with 
his leg broke. They came there the next day and shot him. 

John F. Ray, sworn and examined. 
I?y Mr. Gooch : 

Q. To what company and regiment do you belong? 

A. Company H, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. 

Q. Were you at Fort Pillow wher. it was attacked ? 

A. Yes, sir. 



374 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Q. At what time were you wounded? 

A. I was wounded about two o'clock, after the rebels got in the 
breastworks. 

Q. Was it before or after you had surrendered r 

A. It was after I threw down my gun, as they all started to run. 

Q. Will you state what you saw there ? 

A. After I surrendered they shot down a great many white fellows 
right close to me — ten or twelve, I suppose — and a great many negroes, 
too. 

Q. How long did they keep shooting our men after they surren- 
dered ? 

A. I heard guns away after dark shooting all that evening, sonie- 
\.'here ; they kept up a regular fire for a long time, and then I heard 
the guns once in a while. 

Q. Did you see any one shot the next day ? 

A. I did not ; \ was in a house, and could not get up at all. 

Q. Do you know what became of the Quartermaster of your regi- 
ment, Lieutenant Akerstroni ? 

A. He was shot bv the side of me. 

Q. Was he killed ? 

A. I thought so at the time ; he fell on his face. He was shot in 
the forehead, and I thought he was killed. I heard afterward he was 
not. 

(^. Did you notice any thing that took place while the flag of truce 
was in ? 

A. I saw the rebels slipping up and getting in the ditch along our 
breastworks. 

Q. How near did they come up ? 

A. They were right at us ; right across from the breastworks. I 
asked them what they were slip])ing up there for. They made answer 
that they knew their business. 

Q. Are you sure this was done while the flag of truce was in ? 

A. Yes, sir. There was no firing ; we could see all around ; we 
could see them moving up all around in large force. 

(,^. Was any thing said about it except what you said to the rebels? 

A I heard all our boys talking about it. I heard some of our 
officers remark, as they saw it coming, that the white flag was a bad 
thing ; that they were slipping on us. I believe it was Lieutenant 
Akerstrom that I heard say it was against the rules of war for them to 
come up in that way. 

Q. To whom did he say that ? 

A. To those fellows coming up ; they had officers with them. 
Q. AVas Lieutenant Akerstrom shot before or after he had surren- 
dered ? 



CAPTURE OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 375 

A. About two minutes after the Hag of truce went back, during the 
action. 

Q. Do you think of any thing else to state ? If so, go on and 
state it. 

A. I saw a rebel lieutenant take a little negro ' boy up on the horse 
behind him ; and then T heard General Chalmers — I think it must have 
been — tell him to " Take that negro down and shoot him," or " Take 
him and shoot him," and he [)assed him down and shot him. 

Q. How large was the boy ? 

A. He was not more than eight years old. I heard the lieutenant 
tell the other that the negro was not in the service ; that he was noth- 
ing but a child ; that he was pressed and brought in there. 'J'he other 
one said : " Damn the difference ; take liim down and shoot him, or I 
will shoot him.'' I think it must have been General Chalmers. He 
was a smallish man ; he had on a long gray coat, with a star on his coat.' 

The country and the world stood ac^hast. The first account 
of this human butchery was too much for credence: after a while 
the truth began to dawn upon the countr_\- ; and at last the 
people admitted that in a Christian land like America a deed so 
foul — blacker than hell itself! — had actually been perpetrated. 
The patience of the North and the Union army gave way to 
bitterest imprecations ; the e.Kultation and applause of the 
South and Confederate army were succeeded b)' serious thoughts 
and sad reflections. lUit it is the duty of impartial history to 
record that this bloody, sickening affair was not endorsed by all 
the rebels. 

In a letter dated Okalona, Mississippi, June 14, 1864, to the 
" Atlanta Appeal," a rebel gives this endorsement of Forrest's 
conduct at Fort Pillow: 

'■ Vou have heard that our soldiers buried negroes alive at Fort Pil- 
low. This is true. .At the first fire after Forrest's men scaled the walls, 
many of the negroes threw down their arms and fell as if they were 
dead. They perished in the pretence, and could only be restored at 



' Gen. Chalmers has denied, with vehemence. ih.Tt he ever did any ciucl act at 
Fort Pillow, but the record is against him. Soldiers under brave, intelligent, and 
humane officers could never be guilty of such cruel and unchristian conduct as these 
rebels at Pillow. Gen. Chalmers is responsil)le. As an illustration of the gentle 
and forgiving sjiirit of the Negro, it should be recorded here that many supported tht 
candidacy of Gen. Chalmers for Congress, and voted for him at the recent election in 
Mississippi. 

* See Report of Committee on Conduct of War. 



S7(^ HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the point of the bayonet. To resuscitate some of them, more terrified 
than the rest, they were rolled into the trenches made as receptacles for 
the fallen. Vitality was not restored till breathing was obstructed, and 
then the resurrection began. On these facts is based the pretext for 
the crimes committed by Sturgis, Grierson, and their followers. You 
must remember, too, that in the extremity of their terror, or for other 
reasons, the Yankees and negroes in Fort Pillow neglected to haul down 
their flag. In truth, relying upon their gun-boats, the officers expected 
to annihilate our forces after we had entered the fortifications. They 
did not intend to surrender. 

" A terrible retribution, in any event, has befallen the ignorant, de- 
luded Africans." 

Gen. Forrest was a cold-blooded murderer; a fiend in human 
form. But as the grave has opened long since to receive him; 
and as the cause he represented has perished from the earth, it 
is enough to let the record stand without comment, and God 
grant without malice! It is the duty of history to record that 
there is to be found no apologist for cruelties that rebels inflicted 
upon brave but helpless Black soldiers during the war for the 
extirpation of slavery. The Confederate conduct at Pillow must 
remain a foul stain upon the name of the men who fought to 
perpetuate human slavery in North America, but failed. 



HILCONS TR UCTIOX—MJ SCON STR UCTIOX. 177 



f avt 8. 

THE FIRST DECADE OF FREEDOM. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

RECONSTRUCTION ' — MISCONi^TRUCTION. 
1865-1875. 

TnE War over. Peace restored, and the Nation cleansed of a Plague. — Slavery gives 
Place to a Long Trai.v of Events. — Unsettled Condition of Affairs at the South. — 
The Absence of Legal Civil Goveenmbnt nkcessit.\tes the Estaui.ishment of Pro- 
visional Military Government. — An Act establishing a Pureau for Refugees and 
Abandoned Lands. — Congressional Methods for thr Reconstruction of ihe South. — 
Gen. U. S. Grant carries these States in iS68 and 1S72. — Uoth Branches of the Legis- 
latures IN ALL THE SOUTHERN STATES CONTAIN Nr.GRO MEMBERS. — The Errors OF RECON- 
STRUCTION CHARGEABLE TO BOTH SECTIONS OP THE COUNTRY. 

APPOMATTOX had taken her place in history; and the 
echo of the triumpli of Federal arms was lieard in the 
palaces of Europe. The United States Government had 
survived the shock of the embattled arms of a gigantic Rebellion ; 
had melted the manacles of four million slaves in the fires of civil 
war ; had made four million bondmen freemen ; had wiped slavery 
from the map of North America; had demonstrated the truth 
that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land ; and that 
the United States is a NATION, not a league. 

The brazen-mouthed, shotted cannon were voiceless ; a mill- 
ion muskets and swords luing upon tlic dusty walls of silent 
arsenals ; and war ceased from the proud altitudes of the moun- 
tains of Virginia to where the majestic Atlantic washes the 
shores of the Carolinas. A million soldiers in blue melted 

' I am preparing a Histor)' of the Reconstruction of the Late Confederate Siatej, 
1865-1880. Hence I shall not enter into a thorough treatment of the subject in this 
work. It wiU follow this work, and comprise two volumes. 



378 JII STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

quietl)' into the modest garb of citizens. The myriad hum of 
busy shuttles, clanicing machinery, and whirling wheels pro- 
claimed the day of peace. Families and communities were re- 
stored and bound together by the indissoluble, golden ties of 
domestic charities. The war was over; peace had been restored; 
and the nation was cleansed of a plague. 

But what was to be done with the millions of Negroes at the 
South ? The war had made them free. That was all. They 
could leave the plantation. They had the right of locomotion ; 
were property no longer. But what a spectacle ! Here were 
four million human beings without clothing, shelter, homes, and, 
alas ! most of them without names. The galling harness of 
slavery had been cut off of their weary bodies, and like a worn- 
out beast of burden they stood in their tracks scarcely able to go 
anywhere. Like men .coming from long confinement in a dark 
dungeon, the first rays of freedom blinded their expectant eyes. 
They were almost delirious with joy. The hopes and fears, the 
joys and sorrows, the pain and waiting, the prayers and tears 
of the cruel years of slavery gave place to a long train of 
events that swept them out into the rapid current of a life 
totally different from the checkered career whence they had just 
emerged. It required time, patience, and extraordinary wisdom 
on the part of the Government to solve the problem of this 
people's existence — of this " Nation born in a day." Their joy 
was too full, their peace too profound, and their thanksgiving 
too sincere to attract their attention at once to the vulgar affairs 
of daily life. One fervent, beautiful psalm of praise rose from 
ever}' Negro hut in the South, and swelled in majestic sweetness 
until the nation became one mighty temple canopied by the 
stars and stripes, and the Constitution as the common altar 
before whose undimmed lights a ransomed race humbly bowed. 

The emancipated Negroes had no ability, certainly no dis- 
position, to reason concerning the changes and disasters which 
had overtaken their former masters. The white people of the 
South were divided into three classes. First, those who felt that 
defeat was intolerable, and a residence in this country incon- 
gcnial. They sought the service of the Imperial cause in war- 
begrimed Mexico; they went to Cuba, Australia, Egypt, and 
to Europe. Second, those who returned to their homes after the 
"affair at Appomatto.x," and sitting down under the portentous 
clouds of defeat, refused to take any part in the rehabilitation of 



HECONSTRUCT/OA—M /SCO.WSTJ^ rC770X. 379 

their States. Third, those who accepted the situation and stood 
ready to aid in the \vorI< of reconstruction. 

In the unsettled condition of affairs at the close of hostilities, 
as there was no legal State governments at the South, necessity 
and prudence suggested the temporary policy of dividing the 
South into military districts. A provisional military government 
in the conquered States was to pursue a pacific, protective, 
helpful policy. The people of both races were to be fed and 
clothed. Schools were to be established ; agriculture and in- 
dustry encouraged. Courts were to be established of competent 
jurisdiction to hear and decide cases among the people. Such a 
government while military in name was patriarchal in spirit. As 
early as the spring of 1865, before the war was over, an act was 
passed by Congress providing for the destitute of the South. 

"An Act to Establish a Bureau for rur. Relief of Freedmen 

AND Refugees. 

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatiirs of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That there is iiereby establisiied 
in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, 
and for one year thereafter, a Bureau of Refugees, I'reedmen, and Aban- 
doned Lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the 
supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of 
all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel -States, or from 
any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations 
of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by 
the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said 
bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner, 
to be ajjpointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate, whose compensation shall be three thousand dollars per 
annum, and such number of clerks as may be assigned to him by the 
Secretary of War, not exceeding one chief clerk, two of the fourth class, 
two of the third class, three of the second class, and five of the first 
class. And the commissioner and all persons appointed under this act 
shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath of office prescribed 
in an act entitled, 'An act to prescribe an oath of office, and for other 
purposes,' approved July 2, 1862. And the commissioners and the 
chief clerk shall, before entering u{)on their duties, give bonds to the 
Treasurer of the United States, the former in the sum of fifty thousand 
dollars, and the latter in the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned 
for the faithful discharge of their duties respectively, with securities to 
be approved as sufficient by the attorney general, which bonds shall be 



38o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

filed in the office of the First Comptroller of the Treasury, to be by 
him put in suit for the benefit of any injured party, upon any breach of 
the conditions thereof. 

" Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War may 
direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel as he may deem 
needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of des- 
titute and suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives and chil- 
dren, under such rules and regulations as he may direct. 

" Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President may, by 
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant 
commissioner for each of the States declared to be in insurrection, 
not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the 
commissioner, aid in the execution of the provisions of this act, and 
he shall give a bond to the Treasurer of the United States in the 
sum of twenty thousand dollars, in the form and manner prescribed 
ill the first section of this act. Each of said assistant commissioners 
shall receive an annual salary of two thousand and five hundred 
dollars, in full compensation for all his services. And any military 
officer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this act without 
increase of jiay or allowances. The commissioner shall, before the 
commencement of each regular session of Congress, make full report 
of his proceedings, with exhibits of the state of his accounts, to the 
President, who shall communicate the same to Congress, and shall also 
make special reports whenever required to do so by tlie President, or 
either house of Congress. And the assistant commissioners shall make 
quarterly reports of their ])roceedings to the commissioner, and also 
such other special reports as from time to time may be required. 

" Sec. 4. And he it further enacted, That the commissioner, under 
the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart for the 
use of loyal refugees and freedmen such tracts of land, within the in- 
surrectionary States, as shall have been abandoned, or to which the 
United States shall have acquired title by confiscation, or sale, or other- 
wise. -iXnd to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as 
aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such 
land, and the person to whom it is so assigned shall be protected in the 
use and enjoyment of the land for the term of three years, at an annual 
rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of said land as it was 
appraised by the State authorities in the year i860, for the purpose of 
taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental 
shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be 
ascertained in such manner as the cominissioner may, by regulation, 
prescribe. At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, 
the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and 
receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying 



RECONSTR UCTION-'MISCONSTR UCTION. 381 

therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose 
of determining the annual rent as aforesaid. 

" Sec. 5. And be it further enacted. That all acts and parts of acts 
inconsistent with the provisions of this act arc hereby repealed. 

" Robert C. Schenck, Henry Wilson, 

" George S. Boutwell, James Harlan, 

" James S. Rollins, W. T. Willey, 

" Managers on part of House. Managers on part of Senate." 

To have subjected the late rebellious States to military rule 
for a stated term of years, say a decade or a generation, would 
have given force to the hasty statement of rebels and their sym- 
pathizers in the courts of Europe. It was charged that the 
United States Government fought to subjugate the Confederate 
States. The United States did not " begin it," and did not in- 
tend, at any time, to lay the mailed hand of military power 
against the throat of the rights of loyal citizens or loyal States. 
The sine qua nan of reconstruction was loyalty to the Federal 
Government. But while this idea was next to the heart of the 
Government, the sudden and horrible taking off of Abraham 
Lincoln discovered many master-builders, who built not well or 
wisely. The early education of Andrew Johnson was not in line 
with the work of reconstruction. His sympathies were with the 
South in spite of his position and circumstances. The friends of 
his early political life were more potent than the friends of a 
sound, sensible, and loyal policy upon which to build the shat- 
tered governments of the South. And by indicating and advo- 
cating a policy at variance with the logical events of the war, he 
was guilty of a political crime, and did the entire nation an irrep- 
arable injury. 

Congress seemed to be unequal to the task of perfecting a 
proper plan for reconstructing the Southern States. To couple 
general amnesty to the rebels with suffrage to the Negroes was a 
most fatal policy. It has been shown that there was but one class 
of white men in the South friendly to reconstruction, — numeri- 
cally, small ; and mentally, weak. But it was thought best to do 
this. To a triple element Congress committed the work of recon- 
struction. The " Scalaiuag" the " Carpet-hai^ger," and the Negro. 
Who were this trio? The scalawag was the native white man 
who made up the middle class of the South ; the planter above, 
the Negro below. And between this upper and nether mill- 



382 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

stone he was destined to be ground to powder, under the old 
regime. A " nigger-driver," without schools, social position, or 
money, he was " the poor white trash" of the South. He was 
loyal during the war, because in the triumph of the Confederacy, 
with slavery as its corner-stone, he saw no hope for his condition. 
Those of them who fought under the rebel flag were unwilling 
conscripts. They had no qualifications for governing — except 
that they were loyal ; and this was of no more use to them in 
tliis great work, than piety in the pulpit when the preacher can- 
not repeat the Lord's prayer without biting his tongue. The 
carpet-baggers ran all the way from "good to middling." Some 
went South with fair ability and good morals, where they lost the 
latter article and never found it; while many more went South 
to get all they could and keep all they got. The Negro could 
boast of numerical strength only. The scalawag managed the 
Negro, the latter did the voting, while the carpet-bagger held the 
offices. And when there were "more stalls than horses " the 
Negroes and scalawags occasionally got an office. 

The rebels were still in a swoon. 

The States were reconstructed, after a manner, and the gov- 
ernments went forward. 

In 1868 Gen. U. S. Grant carried these States. It was like 
the handle on a jug, all on one side. The rebels took no part; 
but after a while a gigantic Ku Klux conspiracy was discovered. 
This organization sought to obstruct the courts, harass the Ne- 
groes, and cripple local governments. It spread terror through 
the South and made a political graveyard of startling dimensions. 
The writ of liabeas corpus was suspended ; arrests made, trials and 
convictions secured, and the penitentiary at Albany, New York, 
crowded with the enemies of law and order. A subsidence fol- 
lowed, and the scalawag-carpetbag-Negro governments began 
a fresh existence. 

In 1872 Gen. Grant carried the Southern States again, meet- 
ing with but little resistance. In Louisiana, Mississippi, and 
South Carolina there were Negro lieutenant-governors. The 
Negroes were learning rapidly the lesson of rotation in office, 
and demanded recognition. Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louis- 
iana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, were represented, in part, 
by Negroes in the National House of Representatives, and Mis- 
sissippi in the Senate as well. Both branches of the Legisla- 
tures of all the Southern States contained Negro members ; while 



RECONSTR UCTION—MISCONSTR UCTION. 383 

many of the most important ami lucrative offices in the States 
were held by Negroes. 

The wine cup, the gaming-table, and the parlors of strange 
women charmed many of these men to the neglect of important 
public duties. The bonded indebtedness of tliese States began 
to increase, the State paper to dei)reciate, the burden of taxation 
to grow intolerable, bad laws to find their way into the statute- 
books, interest in education and industry to decline, the farm 
Negroes to grow idle and gravitate to the infectious skirts of 
large cities, and the whole South went from bad to worse. 

The hand of revenge reached for the shot-gun, and before its 
deadly presence white leaders were intimidated, driven out, or 
destroyed. Before 1875 came, the white element in the Repub- 
lican party at the South was reduced to a mere shadow of its 
former self. Thus abandoned, the Negro needed the presence of 
the United States army while he voted, held office, and drew his 
salary. But even the army lacked the power to inject life into 
the collapsed governments at the South. 

The mistake of reconstruction was twofold : on the part of 
the Federal Government, in committing the destinies of the 
Southern States to hands so feeble ; and on the part of the South, 
in that its best men, instead of taking a lively interest in rebuild- 
ing the governments they had torn down, allowed them to be 
constructed with untempered mortar. Neither the South nor 
the Government could say: " Thou canst not say I did it: shake 
not thy gory locks at me." Both were culpable, and both have 
suffered the pangs of remorse. 



384 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 

The Apparent Idleness of the Negro Sporadic rather than Generic. — He quietlv settles 
DOWN TO WoKK. — The Government makes Ample Provisions for his Educational and 
Social Improvement. — The Marvellols Progress made by the People of the South in 
Education. — Earliest School for Freedmen at Fortress Monroe in 1S61. — The 
Richmond Institute for Colored Youth. — The Unlimited Desire of the Negroes to 
obtain an Education. — General Order organizing a " Uureau of Refugees, Freedmen, 
and Abandoned Lands." — Gen. O. O. Howard appointed Commissioner of the Bureau. 
— Report of all the Receipts ano Expenditures of the Freedmen's Bureau from 1865- 
1867. — .Vn Act incorporating the Freedman's Bank and Trust Company. — The Business 
of the C'ompany as shown from 1866-1871. — Financial Statement by the Trustees for 
1872. — Failure of the Bank. — The Social and Financial Condition of the Colored 
People in the South.— The Negro rarely receives Justice in Southern Courts. — 
Tre.^tment of Negroes as Convicts in Southern Prisons. — Increase of the Colored 
People from 1790-iSSo. — Negroes susceptible of the Highest Cimlization, 

SURELY some good did come out of Nazareth. The poor, 
deluded, misguided, confiding Negro finished his long 
holiday at last, and turning from the dream of " forty 
acres and a mule," settled down to the stubborn realities of his 
new life of duties, responsibilities, and privileges. His idleness 
was sporadic, not generic, — it was simply reaction. He had 
worked faithfully, incessantly for two centuries and a half; had 
enriched the South with the sweat of his brow; and in two wars 
had baptized the soil with his patriotic blood. And when the 
year of jubilee came he enjoyed himself right royally. 

This disposition to frolic on the part of the Negro gave rise 
to grave concern among his friends, and was promptly ac- 
cepted as conclusive proof of his unfitness for the duties of a 
freeman by his enemies. But he soon dispelled the fears of his 
friends and disarmed the prejudices of his foes. 

As already shown there was no provision made for the edu- 
cation of the Negro before the war ; everj'' thing had been done 
to keep him in ignorance. To emancipate 4,000,000 of slaves 
and absorb them into the political life of the government with- 
out detriment to both was indeed a formidable undertaking. 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 385 

Republics gain their strength and perpetuity from the self- 
governing force in the people ; and in order to be self-governing 
a people must be educated. Moreover, all good laws that are 
cheerfully obeyed are but the emphatic expression of public 
sentiment. Where the great majority of the people are kept in 
ignorance the tendency is toward the production of two other 
classes, aristocrats and political " Herders." The former seek to 
get as far from " the common herd " as possible, while the latter 
bid off the rights of the poor and ignorant to the highest bidder. 

It was quite appropriate for the Government to make speedy 
provision for plying the mass of ignorant Negroes with school 
influences. And the liberality of the provision was equalled by 
the eagerness of the Negroes to learn. Nor should history fail 
to record that the establishment of schools for freedmen by the 
Government was the noblest, most sensible act it could have 
done. What the Negroes have accomplished through these 
schools is the marvel of the age. 

On the 20th of May, 1865, Major-Gen. O. O. Howard was 
appointed Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. He gave 
great attention to the subject of education ; and after planting 
schools for the freedmen throughout a great portion of the South, 
in 1870 — five years after the work was begun — he made a report. 
It was full of interest. In five years there were 4,239 schools es- 
tablished, 9,307 teachers employed, and 247,333 pupils instructed. 
In 1868 the average attendance was 89,396; but in 1870 it was 
91,398, or 79f per cent, of the total number enrolled. The eman- 
cipated people sustained 1,324 schools themselves, and owned 592 
school buildings. The Freedmen's Bureau furnished 654 build- 
ings for school purposes. The wonderful progress they made 
from year to year, in scholarship, may be fairly judged by the 
following, corresponding with the half year in 1869 : 

Advanced readers 
Geography .... 
Arithmetic .... 
Writing . . . . 

Higher branches . 

There were 74 high and normal schools, with 8. 147 stu- 
dents; and 61 industrial schools, with 1,750 students in 
attendance. In doing this great work — for buildings, repairs, 



JULY, iS6g. 


JULY, 1870, 


43.746 


43.540 


. 36.992 


39-32T 


51.172 


52.417 


. 53.606 


58-034 


7,627 


9,690 



386 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

teachers, etc., — $1,002,896.07 was expended. Of this sum the 
frccdinen riiiscd $200,000.00! This was conclusive proof that 
emancipation was no mistake. Slavery was a twofold cross of 
woe to the land. It did not only degrade the slave, but it 
blunted the sensibilities, and, by its terrible weight, carried down 
under the slimy rocks of society some of the best white people 
in the South. Like a cankerous malady its venom has touched 
almost every side of American life. 

The white race is in a constant and almost overpowering re- 
lation to the other races upon this continent. It is the duty of 
this great totality of intellectual life and force, to supply adequate 
facilities for the education of the less intelligent and less fortu- 
nate. Of every ten thousand (10,000) inhabitants there are: 





WHITE. 


COLORED. 


CHINESE. 


INDIAN 


n the States . 


8,71 1 


1,269 


15 


5 


n the Territories 


. 8,711 


1,017 


158 


114 


rt the whole Union 


8,711 


1,266 


16 


7 



When we turn our attention to the Southern States, we shal' 
find that the white people are in excess of the Colored as follows* 



Alabama 
Arkansas . 
Delaware 
Florida 
Georgia . 
Kentucky . 
Maryland 
Missouri . 
North Carolina 
Tennessee . 
Texas 
Virginia 
West Virginia 



MAJORITY. 

45.874 
. 239,946 

79.427 
. 4.368 

93.774 

. 876,442 
430,106 

1.485.075 
286,820 

. 613,788 
311,225 

. 199,248 
406,043 



while the Colored people are in excess in only three States, hav- 
ing over the whites the following majorities : 

MAJORITY. 

Louisiana ....... 2.145 

South Carolina ....... 126,147 

Mississippi ....... 61,305 



THE RESULTS OE EMAiXCrPAT/ON. 3S7 

This leaves the whites in these sixteen States in a majority 
of 4,882,539, over the Colored people. There are more than two 
whites to every Colored in the entire population in these States. 

Group the States and territories into three geographical 
classes, and designate them as Northern, Pacific, and Southern. 
The first may comprise all the " free States," where slavery never 
existed; put in the second the three Pacific States and all the 
territories, except the District of Columbia; and in the 
third gather all the "slave States " and the District. Now then, 
in the Northern class, out of every 14 persons who can neither 
read nor write, 13 are white. In the Pacific class, out of every 23 
who can neither read nor write, 20 are white. In the Southern 
class, out of every 42 who can neither read nor write, 15 are 
white. Thus it can be seen that the white illiterates of the 
United States outtiumber those of all the other races together. 
It might be profitable to the gentlemen who, upon every con- 
venient occasion, rail about " the deplorable ignorance of the 
blacks," to look up this question a little ! ' 

The Colored people have made wonderful progress in educa- 
tional matters since the war. Take a few States for examples of 
what they are doing. In Georgia, in i860, there were 458,540 
.slaves. In 1870 there were 87 private schools, 79 teachers with 
3,021 pupils. Of other .schools, more public in character, there 
were 221, with an attendance of 11,443 piip''s. In 1876 the Col- 
ored school population of this State was 48,643, with 879 schools ; 
and with 55,268 pupils in public and private schools in 1877. 

In South Carolina, in 1874, there were 63,415 Colored children 
attending the public schools; in 1876 there were 70,802, or an in- 
crease of 7,387. 

In Virginia, in 1870, there were 39,000 Colored pupils in the 
schools, which were few in number. In 1S74 there were 54.941 
pupils; in 1876 there were 62,178, or again of 7,237. In 1874 
there were 539 teachers; in 1876 there were 636, or an increase 
of 97. In 1874 there were 1,064 schools for Colored youth ; in 
1876 there were 1,181, or an increase of 117. 

In the District of Columbia, in 1 87 1, there were 4,986 Colored 
children in 69 schools, with 71 teachers. In 1876, of Colored 
schools in the District, 62 were primary, 13 grammar, and i 
high, with an enrolment of 5,454. 

'For an account of this prolilem. sec the .-VpiJentlix to this volume. 



388 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The following statistics exhibit the wonderful progress the 
Colored people of the South have made during the brief period 
of their freedom in the department of education. These tables 
come as near showing the extent, the miraculous magnitude of 
the work, as is possible. 



COMP.\RATIVE STATISTICS OF EDUCATION AT THE SOUTH. 

Table slumniig comparative population and enrolment of the White and 

Colored races in the public schools of the recent slave States, tvith 

total annual expenditure for the same in 1879. 







White. 


Colored. 




3 . 


c 





c 







4> C 

■£.2 
















*■■ tn 




lA 




•0-^ 


S 




'"^ S 


'•sg 


States. 


'a 

a 





c 

E 



c 


4J 0. 
Dt . 




3 
a 


a. 

1 
.a 


1 
c 


"it 

S^ y F 


S2 

£••2 






ifi 


W 


1, "■ u 


w 


W 


a."" 


H 


Alabama ..... 


2i4,og8 


106.950 


5° 


162,551 


67.635 


42 


$377,033 


Arkansas . . . . " 


^174.^53 


(^39,063 


2:2 


(162,348 


/'I3.g86 


22 


205,449 


Delaware 


3'.S49 


23,830 


75 


3,Soo 


2,842 


75 


223, f38 


I'lnridu 


C40 606 


(5t"i8.i69 


45 


^42,001 


/^ci8.7g5 


45 


fi34,88o 


Georgia 


^236. 319 


1474192 


62 


<ri97.l2S 


79.435 


40 


465,748 


Kentucky .... 


(^'476, 37a 


f 208, 500 


48 


n'62,g73 


fig.io; 


^0 


fi, 130, coo 


Louisiana 


ri4i.ljo 


44,053 


31 


.713,1,276 


34.476 


26 


529,065 


Maryland 


7213,669 


138,029 


65 


J(>3S9' 


27.457 


43 


1.551.558 


Mississippi 


156.434 


105,957 


68 


205.9^6 


111,796 


54 


64" 548 


Missouri 


6fi3,i35 


428.992 


65 


39.01S 


20,790 


53 


3.069.454 


North Carolina .... 


=71.348 


15^.534 


57 


154,84' 


85.215 


55 


337.541 


South Carolina 


^83,«'3 


58.3''8 


70 


''M4,3'5 


64,095 


44 


319-320 


Tennessee 


380,355 


208,858 


54 


126,288 


55.829 


44 


7(0.652 


Texas 


.^160,482 


Cl 1 1 ,048 


69 


«47.842 


1-35.89^ 


75 


837.9'3 


N'lisinia . ... 


280,849 


72,306 


26 


202,852 


35.768 


18 


570.389 


West Virginia .... 


198,844 


132-751 


67 


7.279 


3-775 


52 


709,071 


Dislrict ot Columbia . 

Total .... 


^26,426 

3,758,480 


16,085 


61 


■•■12.374 
I 668,410 


9.°45 
685,942 


73 


368.343 
12.181,602 


2,013,684 





a In Delaware and Kentucky the school tax collected from Colored citizens is the only State 
appropriation for the support of Colored schools ; in iStaryland there is a biennial appropriation 
by the Legislature ; in the District of Columbia one third of the school monej'-s is set apart for 
Colored public schools ; and in the other States mentioned above the school moneys are divided 
in proportion to the school population without regard to race. 

h Estimated by the Hureau. c In 187S. 

d For whites the school age is 6-20; for Colored, 6-16. e In 1877. / Census of 1870. 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION 



389 



Statistics of institutions for the instruction of the Colored race for 1S79. 



Name and class of institution. 



Location. 



NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

I 
Rust Normal Institute . . . j 

State .\onn;il :School(or Colored Students 
Lincoln Normal Uuix'ersity . . . | 

Emerson Inslitute . . . 

Alabama liapiibt Norinal and Theological 

School 
Normal department ot TalladcRa ColleEC 
State Normal School for Colored Students 
Normal department of Atlanta University 
Haven Normal School . . . . i 

Normal department of Bcrea CoUepe . 
Normal department of New Orleans Uni- 

versitv 

Normal department of Siraipht University 
I Peabody Normal School .... 
' Ualtimore Normal School for Colored Pu- 
pils 

Centenary Biblical Institute . 

Natchez Semuiarv 

Tougaloo Ui;iversity and Normal School 

Lincoln ln*.litiite 

Stale Normal School for Colored Students 
Hennett Seminary ..... 
Lumbertoii Normal School 
St. rtur;u^iines Normal School 

Shaw University 

Institute for Colored Youth . 
Avery Normal Institute .... 
Normal dcpaitment of Hraincrd Institute 
Claltm University, normal department 
Kairtield Normal Institute 

The Warner Itisiitute 

Knoxviile College 

Freedman s Normal Institute 
Lc Movne Normal Institute . 
Central Tennessee College, normal depart- 
ment 

Nashville Normal and Theological Institute 
Normal department of Kisk tJniversiiy . 
Tilloti-on Collegiate and Normal Institute 
State Normal School of Texas for Coloicd 

Students 

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Insti- 
tute.!/ 

St. Stephen's Normal School 
Miner Normal School .... 
Normal depattinentof Howard University 
Normal department of Wayland bcunnary 



Huntsville, Ala. 
iluntsville, Ala. . 
Marion, Ala. . 
Mobile. Ala. 

Selma. Ala. 
Talladega, Ala. . 
Pine Hluli, Ark. 
Atlanta. Ga. 
Waynesboro", Ga. 
Berea, Ky. . 

New Orleans. La. 
New Orleans, La. 
New Orleans, La. 



Baltimore, Md. 
Haltnnore. jMd. . 
Natchez. Miss. 
Tougaloo, .Miss. 
Jefferson, Mo. 
I'ayetteville. N. C. 
Greensboro'. N. C. 
Lumberton, N. C. 
Raleigh, N C. 
Raleigh. N. C. 
PhiUmelphia, Pa. . 
Charleston, S. C. 
Chester. S. C. 
Orangeburg, S. C. 
Winnsboro', S. C. . 
jonesborough. Tenn, 
Knoxviile. Tenn. . 
Maryville, Tenn. 
Memphis, Tenn. . 

NashviUc, Tenn. 
Nashville, Tenn. , 
Nashville, Tctm. 
Austin, Tex. . 

Prairie View, Tex, 

Hampton, \'a. 
Petersburg, \'a. . 
Washingt.in. D. C. 
Washington, U. C. 
Washington, D. C. 



Total 



INSTITUTIONS FOR SECONDARY INSTRUCTION. 



. Athens. Ala. . 

Dadcville. .Ma. . 
. I Huntsville. .Ala. 

j Montgomery, Ala. 
. I Selma, Ala. 
. I Talladega. Ala. . 
. Little Rock, .\rk. . 
Jacksonville. Kla. 

ClarV University j Atlanta, Ga. . 

Storrs School AtlanU, Ga. . 



Trinity School 
Dadevdle Seminary 
Lowery's Industrial Academy 
Swayne School 
Burrell School 
Talladega College . 
Waldeii Seminary 
Cookinan Institute 



■o o 



.Sf a 



Mcih. 

Conff. 

Hapt. 
CotlK. 

Coup. 
Metli. 
Cong. 

Mcth. 
Cong. 



M. E. . 
Kapt. 
Cong. . 

^icl'h. ' . 

P. E. ' . 
Hai>t. 
Kncnils . 
Conn- 
Presb. . 
M. E. 
Presb. . 

Presb.' 

Kricntls. 

Cong. 

M. E. . 
Kapt. 
Cong. . 



Cong. 
P. E. . 

Non-sect. 
Bapt. . 



Cone. 
.M. t. 

Cong. 
Cong. 
Cong. 
M. E. 
M. E. 
M. E. 
Cong. 



(*) 



(« 



3 

«8 



4| 
4 

6 

3 

3 ; 



"4 
"7 

3 

61 



"35 
5' 

340 

250 

9J 

73 

(1176 

US 



9' 
«35 

190 

"7$ 
46 

96 
•39 

9> 
125 

5> 

Si 
103 
300 
33 a 

SO 

167 

390 

C149 

340 

0229 

A 200 

■■4 

331 
315 

•58 

49 



^320 
340 

'9 
3 95 



181 I 6.171 







• 


162 


'6 
5 

13 


4-0 
448 

313 


"S 
5 
S 


S.8 



a In 1878. * Included in university and college reports. c For two years. 

ti In addition to the aid given by the American Missionary .\ssociation, this institute is aided 
from the income of Virginia's agricultural college land fund. 

t For all departments. J" Reported under schools of theology. 



390 IIISTOKY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Statistics of institutions for the instruction of the Colored race for 1S79.- 

Continued. 



Name and class of institution. 



ris 



Howard Normal Institute 

La Grange Seminary 

Lewis High School 

Heach Institute 

St. Aup^ustine's School 

Day School for Colored Children 

St. Augustine's School 

St. Mary's School for Colored Gii 

St. Francis's Academy 

Meridian Academy . 

Natchez Seminary 

Scotia Seminary . , 

St. Augustine's School 

Estey Seminary 

A\ashington School 

St. H.irnabas School .... 

Willision Academy and Normal School 

Albany Enterprise Academy . 

Holytechnicand Industrial Institute . 

High School for Colored Pupils 

Wallingford Academy 

Brainerd Institute 

Menedict Institute .... 

Mrewer Normal School . . . , 
West Tennessee Preparatory School 

Canheid School 

West Texas Conference Seminary 

Wiley University 

Thyrie Institute 

Richmond Institute . . . . . 

St. I'hilip s Church School 

St. Mary's School 



Total 



rNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES. 



Atlanta University 

Herea College . 

Leland University 

New Orleans University 

Straifjht University 

Shaw University 

Alcorn University 

Hiddle University 

Wilberforce University 

Lincoln University 

Claflin University and College 
ure .... 

Central Tennessee Colleg 

Fisk University 

.Agricultural and Mechanical College 

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Insti- 
tute 

Howard Universityy 



of Agricult 



Total 



Location. 



Cuthbert, Ga. 
La Grange, Ga. 
Macon. Ga. . 
Savannah, Ga. 
Savannah, (ia. 
New Orleans, La. 
New Orleans, La. 
New Orleans. La. 
Baltimore, Md. . 
Meridian, Miss. 
Natchez, Miss. . 
Concord, N C. 
New Merne, N. C. 
Raleigh, N. C. 
R;ileiffh. N. C. . 
\\ ilmirigton, N. C. 
A\'ilmington, N. C, 
Albany. Ohio 
Hluffton. S. C. . 
(_ harleston. S. C. 
Charleston, S. C. 
Chester, S. C. 
Columbia, S. C. . 
Greenwood, S. C. 
Mason, Tenii. 
Memi>his, Tenn. 
Austin, Tex. , 
Marshall, Tex. 
Chase City. \ a. . 
Richmond, \'a. 
Richmond. \a. . 
Washington. D. C, 



Atlanta, Ga. , 
Iterea. Ky. . . 
New. Orleans. La. 
New Orleans, La. , 
New Orleans. La. . 
Holly Springs, Miss. , 
Rodnev. Miss. 
Charlohe. N. C. . 
Wilberforce. Ohio . 
Lincoln LTniversity, Pa. 

Orangeburg, S. C. 
Nashville. Tenn. 
Nashvdle. Tenn. , 
Hempstead, Tex. 

Hampton, Va. 
Washington, D. C. . 



c a 



Cong. 
M. E. . 
Cong. 
Cong. . 
P. E. 
R. C. . 
R. C. 
R. C, . 
R.C. 
M. E. . 
Hapt. 
Presb. , 
P. E. 
Bapt. . 
Cong. 
P. E. . 
Cong. 
Non-sect. 
Non-sect. 
P. E. . 
Presb. 
Presb. . 
Bapt. 
Cong. . 
Meth. 
P. E. . 
M. E. 
M. E. . 
U. Presb. 
Bapt. . 
P. E. 
P. E. . 



Cong. 
Cong. . 
Bapt. 
M. E. . 
Cong. 
M. E. . 
Non-sect. 
Presb. 
M. E. . 
Presb. 

M. E. . 
M. E. 
Cong. . 



Cong. . 
Non-sect. 



«/m3 
6 



(f) 



110 

338 

' 80 
60 
60 
50 

45 
152 



149 
aioo 

«I26 

64 
265 

'261 

142 
(158 

76 



rtl23 

213 
92 

100 



biio 

acgi 

92 

1/260 

=73 
180 

■51 
/.,50 



'6=. 
139 
74 

(.0 
/33 



a In 1878. 6 For all departments. c These are preparatory. 

ti Normal students are here reckoned as preparatory. e Reported with normal schools, 
y^ This institution is open to both races, and the figures given are known to include some 
whites. 



THE RESULTS OE EMANCIPATION, 



391 



Statistics of institutions for the instruction of the Colored race for 1879.- 

Continued, 



Name and class of Institution. 



SCHOOLS OF THKOLOtiY. 

Alabama Baptist Normal and Theolof;icaI 
School 

Theological department of TalladcKa 
Colle^ic 

Institute for the Educatioa of Colored 
Ministers 

Atlatila Baptist Seminary .... 

Theolojiical department of Leland Uni- 
versity 

Thomson Biblical Institute (New Orleans 
University) 

Theological" department of Straight Uni- 
versity 

Centenary Biblical In'ititute 

Theolofiical (tcpartraentot Shaw Univers'y 

Natchez Seminary 

Theological department of Biddle Uni- 
versity 

Bennett Seminary ..... 

Theological department of Shaw Univers'y 

Theological beminary ot Wilberforce 
University 

Theological department of Lincoln Uni- 
versity 

Baker Theological Institute (Claflin Uni- 
versity) 

Nashville Normal and Theologicallnsti- 
tute 

Theological course in Kisk University 

Theological department of Central Ten 
nessee College 

Richmond Institute 

Theological department of Howard Uni- 
versity 

Wayland Seminary 



Total 



SCHOOLS OF LAW. 



Law department of Straight University 
Law department of Shaw University . 
Law department of Howard University 



Total 



SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE. 

Medical department of New Orleans 

University 

Medical department of Shaw University 
Meharry medic al department of Central 

Tennessee College .... 
Medical department of Howard Universe- 



Total. 



SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB AND 
THE BLIND. 

Institution for the Colored Blind and 
Deaf-Mutes 

North Carolina Institution for the Deaf 
and Dumb and the Blind (Colored dc 
partment) 



Total 



Location. 



Setma, Ala. 

Talladega, Ala. 

Tuscaloosa. Ala. 
Atlanta, Ga. , 

New Orleans, La. 

New Orleans, La, . 

New Orleans. La. 
Baltimore. Md. 
Holly Springs. Miss. 
Natchez, Miss. . 

Charlotte. N. C. 
(rreensboro'. N. C. 
Raleigh, N.C. . 

Wilberforce, Ohio 

Lincoln University, Pa, 

Orangeburg, S. C. 

Nashville, Tenn. 
Nashville, Tenn. 

Nashville. Tenn. . 
Richmond, Va. , 

Washington, D. C. 
Washington, D. C. 



New Orleans, La, 
Holly Springs. Miss. 
Washington, D. C. 



New Orleans. La , 

Holly Springs. Mis3. 

Nashville. Tenn. , 
\V*ashington, D. C. 



Baltimore, Md. 
Raleigh, N. C. . 



,".2 

3 rt 



Bapt. 

Cong, . 

Presb. 
Bapt. . 

Bapt. 

M. E. . 

Cont;. 
Meth, . 

.Meth. 
Bapt. . 

I'resb. 
Meth. . 
Bapt. 

M. K. . 

Presb. 
Meth. . 

Bapt. 

Cong. 

M. E. 

Bupt. . 

Non-sect. 
Bapt. . 



a 


M 


3 


"3 


ai 


"iS 


a\ 


ai6 


I 


91 


06 


a 20 


ai 


atj 


2 


3' 


4 
3 


8 
6 


3 


59 


7 


16 


«7 


a23 


2 


23 


6 


50 


(12 


013 


4 

10 


45 

86 


A 


^r, 


T?_ 


762 


■M 


,l;S 


ai 


a6 


3 


8 


8 


4> 


"5 


<i8 


at 


"4 


9 


33 


8 


65 


»3 


99 


1 


30 


ails 


rt6o 


16 


120 



a In 1S73. 



i For all departments. 



392 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE JN AMERICA. 

Sumiitaiy of statistics of institutions for tiie instruction of the Colored race 

for 1879. 



States. 



Public schools. 


. 





















:3 




a 






c 


a 






S 










x: 





Normal schools. 



Institutions for sec- 
ondary instruction. 



Alabama . 

ArliansrtS 

Delaware . 

Florida 

Georgia 

Kentucliy 

Louisiana . 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

North Carolina 

Oliio 

Pennsylvania 

South Carolina 

Tennessee 

Te-xas 

Virginia 

West V'irgiiiia 

District ol Colun 

Total 



:62,r;5. 
63.348 
3,800 

42, not 
197.125 

62.97^ 
131 276 

63 591 
205,036 

39,018 
154,841 



I44.31,'> 
126,288 

47-S42 

202,852 

7.279 

12-374 

1,668,410 



67,63 
13,986 
2,842 

18,795 
79-435 
19,107 
34.476 
27,457 
111,79c 
20,790 
85.!'5 



64,09^ 
55,829 
35896 
35,768 
3.775 
9,045 



685,942 



1,096 
72 



126 
265 
142 
».39 
542 

300 
920 
1.37S 
207 
560 



114 
6,171 



140 
1.349 



200 

45 



527 
64 



1,026 

76 
'■■'3 
405 



Summary of statistics of institutions for the instruction of the Colored race 
for 1879. — Continued. 



Stfttes. 


Universities and 
colleges. 


Schools of theol- 
ogy. 


Schools of law. 


c 


XI 


t 

1 

a; 
h 


XL 

■5. 
0. 




t 
i 


J2 

"B. 
I 


en 
§ 

u 


2 


J. 
'0. 
I 


Alabama 

Georgia 

Kentucky 

Louisiana . . . ... 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

North C arolina .... 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania .... 
South Carolina .... 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

District of Columbia 

Total 


I 
1 
3 

2 

I 
1 

9 

1 

1 


13 
12 
22 

' ' 16 
9 
15 
9 

JO 

26 


7' 
j8o 
443 

4S3 
151 
150 
74 
J65 
2'3 


3 

I 


3 
3 


14 

"3 




















3 

I 
2 

3 

I 
I 
I 
3 


4 
6 
4 
8 
7 
7 

2 
12 


92 
29 
48 
73 
16 
22 
28 
107 


I 


4 


28 


I 


1 


6 




































I 
2 


IC 

'3 


86 

134 








5 


33 


I 


3 


8 


16 


■37 


>,933 


22 


79 


762 


3 


8 


42 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 



393 



Summary of statistics of institutions for the instruction of the Colored race 
for 1879. — Continued. 



States. 


Schools of medi- 
cine. 


Schools for the 
(leaf and dumb 
and Ihc blind. 


1 

u 


x: 

rt 


^5* 


Schools. 
Teachers. 


.2 

*E. 

3 

a. 


Louisiana 

Miirylaml 

Mississippi 

North Carolina 

Tennessee 

District of Columbia 

Total 




<, I. 

si (1% 








I 


1 


30 




>5 


90 














4 


=3! 99 




16 


130 



Table showing the number of schools for the Colored race and enrolment 
in them by institutions without reference to States. 



Class of institutions. 



Public schools 

Normal schools 

Institutions for secondary instruction 
Universities and colleges .... 

Schools of theology 

Schools oflaw 

Schools of medicine 

Schools for the deaf and dumb and th.; blind 



Total 



Schools. 



"'4,34' 

4" 
42 
16 

33 

3 

4 



a685,g43 

6,171 

S.397 

«.933 

763 

43 

99 

130 



700,366 



a To these should be added 417 schools, havin;; an enrolment of 20.487 in reporting free States, 
makinp: total number of Colored public schools 14,758, and total enrolment in Ihcm 7c/;. 439; this 
makes the tot.il number of schools, as far as reported, 14,889, and total number of the Colored race 
under instruction in them 720,853. The Colored Dublic schools of those States in which no separate 
reports are made, however, arc not included ; and the Colored pupils in while schools cannot be 
enumerated. 

Virginia has done more intelligent and effective educational 
work than any other State in the South. The Hon. W. II. Ruff- 
ner has no equal in America as a superintendent of public in- 
struction. He is the Horace Mann of the South. 

It appears from the reports of the Freedmen's Bureau that 
the earliest school for frcedmen was opened by the American 
Missionary Association at Fortress Monroe, September, 1861 ; 
and before the close of the war, Hampton and Norfolk were 
leading points where educational operations were conducted ; but 
after the cessation of hostilities, teachers were s^nt from North- 



394 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

ern States, and schools for freedmen were opened in all parts of 
the State. 

" The Colored normal school at Richmond, and the one at 
Hampton, were commenced in 1S67 and 1868. Captain C. S. 
Schaeffer, Bureau officer at Christiansburg, commenced his re- 
markable efforts about the same time in Montgomery County. 

" School superintendents for each State w.ere appointed by the 
Freedmen's Bureau, July 12, 1865, and a general superintendent, 
or "Inspector of Schools," was appointed in September, 1865. 
These superintendents were instructed " to work as much as 
possible in conjunction with State ofificers, who may have had 
school matters in charge, and to take cognizance of all that was 
being done to educate refugees and freedmen." In 1866 an act 
of Congress was passed enlarging the powers of the Bureau, and 
partially consolidating all the societies and agencies engaged in 
educational work among the freedmen. In this bill $521,000 
were appropriated for carrying on the work, to which was to be 
added forfeitures of property owned by the Confederate Gov- 
ernment. Up to January i, 1868, over a million of dollars was 
expended for school purposes among the freedmen. ■ In Virginia 
12,450 pupils are reported for 1867. Mr. Manly, the Virginia 
superintendent, reports the following statistics for the year 
1867-S : Schools, 230; teachers, 290; pupils enrolled, 14,300; in 
average attendance, 10,320; the cost as follows: 

From Charity $78,766 

From the Freedmen 10,789 

From tlie Bureau 42)844 



Total Cost $132,399 

The amount raised from freedmen was in the form of small 
tuition fees of from ten to fifty cents a month — a system ap- 
proved by Mr. Manly. 

In the final report to the Freedmen's Bureau, made July 
1, 1S70, the Virginia statistics are: Schools, 344; teachers, 
412; pupils, 18,234; the average attendance, 78 per cent. This 
year the freedmen paid $12,286.50 for tuition. Mr. C. S. 
Schaeffer and Mr. Samuel H. Jones, who remained in Virginia as 
teachers — the former still at Christiansburg, and the latter, until 
very lately, at Danville — both acted as assistants to Mr. Manly. 
A considerable 'number of school-houses were built in Virginia 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 395 

by the Bureau, including the splendid normal and high school 
building in Richmond, erected and equipped at a cost of §25,000, 
and afterward turned over to the city. After the conclusion of 
his superintendency, Mr. Manly continued for several years to do 
valuable service as principal of this school. 

■' The Freednif n's Bureau ceased its educational operations in the 
summer of 1S70, and in the autumn of that year our State public 
schools were opened. So that, counting from the beginning of the mis- 
sion school at Ham])ton in 1861, there has been an unbroken succession 
of schools for freeduien in one region for nineteen years ; and at a 
number of leading points in the State — such as Norfolk, Richmond, 
Petersburg, Danville, Charlottesville, Christiansburg, etc. — an unbroken 
line of schools for fourteen years and upwards. These efforts, however, 
of the Federal Government toward educating the rising generation of 
Colored people, could not have been designed as any thing more than an 
experiment, intended first to test and then to stimulate the appetite of 
those peo[)le for learning. And in this view they were entirely success- 
ful in both particulars ; for the children flocked to the schools, attended 
well, made good progress in knowledge, and paid a surprising amount 
of money for tuition. 

" Hut, considered as a serious attempt to educate the children of the 
freedmen, the movement was wholly inadequate, even when contrasted 
with tlie operations of our imperfect State system. The largest number 
enrolled in the schools su]iported by the combined efforts of the Bureau, 
the charitable societies, and the tuition fees, was 18,234, in 1870. The 
next year we had in our public schools considerably over double this 
number, and an annual increase ever since, always excepting those two 
ilark years {tenebricosus and tenebricosissimiis), 1878 and 1879." ' 

" Two institutions for the education of the Colored race, founded 
before the beginning of our school system, are still in successful opera- 
tion, but remain independent of our school system. One' of them has 
some connection with the State by reason of the receipt of one-third of 
the proceeds of the Congressional land-grant for education. I refer to 
the well-known Hampton Normal and .-Vgricultural Institute, and the 
Richmond Colored Institute. Nothing need be said in reference to the 
Hampton School, except that its numbers and usefulness are constantly 
increasing under the continued su|)erintendence of the indomitable 
fien. Armstrong. Its reports, which are published every year as State 
documents in connection with the Report of this department, are so 
accessible to all, that I will only repeat here the testimony often give;% 

' .See the .innu.-il reports of llio Superinlendent of I'ublic Instruction for Virginia, 
Theie were more than 18,234 Colored children in the schools of this State in 1870. 



396 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

that in my opinion this is the most valuable of all the schools opened 
on this Continent for Colored jieople. Its most direct benefit is in 
furnishing to our State schools a much-needed annual contribution of 
teachers ; and teachers so good and acceptable that the demand for 
them is always much greater than the supply. 

"The Richmond Institute has more of a theological intent, but it 
also sends out many good teachers. As a school it has prospered steadily 
under the excellent management of the Rev. C. H. Corey, D.D.; and it 
will soon be accommodated in a large new and handsome building. 
Both these institutions receive their support chielly from the North." ' 

It will be .seen that the tables \vc give refer only to the work 
done in educating the Negro in the Southern States. Much has 
been done in the Northern States, but in quite a different man- 
ner. The work of education for the Negro at the South had 
to begin at the bottom. There were no schools at all for this 
people ; and hence the work began with the alphabet. And there 
could be no classification of the scholars. All the way from six 
to sixty the pupils ranged in age ; and even some who had given 
slavery a century of their existence — mothers and fathers in 
Israel — crowded the schools established for their race. Some 
ministers of the Gospel after a half century of preaching entered 
school to learn how to spell out the names of the twelve Apostles. 
Old women who had lived out their threescore years and ten 
prayed that they might live to spell out the Lord's prayer, while 
the modest request of many departing patriarchs was that they 
miglit recognize the Lord's name in print. The sacrifices they 
made for themselves and children challenged the admiration of 
even their former owners. 

The unlettered Negroes of the South carried into the school- 
room an inborn love of music, an e.xcellent memory, and a good 
taste for the elegant — almost grandiloquent — in speech, gorgeous 
in imagery, and energetic in narration ; their apostrophe and 
simile were wonderful. Geography and history furnished great at- 
tractions, and they developed ability to master them. In mathe- 
matics they did not do so well, on account of the lack of training 
to think consecutively and methodically. It is a mistake to be- 
lieve this a mental infirmity of the race ; for a very large num- 
ber of the students in college at the present time do as well in 
mathematics, geometry, trigonometry, mensuration, and conic 

' .Vnnual Report of the Hon. W. II. Ruffner, for 1S74. 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 397 

sections as the white students of the same age ; and some of them 
excel in mathematics. 

The majority of tlie Colored students in the Southern schools 
qualify themselves to teach and preach ; while the remainder go 
to law and medicine. Few educated Coloreil men ever return to 
agricultural life. There are two reasons for this: First, reaction. 
There is an erroneous idea among some of these young men that 
labor is dishonorable; that an educated man should never work 
with his hantls. Second, some of them believe that a profession 
gives a man consequence. Such sill)' ideas should be abandoned 
— they must be abandoned ! There is a great demand for edu- 
cated farmers and laborers. It requires an intelligent man to 
conduct a farm successfully, to sell the products of his labor, and 
to buy the necessaries of life. No profession can furnish a man 
with brains, or provide him a garment of respectability. Every 
man must furnish brains and tact to make his calling and election 
sure in this world, as well as by faith in the world to come. Un- 
fortunately there has been but little opportunity for Colored men 
or boys to get employment at the trades: but prejudice is grad- 
ually giving way to reason and common-sense ; and the day is 
not distant when the Negro will have a free field in this country, 
and will then be responsible for what he is not that is good. 
The need of the hour is a varied employment for the Negro race 
on this continent. There is more need of educated meciianics, 
civil engineers, surveyors, printers, artificers, inventors, architects, 
builders, merchants, and bankers than there is demand for law- 
yers, ])hysicians, or clergyinen. Waiters, barbers, porters, boot- 
blacks, hack-drivers, grooms, and private valets find but little 
time for the expansion of their intellects. These places are not 
dishonorable ; but what we say is, tlure is room at tlu top ! An in- 
dustrial school, something like Cooper Institute, situated between 
New York and Philadelphia, where Colored boys and girls could 
karn the trades that race prejudice denies them now, would be 
the grandest institution of modern times. It matters not how many 
million dollars are given toward the education of the Negro; so 
long as he is deprived of the privilege of learning and plying the 
trades and mechanic arts his education will injure rather than help 
him.' We would rather see a Negro boy build an engine than 
take the highest prize in Yale or Harvard. 

' For an account of ihe Jolin F. Slater Bequest of Sl.ooo-ocw for llie education o( 
the freedmen, see the Appendix to lliis volume. 



398 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

It is quite difficult to get at a clear idea of what has been done 
in the Northern States toward the education of the Colored 
people. In nearly all the States on the borders of the Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers " Colored schools " still exist : and in many in- 
stances are kept alive through the spirit of the self-seeking of a 
few Colored persons who draw salaries in lieu of their continu- 
ance. They should be abolished, and will be, as surely as heat 
follows light and the rising of the sun. In the New England, 
Middle, and extreme Western States, with the exception of 
Kansas, separate schools do not exist. The doors of all colleges, 
founded and conducted by the white people in the North, are open 
to the Colored people who desire to avail themselves of an aca- 
demic education. At the present time there are one hundred 
and sixty-nine Colored students in seventy white colleges in the 
Northern States ; and the presidents say they are doing well. 

The Bureau of Refugees, Frcedinen, and Abandoned Lands was 
established in the spring of 1865 to meet the state of affairs inci- 
dent upon the closing scenes of the great civil war. The Act 
creating the Bureau was approved and became a law on the 3d 
of March, 1865. The Bureau was to be under the management 
of the War Department, and its officers were liable for the prop- 
erty placed in their hands under the revised regulations of the 
army. In May, i<S65, the following order was issued from the 
War Department appointing Major-Gen. O. O. Howard Commis- 
sioner of the Bureau : 



"[General Orders No. 91.] 

"War Department, Adjutant General's Office, 
" Washington, May 12, 1S65. 



■} 



" Order Organizing Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned 

" Lands. 

" I. By the direction of the President, Major General O. O. Howard 
is assigned to duty in the War Department as Commissioner of the 
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, under the act 
of Congress entitled 'An act to establish a bureau for the relief of 
freedmen and refugees," to perform the duties and exercise all the 
rights, authority, and jurisdiction vested by the act of Congress in such 
Commissioner. General Howard will enter at once upon the duties of 
Commissionei specified in said act. 

" IL The Quartermaster General will, without delay, assign and 
furnisli suitable quarters and apartments for the said bureau. 



THE RESULTS OE EMAXCIPATIOiY. 399 

" III. The Adjutant General will assign to the said bureau the 
number of competent clerks authorized by the act of Congress. 
" By order of tiie President of the United States : 

" E. 1). Townsend, 

"Assis/arit Aiijiitant General." 

Gen. Howard entered upon the discharge of the vast, varied, 
and complicated duties of his office with his characteristic zeal, 
intelligence, and high Christian integrity. Hospitals were foimded 
for the care of the sick, infirm, blind, deaf, and dumb. Rations 
were issued, clothing distributed, and lands apportioned to the 
needy and worthy. 

From May 30, 1865, to November 20, 1865, inclusive, this 
Bureau furnished transportation for 1,946 freedmen, and issued 
to this class of persons in ten States, 1,030,100 rations. 

"Congress, when it created the bureau, made no appropriation to 
defray its expenses ; it has, liowever, received funds from miscellaneous 
sources, as the following report will show : 

" In several of the States, Virginia, North and South Carolina, 
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mis- 
souri, and the District of Columbia, the interests of the freedmen were 
under the control of military officers assigned by the War Department 
previous to the organization of this bureau. Their accounts became 
naturally absorbed in the accounts of the bureau, and the following re- 
])ort embraces all the receipts and exjjeuditures in all States now under 
control of the bureau since January i, 1865 :" 

Rkceipts. 

Amount on hand January i, 1865, and received since, to October 
31, 1865 : 

From frecdmen's fund .... $466,028 35 

From retained bounties .... 115,236 49 

For clothing, fuel, and subsistenct . . 7,7°4 -' 

Farms 76,709 12 

From rents of buildings .... 56,012 42 
From rents of lands .... 125,521 00 

From Quartermaster's department . . 12,200 00 
From conscript fund .... 13,49^ n 

From schools (tax and tuition) . . . 34, 4''^^ 58 

Total received 907.396 28 



400 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



Expenditures. 
Freedmen's fund ..... 

Clothing, fuel, and subsistence . 
Farms ....... 

Household furniture .... 

Rents of buildings .... 

Labor (by freedmen and other employes) 
Repairs of buildings .... 

Contingent expenses .... 

Rents of lands ..... 

Internal revenue .... 

Conscript fund ..... 

Transportation .... 

Schools ...... 

Total expended .... 



$8,009 14 

75.504 05 

40,069 71 

2,904 90 

11,470 88 

237,097 62 

19,518 46 

46,328 07 

300 00 

1,379 86 

6,5 '5 37 

1.445 51 

27,819 60 

478,363 17 



Recapitulation. 

Total amount received .... $907,396 28 

Total amount expended .... 478,363 17 

Balance on hand October 31, 1865 . . 429,033 11 

Deduct the amount held as retained bounties. 115,236 49 



Balance on hand October 31, 1865, available 

to meet liabilities ..... 313,796 62* 



It was the policy of the Government to help the freedmen 
on to their feet ; to give them a start in tlie race of self-support 
and manhood. They received such assistance as was given them 
with thankful liearts, and were not long in placing themselves 
upon a safe foundation for their new existence. Out of a popu- 
lation of 350,000 in North Carolina only 5,000 were receiving aid 
from the Government in the fall of 1S65. Each month witnessed 
a wonderful reduction of the rations issued to the freedmen. In 
the month of August, 1865, Gen. C. B. Fisk had reduced the 
number of freedmen receiving rations from 3,785 to 2,984, in 
Kentucky. In the same month, in Mississippi, Gen. Samuel 
Thomas, of the 64th U. S. C. I., had reduced the number of 
persons receiving rations to 669. In his report for 1865, Gen. 
Thomas said : 



' See report of the Commissioner. 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 40T 

" The freedmen working land assigned them at Davis's Bend, Camp 
Hawley, near Vicksburg, Do Soto Toint, opposite, and at Washington, 
near Natchez, arc all doing well. These crops are maturing fast ; as 
harvest time approaches, I reduce the number of rations issued and 
compel them to rely on their own resources. At least 10,000 bales of 
cotton will be raised by these people, who are conducting cotton crops 
on their own account. Besides this cotton, they have gardens and 
corn enough to furnish bread for their families and food for their 
stock till harvest time returns. * * * A more industrious, energetic 
body of citi/.ens does not exist than can be seen at the colonies now." 

Speaking of the industry of the freed people Gen. Thomas 
added : " I have lately visited a largo portion of the State, and 
find it in much better condition than I expected. In the eastern 
part fine crops of grain are growing ; the negroes are at home 
working quietly; they have contracted with their old masters at 
fair wages; all seem to accept the change without a shock." 

From June l, 1865, to September 1, 1866, the Freedmen's 
Bureau issued to the freed people of the South 8,904,45 1 >< 
rations, and was able to make the following financial showing of 
the Refugees' and Freedmen's fund. From November i, 1865, 
to October i, 1866, the receipts and expenditures were as follows: 

Amount on hand November i, 1S65 . . $313,79'^ 6i 

Received from various sources, as follows : 

Freedmen's fund $3^7.659 93 

Clothing, fuel, and subsistence . . 2,074 55 

Farms (sales of crops) 109,709 98 

Rent of buildings 48.5^0 ^7 

Rent of lands 1 13.641 78 

Conscript funds 140 95 

Transportation !,o53 5" 

Schools (taxes) 64,145 86 

Total on hand and received . . $1,020,784 04 

Expenditures 

Freedmen's fund $7.4ii 3^ 

Clothing, fuel, and subsistence . . 131^7° 93 

Farms (fencing, seeds, tools, etc.) . . 7.21° 66 

Labor (by freedmen and other employes) 426,918 \t 

Rent of buildings (offices, etc ) . . . 50,186 Oc 

Repairs of buildings .... 1,957 47 



402 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 

Expenditures. — {Continued!) 

Contingent expenses . . . . . 74,295 77 

Rent of lands (restored) .... 9,260 58 

Quartermaster's department . . . it 26 

Internal revenue (tax on salaries) . . 7.965 22 

Conscript fund ...... 1,664 01 

Transportation ..... 22,387 ot 

Schools 115,261 56 



Total expended .... $738,400 52 
Balance on hand October i, 1S66 . $282,383 52 

In September, 1866, the Bureau had on hand : 

Recapitulation. 

Balance on hand of freedmen's fund . $282,383 52 
Balance of District destitute fund . 18,328 67 

Balance of appropriation . . . 6,856,259 30 



Total $7,156,971 49 

Estimated amount due subsistence depart- 
ment ....... $297,000 00 

Transportation reported unpaid . . 26,015 94 

Transportation estimated due . . . 20,000 00 

Estimated amount due medical department 100,000 00 
Estimated amount due quartermaster's 

department ..... 200,000 00 



$643,015 94 



Total balance for all purposes of 

expenditures .... $6,513,955 55 

But the estimate of Gen. Howard for funds to run the Bureau 
for the fiscal year commencing July i, 1867, only called for the 
sum of three million eight hundred and thirty-six thousand and 
three hundred dollars, as follows: 

Salaries of assistant commissioners, sub- 
assistants, and agents .... $147,500 
Salaries of clerks ..... 82,800 
Stationer)' and printing .... 63,000 
Quarters and fuel ..... 200,000 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 403 

Subsistence stores ..... 1,500,000 

Medical dep.artnicnt .... 500.000 

Transportation ...... Soo.ooo 

School superintendents .... 25,000 

Buildings for schools and asylums, including 

construrtion, rental, and repairs . 500,000 

Telegraphing and postage .... 18,000 



$3.y.>6,3oo 



This showed that the freed people were rapidly becoming 
self-sustaining, and that the aid rendered by the Government 
was used to a good purpose. 

Soon after Colored Troops were mustered into the service of 
the Government a question arose as to some safe method by 
which these troops might save their pay against the days of 
peace and personal effort. The noble and wise Gen. Saxton 
answered the question ami met the need of the hour by estab- 
lishing a Military Savings Bank at Beaufort, South Carolina. 
Soldiers under his command were thus enabled to husband their 
funds. Gen. Butler followed in this good work, and established 
a similar one at Norfolk, Virginia. These banks did an excel- 
lent work, and so favorably impressed many of the friends of the 
Negro that a plan for a Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust 
Company was at once projected. Before the spring campaign 
of 1865 opened up, the plan was presented to Congress; a bill 
introduced creating such a bank, was passed and signed by Presi- 
dent Lincoln on the 3d of March. The following is the Act: 

"An Act to Incorpok.^te the Freedman's Savings and Trust 

"Company. 

'''Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled: That Peter Cooper, WilliamC. 
Bryant, A. k. Low, S. 15. Chittenden, Charles H. Marshall, William A. 
Booth, Gerrit Smith, William A. Hall, William Allen, John Jay. Abra- 
ham Baldwin, A. S. Barnes, Hiram Barney, Seth B. Hunt, Samuel 
Holmes, Charles Collins, R. R. Graves, Walter S. Griffith, A. H. Wallis, 
D. S. Grego.y, J. W. Alvord, George Whipple, A. S. Hatch, Walter T. 
Hatch, E. A. Lambert, \V. G. Lambert, Roe Lockwood, R. H. Man- 
ning, R. W. Ropes, Albert Woodruff, and Thomas Denny, of New 
York ; John M. Forbes, William Claflin, S. G. Howe, George L. Stearns, 
Edward Atkinson, A. .-V. Lawrence, and John M. S. Williams, of Massa- 



404 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

chusetts ; Edward Harris and Thomas Davis, of Rhode Island ; Stephen 
Colwell, J. Wheaton Smith, Francis E. Cope, Thomas Webster, 15. S. 
Hunt, and Henry Samuel, of Pennsylvania ; Edward Harwood, Adam 
Poe, Levi Coffin, J. M- Walden, of Ohio, and their successors, are 
constituted a body corporate in the City of Washington, in the District 
of Columbia, by the name of the Freedman's Savings and Trust 
Company, and by that name may sue and be sued in any court of the 
United States. 

" Sec. 2. And ht' it furthfr ciiactej, That the persons named in the 
first section of this act shall be the first Trustees of the Corporation, 
and all vacancies by death, resignation, or otherwise, in the office of 
Trustee shall be filled by the Board, by ballot, without unnecessary de- 
lay, and at least ten votes shall be necessary for the election of any 
Trustee. The Trustees shall hold a regular meeting, at least once in 
each month, to receive reports of their officers on the affairs of the Cor- 
jjoration, and to transact such business as may be necessary ; and any 
Trustee omitting to attend the regular meetings of the Board for six 
months in succession, may thereupon be considered as having vacated 
his place, and a successor may be elected to fill the same. 

" Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the business of the Cor- 
poration shall be managed and directed by the Board of Trustees, who 
shall elect from their number a President and two Vice-Presidents, and 
may appoint such other officers as they may see fit ; nine of the Trus- 
tees, of whom the President or one of the Vice-Presidents shall be one, 
shall form a quorum for the transaction of business at any regular 
or adjourned meeting of the Board of Trustees ; and the affirmative 
vote of at least seven members of the Board shall be requisite in 
making any order for, or authorizing the investment of, any moneys, or 
the sale or transfer of any stock or securities belonging to the Cor- 
poration, or the appointment of any officer receiving any salary there- 
from. 

" Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the Board of Trustees 
of the Corporation shall have power, from time to time, to make and 
establish such By-Laws and regulations as they shall judge i)roper with 
regard to the elections of officers and their respective functions, and 
generally for the management of the affairs of the Corporation, pro- 
vided such By-Laws and regulations are not repugnant to this act, or 
to the Constitution or laws of the United States. 

" Sec. 5. And be it furtlier enacted. That the general business and 
object of the Corporation hereby created shall be, to receive on deposit 
such sums of money as may, from time to time, be offered therefor, by 
or on behalf of persons heretofore held in slavery in the United States, 
or their descendants, and investing the same in the stocks, bonds, 
Treasury notes, or other securities of the United States. 



THE RESULTS Of EMANCIPATION 405 

"Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of 
the Trustees of the Corporation to invest, as soon as ])ractitable, in 
tlie securities named ni tlie next precedini; section, all sums received 
by them beyond an available fund, not exceeding one third of the total 
amount of deposits with the Cor|>oration, at the discretion of the Trus- 
tees, whicii available funds may be kept by llie Trustees, to meet cur- 
rent payments of the Corporation, and may by them be left on deposit, 
at interest or otherwise, or in sucli available form as the Trustees may 
direct. 

''Sec. 7. And he it further enacted. That the Corporation may, 
under such regulations as the Hoard of Trustees shall, from time to 
time, prescribe, receive any deposit hereby authorized to be received, 
upon such trusts and for such pur|)oses, not contrary to the laws of the 
United States, as may be indicated in writing by the depositor, such 
writing to be subscribed by the depositor and .icknovvledi^cd or proved 
before any officer in tlie civil or military service of the United States, 
the certificate of which acknowledgment or proof shall be endorsed 
on the writing ; and the writing, so acknowledged or proved, shall ac- 
company such deposit and be filed among the i)ai)ers of the Corpora- 
tion, and be carefully preserved therein, and may be read in evidence 
in any court or before any judicial officer of the United States, without 
further proof ; and the certificate of acknowledgment or proof shall 
\i^ prima facie evidence only of the due execution of such writing. 

" Sec. 8. And be it further enacted. That all sums rec:eived on 
deposit shall be repaid to such dejjositor when required, at such time, 
with such interest, not exceeding seven per centum per annum, and 
under such regul.itions as the Hoard of Trustees shall, from time to 
time, prescribe, which regulations shall be posted up in some conspicuous 
place in the room where the business of the Corporation shall be trans- 
acted, but shall not be altered so as to affect any deposit previously 
made. 

"Sec. 9. And be it further enacted. That all trusts upon which, 
and all purposes for which any deposit shall be made, and which shall 
be intlicated in the writing to accompany such dei)Osit, shall be faith- 
fully performed by the Corporation, unless the performing of the .same 
is rendered impossible. 

"Sec. 10. And be it further enacted. That when any dejiositor 
shall die, the funds remaining on deposit with the Corporation to his 
credit, and all accumulations thereof, shall belong and be paid to the 
personal representatives of such depositor, in case he shall have left a 
last will and testament, and in default of a last will and testament, or 
of any person qualifying under a last will and testament, competent to 
act as executor, the Corporation shall be entitled, in respect to the funds 
so remaining on deposit to the credit of any such depositor, to adminis- 



4o6 I U STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN A AT ERICA 

tration thereon in preference to all other persons, and letters oi ad- 
ministration shall be granted to the Cor])oration accordingly in the 
manner ])rescribed by law in respect to granting of letters of adminis- 
tration, with the will annexed, and in cases of intestacy. 

" Sec. 1 1. And be it further enacted, That in the case of the death 
of any depositor, whose deposit shall not be held upon any trust created 
pursuant to the provisions hereinbefore contained, or where it may 
prove impossible to execute such trust, it shall be the duty of the Cor- 
jjorntion to make diligent efforts to ascertain and discover whether 
such deceased depositor has left a husband, wife, or children, surviving, 
and the Corporation shall keep a record of the efforts so made, and of 
the results thereof ; and in case no person lawfully entitled thereto shall 
be discovered, or shall ajjpear, or claim the funds remaining to the 
credit of such depositor before the expiration of two years from the 
death of such depositor, it shall l,e lawful for the Corporation to hold 
and invest such funds as a separate trust fund, to be applied, with the 
accumulations thereof, to the education and improvement of persons 
heretofore held in slavery, or their descendants, being inhabitants of 
the United States, in such manner and through such agencies as the 
Board of Trustees shall deem best calculated to effect that object ; 
Provided, That if any depositor be not heard from within five years 
from the date of his last deposit, the Trustees shall advertise the same 
in some paper of general circulation in the State where the principal 
office of the Company is established, and also in the State where the 
depositor was last heard from ; and if, within two years thereafter, such 
depositor shall not appear, nor a husband, wife, or child of such deposi- 
tor, to claim his deposits, they shall be used by the Board of Trustees 
as hereinbefore provided for in this section. 

"Sec. 12. A /id Ik it further enacted. That no President, Vice- 
President, Trustee, ofiicer, or servant of the Corporation shall, directly 
or indirectly, borrow the funds of the Corporation or its deposits, or in 
any manner use the same, or any part thereof, except to pay necessary 
expenses, under the direction of the Board of Trustees. All certificates 
or other evidences of deposit made by the proper officers shall be as 
binding on the Coiporation as if they were made under their common 
s:;al. It shall be the duty of the Trustees to regulate the rate of interest 
allowed to the depositors, so that they shall receive, as nearly as may be, 
a rateable proportion of all the ]jrofits of the Corporation, after deduc- 
ting all necessary expenses ; Provided, hou'ever. That the Trustees may 
allow to depositors to the amount of five hundred dollars or upward 
one per centum less than the amount allowed others ; And provided, also. 
Whenever it shall appear that, after the payment of the usual interest 
to depositors, there is in the possession of the Corporation an excess of 
profits over the liabilities amounting to ten per centum upon the de- 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 407 

posits, such excess shall be invested for the security of the depositors 
in the Corporation ; and thereafter, at each annual examination of the 
affairs of the Corporation, any surplus over and above such ten per 
centum shall, in addition to the usual interest, be divided rateably 
among the depositors, in such manner as the Board of Trustees shall 
direct. 

"Sec. 13. And be it further enacted. That whenever any deposits 
shall be made by any minor, the Trustees of the Corporation may, at 
their discretion, pay to such depositor such sum as may be due to him, 
although no guardian shall have been appointed for such minor, or the 
guardian of such minor shall not have authorized the drawing of the 
same ; and the check, receipt, or acquittance of such minor shall be as 
valid as if the same were executed by a guardian of such minor, or the 
minor were of full age, if such deposit was made personally by such 
minor. And whenever any deposits shall have been made by married 
women, the Trustees may repay the same on their own receipts. 

"Sec. 14. And be it further enacted, That the Trustees shall not 
directly or indirectly receive any payment or emolument for their ser- 
vices as such, except the President and Vice-President. 

"Skc. 15. And be it further enacted. That the President, Vice- 
President, and subordinate officers and agents of the Corporation, shall 
respectively give such security for their fidelity and good conduct as 
the Board of Trustees may, from time to time, require, and the Board 
shall fix the salaries of such officers and agents. 

" SiiC. 16. And be it further enacted. That the books of the Cor- 
poration shall, at all times during the hours of business, be open for 
inspection and examination to such persons as Congress shall designate 
or appoint. 

".Approved March 3, 1865." 

Eleven of these banks were established in 1865, nine in 1 866, 
three in 1868, one in 1869, and the remainder in 1870, after the 
charter had been amended as follows : 

"An .'\ct to Amend an .-Vct Entitled 'An .Act to Incorpor.-\te 

THE FrEEDMAN's SAVINGS AND TrUST CoMPANV,' APPROVED 

March Third, Eighteen Hundred and Si.\tv-five. 

" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Fepresentalives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That the fifth section 
of the Act entitled 'An Act to Incorporate the Freedman's Savings and 
Trust Company,' approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
five, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto at the end 



408 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA 

thereof the words following : ' and to the extent of one half in bonds 
or notes, secured by mortgage on real estate in double the value of the 
loan ; and the corporation is also authorized hereby to hold and im- 
prove the real estate now owned by it in the city of Washington, to wit : 
the west lialf of lot number three ; all of lots four, five, six, seven, and 
the south half of lot number eight, in square number two hundred and 
twenty-one, as laid out and recorded in the original plats or plan of said 
city : Provided, That said corporation shall not use the principal of any 
deposits made with it for the purpose of such improvement.' 

" Sec. 2. And he it ftirtlier enacted, That Congress shall have the 
right to alter or repeal this amendment at any time. 

" Ap[)roved May 6, 1870." 

The company was organized on the i6th of May, 1865, and 
the trustees made their first report on the 8th of June, 1865. 
Deposits up to this date were $700, besides $7,956.38 trans- 
ferred from the Military .Savings Bank at Norfolk, Virginia, on 
the 3d of June. On the ist of August the first branch ofifice was 
opened at Washington, D. C, and on the 1st of September it had 
a balance due its depositors of $843.84 

Other branches were opened during the year at Louisville, 
Richtnond, Nashville, Wilinington, Huntsville, Memphis, Mobile, 
and Vicksburg. December 14, 1865, the Military Bank at Beau- 
fort, organized October 16, 1865, was, by order of General Saxton, 
transferred to this company, with its balance of $170,000. At 
the end of the first year, March i, 1866, fourteen branch offices 
had been opened, and the balance due depositors was $199,- 
283.42. 

The total deposits made by freedmen in thern, from their es- 
tablishment up to July I, 1870, was $16,960,336, of which over 
$2,000,000 still remained on deposit. The total amount of de- 
posits in the Richmond branch up to that date was $318,913, and 
the balance undrawn $84,537. The average amount deposited 
by the various depositors was nearly $284. So far as the facts 
were obtained, it appeared that about seventy per cent, of the 
money drawn from these banks was invested in real estate and in 
business. 

By the financial statement of the banking company, for 
August, 1 87 1, it appears that in the thirty-four banks then in op- 
eration the deposits made during that month, which was con- 
sidered " dull," amounted to $882,806.67, and that the total 
amount to the credit of the depositors was $3,058,232.81. In the 



THE RESULTS OE EMANCIPATION. 



409 



Richmond branch, the deposits for that month were $17,790.60, 
and the total amount due depositors was $123,733.75 ; all of 
which was to the credit of Colored people, except §6,929.19. A 
branch shortly before had been established in Lynchburtj, which 
showed a balance due depositors of §7,382.83. 

The following table shows the business of the company for 
the years 1866-1 871 : 

Table Showing the Relative Business of the Company for Each 
Eiscdl Year. 



For year endinglTotal amount ofrrotal amount of 
March i. , deposits. drafts. 



1866 . 


Sj05.i67 0° 


1867 


1.624,853 33 


1868 . 


3.582,378 36 


1869 


7.257,798 63 


1870 . 


12,605,781 95 


I87I 


19.952.647 36 



§105,883 58 

1,258,515 00 

2,944.079 36 

6,184.333 32 

10,948,775 20 

17,497,111 25 



Balance due 
depositors. 



$199,283 42 
366,338 2,3 
638,299 00 

1,073,465 31 
1,657,006 75 

2,455,836 II 



For year ending 
March i. 



1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 



Deposits each 
year. 



Drafts each 
year. 



Gain each 
year. 



s 



j"3. 



167 00 I S105.S83 58 ; §199,283 42 



1,319,686 Z3 

1,957,525 03 

3,675,420 27 

5.347.983 3- 

7,347.165 41 



1,152,631 42 
1,685,564 36 

3,240,253 96 

4.764,441 88 
6.548.336 05 



167,054 91 

271,960 67 

435,166 31 

583,341 44 

798.829 36 



The total amount of deposits received from the organiza- 
tion of the company to October i, 1S71 — si.\ years 
from the opening of the first branch — was . . $25,977,435 48 

Total diafts during the same period were. 



Leaving due depositors October i, 1871 . 

The total assets of company on same day amounted to 

The interest paid during tliis time amounted to 



22,850,926 47 

. 3,126,509 01 

• 3,'57.2o6 17 

• 180,565 35 



In 1872 the trustees made the following interesting state- 
ment : 



4IO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

THE FREEDMAN'S SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY. 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1S72. 



BRANCHES. 


Q 


a = 
Q 


It 
^0 


= 

£ rt 


h 


Is- 


Atlanta, Georgia . 
Augusta, GLUigia 
Baltimore. Maryland . 
lieaulort. Soulli Carolina, 
Charleston. South Carolina, 
Columbus, Mississippi 
Columbia, Tennessee . 
HmitsviUe. Alabama 
Jaclvson%-ille. Klonda . 
Lexington. Kentucky 
Little KoLk, Arkansas. 
Louisville. Kentucky 
Lynchburg, \'irg!nia . 
Macon, Georgia 
Memphis, Tennessee . 
Mobile, Alabama 
Montgomerv, Alabama 
Natcliez, Mississippi 
Nashville, Tennt-ssee , 
New Heme, North Carolina, 
New Orleans, Louisiana 
New York, New York . 
Norfolk. X'irginia . 
Pliiladelphia. Pennsylvania, 
Raleigh, North Carolina 
Richmond, Virginia . 
Savannah. Georgia 
Shreveport. Louisiana 
St. I^ouis, Missouri 
Tallah;issee, Florida 
\'iLksl>urg, Mississii)p! 
Washington. Dist. Colum'a, 
Wilmington. N'lh Carolina, 
Alexandria, Virginia 


$9,419 68 

10,771 99 

=9-755 52 

189,600 74 

67,668 83 

2,426 15 

2-552 55 

7,343 5= 

67,39; oy 

14-3S3 85 

7-871 =7 

18,311 01 

3,104 48 

6,808 98 

20,045 40 

11,136 05 

8,522 90 

25 548 53 

15,731 4& 

38.113 Si 
193.145 4S 
11^,200 =:8 
16-771 88 
11.45' 12 
5.(63 28 
64,112 51 
30 951 23 
20,688 72 
26,323 93 

4-589 45 
61,691 73 

3=3-555 79 

10,714 10 

1,929 91 


$11,242 30 
9.217 94 

18.644 57 
184,924 40 

84.464 53 
4.364 34 
2,086 05 
10,127 61 
57,307 54 

11,221 13 

9.5U6 37 
17 535 74 
1,242 56 
7,061 52 
27,197 06 

18.645 62 
8,679 6° 

15 005 17 

17-098 58 

37.775 73 

207 878 53 

74,461 61 

17.757 38 

9,887 40 

4,660 18 

53-900 72 

27.066 33 

21,105 59 

20,599 02 

4.526 75 

60.068 28 

296,321 26 

12,632 65 

685 80 

$1,364,899 95 


$245,200 27 

367,653 16 

1,278,042 32 

2.993,873 30 

3,10^.641 65 

132,036 46 

34,088 97 

416,617 72 

3,312.424 55 

238.680 22 

172,392 10 

■.057.587 7" 

36,880 98 

197,050 01 

970.096 09 

1,039,097 05 

238,106 08 

649,256 70 

739,691 88 

1,057.688 32 

2,393.584 08 

1,673-249 36 

1,048,762 05 

357.924 89 

231,685 82 

1,082,152 71 

1,031.173 38 

299 428 39 

615.876 74 

361,614 57 

2,962.235 58 

7.438,918 17 

457.360 75 

14.091 77 


$223,020 17 

284,406 14 

996,371 98 

2,944,441 88 

2.795.176 24 

121.776 67 

•5.738 1^ 

364.382 51 

3,234.445 72 

188,308 76 

154.914 42 

914-504 61 

18,354 87 

156,308 75 

840,218 91 

933.424 30 

213,861 71 

612,985 74 

625,166 40 

1.001,645 74 

2,171,056 95 

1,227,440 57 

916,047 59 

278,641 10 

202,032 44 

912,933 45 

893.321 30 

264,707 78 

526.490 86 

329.618 33 

2,823.700 87 

6,406,092 39 

407.512 51 

1,626 35 

$34,000,685 77 


$22,180 10 

83.247 02 

281.670 3<j 
49.431 42 
305,465 41 
10,259 79 
18,350 21 
52.235 21 
77,978 83 
50,371 46 
17,477 68 
143.083 10 
18,526 11 
40.741 26 
129,877 18 
105,672 75 
24.244 37 
36,270 96 
114.525 48 
56,042 58 
222.527 13 
445 799 79 
132.714 46 
79,283 79 
29,653 38 
169,219 26 
137,852 02 
34,720 61 
89.385 88 
31,996 24 
■38.534 7" 
1,032,825 78 
49,848 24 
12,465 42 

$4,244,478 03 


$1,461,207 52 


$38,245,163 80 



Tot;il amount of deposits for the month $1,461,20756 

Total amount of drafts for the month 1,364,89995 

Gain for the month 96,307 61 

Total amount of deposits $38,245,163 80 

Total amount of drafts 34,000,685 77 

Total amount due tlepositors $4,244,478 03 



This first experiment of the new citizen in saving his funds 
was working admirably. Each report was more cheering than 
the preceding one. Tlie deposits were generally made by day 
laborers, house servants, farmers, mechanics, and washerwomen. 
Two facts were established, viz.: that the Negroes of the South 
were working; and that they were saving their earnings. North- 
ern as well as Southern whites were agreeably surprised. 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATlO.y. 4" 

' But bad management doomed the institution to irreparable 
ruin. The charter was violated in the establishment of branch 
banks ; " persons who were never held in bondatje and their de- 
scendants " were allowed to deposit funds in the bank ; money 
was loaned upon valueless securities and meaningless collaterals, 
and in the fall of 1873, having been kept open for a long time 
on money borrowed on collateral securities belonging to its cus- 
tomers, the bank failed ! 

During the brief period of its existence about $57,000,000 
had been deposited. The liabilities of the institution at the time 
of the failure, as corrected to date, were $3,037,483, of which 
$73,774.34 were special deposits and preferred claims. The 
number of open accounts at the time of the failure were 62,000. 
The «<?w^;/rt/ assets at the time of the failure were $2,693,095.20. 
And in the almost interminable list of over-drafts amounting to 
$55,567.63, there appeared but one solitary surety ! 

On the 20th of June, 1874, Congress passed an act permit- 
ting the very men who had destroyed the bank to nominate three 
Commissioners, who, upon the approval of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, should wind up the affairs of this insolvent institution. 
Section 7 of the Act reads as follows: 

" Sec. 7. That whenever it shall be deemed advisable by the trustees 
of said corporation to close up its entire business, then they shall select 
three competent men, not connected with the previous manaf^ement of 
the institution and approved by tlie Secretary of the Treasury, to be 
known and styled commissioners, whose duty it shall be to take charge 
of all the property and effects of said Freedman's Savings and Tru.st 
Company, close up the i^rincipal and subordinate branches, collect from 
the branches all the deposits they have on hand, and proceed to collect 
all sums due said company, and dispose of all the i)roperty owned by- 
said company, as s[)eedily as the interests of the corporation require, 
and to distribute tlie proceeds among the creditors jiro rata, according 
to their respective amounts ; they shall make a ])ro rata dividend when- 
ever they have funds enough to pay twenty per centum of the claims 
of depositors. Said commissioners, before they proceed to act, shall 
execute a joint bond to the United States, with good sureties, in the 
])enal sum of one hundred thousand dollars, conditioned for the faith- 
ful discharge of their duties as commissioners aforesaid, and shall take 
an oath to faithfully and honestly perform their duties as such, which 
bonds shall be executed in presence of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
be approved by him, and by him safely kept ; and whenever said trus- 



412 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tees shall file with the Secretary of the Treasury a certified copy of the 
order appointing said commissioners, and they shall have executed the 
bonds and taken the oath aforesaid, then said commisioners shall be in- 
vested with the legal title to all of said property of said company, for 
the purposes of this act, and shall have full power and authority to sell 
the same, and make deeds of conveyance to any and all of the real 
estate sold by them to the purchasers. Said commissioners may employ 
such agents as are necessary to assist them in closing up said company, 
and pay them a reasonable compensation for their services out of the 
funds of said company ; and the said commissioners shall retain out of 
said funds a reasonable compensation for their trouble, to be fixed by 
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency, 
and not exceeding three thousand dollars each per annum. Said com- 
missioners shall deposit all sums collected by them in the Treasury of 
the United States until they make a pro rata distribution of the same." 

There are several legal questions that history would like to 
ask. I. Did not the trustees of the Freedman's Savings Bank 
and Trust Company violate their charter in establishing branch 
banks ? 2. Were not the trustees personally liable for receiving 
deposits from persons w!io were neither " heretofore held in 
slavery" nor the descendants of such persons? 3. Were not 
persons " heretofore held in slavery" and "their descendants" 
preferred creditors? 4. Had Congress the authority to go out- 
side of the Federal bankruptcy laws and create such special 
machinery for the settlement of a collapsed bank? This matter 
may come before Congress in a new shape some time in the 
future. 

The three commissioners, at a salary of $3,000 per annum, 
were charged with the settlement of the affairs of the bank. 
They were J no. A. J. Creswell, Robert Purvis, and R. H. f . Lei- 
pold. Mr. Creswell was retained by the United States before 
the Alabama Claims Commission at a salary of $10,000 per an- 
num ; while Mr. Leipold was a lawyer with considerable practice. 
Jkit neither one of these gentlemen ever entered a court on be- 
half of the company. In a little more than five years they used 
up out of the assets of the company, $40,000 for their salaries; 
paid for salaries to agents, $64,000, and $31,000 for attorneys' 
fees, aggregating $135,000 — nearly one half of the amount dis- 
tributed among depositors for the same length of time. 

The more the commissioners examined, the greater the liabili- 
ties of the company grew. On the 1st of October, 1875, a divi- 



THE RESULTS OE EMANCIPATION. 



413 



deiid of 20 per cent, was declared ; on the 1st of February, 1878, 
a dividend of 10 per cent, was declared; on the 21st of August, 
1880, they declared another dividend of 10 per cent. ; and on the 
14th of April, 1881, a circular was sent out as a crumb of comfort 
to the anxious, defrauded, and outraged depositors. It is not 
enough for history to pronounce the failure of this bank an irrep- 
arable calamity to the Colored people of the South; it should be 
branded as a 677V«t/ There was no more necessity for the fail- 
ure of this bank than for the failure of the United States Treas- 
ury. Its management was criminal ; and Congress should yet 
seek out and punish the guilty; and the depositors should be in- 
demnified out of the United States Treasury. Justice and 
equity demand it. 

The failure of the Freedman's Bank worked great mischief 
among the Colored people in the South. But hardy, persistent, 
earnest, and hopeful, they turnetl again to the work of making 
and saving money. They have been more prudent than their 
circumstances, in some instances, would seem to warrant. Ii' 
Georgia the Colored people have made wonderful progress it 
business matters. 



Polls 



No. of 

Acres of 

L.and. 



SS,52 



541.109 



V.ilue of 
I.uiul. 



St,34S,75S 



('ily or Town 
Pro[)city. 



Amount of 
Monuy and 

Solvent 

Delits of .ill 

Kinds. 



Si. 094.435 



$73,253 



Household 

and 

Kitchen 

Furniture. 



^448,713 







Value of all 
other Prop- 






IK>rses, 


IMantalion 


erty, not be- 


Aggregate 


Total .\mount 


Mules, Hogs, 


ami 


fore Enumer- 


Value of 


of I ax As- 


Sheep, 


Mechanical 


ated, except 


Whole Prop- 


sessed on Polls 


and Cattle. 


Tools. 


.■\nnual Crojis, 


erty. 


and Property. 






Provisions, etc. 






$1,704,230 


$143,258 


S369.73I 


$5,182,398 


$io6,66o.3() 



Increase in number of .teres since return of 1878 . 
Increase in wealth since return of 1878 



39.309 
$57,523 



In Alabama, Floriila, Louisiana, North and Sotith Carolina, 
and in Maryland, Colored men have possessed themselves of 



4!4 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

excellent farms and moderate fortunes. In Baltimore a com- 
pany of Colored men own a ship dock, and transact a large 
business. Some of the largest orange plantations in Florida are 
owned by Colored men. On most of the plantations, and in 
many of the large towns and cities Colored mechanics are quite 
numerous. The Montgomcries who own the plantation, once 
the property of Jefferson Davis, extending for miles along tlie 
Mississippi, are probably the best business men in the South. 
In Louisiana, P. P. Deslonde, A. Dubuclet, Hon. T. T. Allain, 
and State Senator Young are men who, although taking a lively 
interest in politics, have accumulated proi)crty and saved it. 

There is nothing vicious in the character of the Southern 
Negro. lie is gentle, affectionate, and faithful. If it has 
appeared, through false figures, that he is a criminal, there is 
room for satisfactory explanation. In 1870, out of a population, 
of persons of color, in all the States and Territories, of 4,880,009, 
there were only 9,400 who were receiving aid on the 1st of June, 
1870 ; and only 8,056 in all the prisons of America. Nine tenths 
of these were South, and could neither read nor write. 

During the Rebellion, when every white male from fifteen to 
seventy was out fighting to sustain the Confederacy — when the 
Southern Government was robbing the cradle and the grave for 
soldiers — the wives and children of the Confederates were com- 
mitted to the care and keeping of their slaves. And what is the 
verdict of history? That these women were outraged and their 
children brained? No! But that during all those years of 
painful anxiety, of hope and fear, of fiery trial and severe priva- 
tion, those faithful Negroes toiled, not only to sujjport the wives 
and children of the men who were fighting to make slavery 
national and perpetual, but fed the entire rebel army, and never 
laid the weight of a finger upon the head of any of the women or 
children entrusted to their care ! To this virtue of fidelity to 
their worst enemies they added still another, loyalty to the 
Union flag and escaping Union soldiers. All night long they 
would direct the lonely, famishing, fainting, and almost delirious 
Union soldier. in a safe way, and then wlien the night and morn- 
ing met they would point their pilgrim friends to the North 
Star, hide them and feed them during the day, and then return 
to the plantation to care for the loved ones of the men who 
starved Union soldiers and hunted them down with blood- 
hounds ! This is the brightest gem that history can place upon 



THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 415 

the brow of tlie Negro; and in confcrrinj:^ it there is no one 
found to object. 

Since the war the crime amonj^ CoKircd people is to be ac- 
counted for upon two grounds, viz.: ignorance, and a combination 
of circumstances over whicli they had no control. It was one 
thing for the Negro to understand the cruel laws of slavery, but 
when he found himself a freeman he was not able to know what 
was an infraction of the law. They did not know what in law 
constituted a tort, or a civil action from a sled. The violent pas- 
sions pampered in slavery, the destruction of the home, the 
promiscuous mingling of the sexes, a conscience enfeebled by 
disuse, made them easy transgressors. The Negro is not a crim- 
inal generically ; he is an accidental criminal. The judiciary and 
juries of the South are responsible for the alarming prison statis- 
tics which stand against the Negro. It takes generations for 
men to overcome their prejudices. With a white judge and a 
white jury a Negro is guilty the moment he makes liis appear- 
ance in court. It is seldom that a Negro can get judgment 
against a white person under the most favorable circumstances. 
The Negroes who appear in courts are of the poorer and more 
ignorant class. They ha\-e no funtis with which to employ coun- 
sel, and have but few intelligent lawyers to come to their rescue. 
In cases of theft, especially of poultry, pigs, sheep, fruit, etc., it 
is ne.xt to impossible to convince a white judge or jur_\- that the 
defendant is not guilty. They reason that because the half-fed, 
overworked slave appropriated articles of food, as a freeman the 
Negro was not changed. They ascribed a general habit, growing 
out of trying circumstances, to the Negro as a slave that lie soon 
learned to regard as morally wrong when a freeman. 

But the most effective agency in filling Southern piisons with 
Negroes has been, and is, the chain-gang system — the farming out 
of convict labor. Just as great railway, oil, and telegraph com- 
panies in the North have been capable of controlling legislation, 
so the corporations at the South which take the prisoners of the 
State off of the hands of the (lovernment, and then speculate 
upon the labor of the prisoners, are able to control both court 
and jury. It has been the practice, and is now, in some ot the 
Southern States, to pronounce long sentences upon able-bodied 
young Colored men, whose offences, in a Northern court, could 
not be visited with more than a few months' confinement and a 
trifling fine. The object in giving Negro men a long term of 



4i6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

years, is to make sure the tenure of the soulless corporations 
upon the convicts whose unhappy lot it is to fall into their iron 
grasj). In some of the Southern States a strong and healthy Negro 
convict brings thirty-seven cents a day to the State, while he earns 
a dollar for the corporations above his expenses. The convict? 
are cruelly treated — especially in Georgia and Kentucky ; — theif 
food is poor, their quarters miserable, and their morals next to 
the brute creation. In many of these camps men and women 
are compelled to sleep in the same bunks together, with chains 
upon their limbs, in a promiscuous manner too sickening and 
disgusting to mention. When a prisoner escapes he is hunted 
down by fiery dogs and cruel guards ; and often the poor prisoner 
is torn to pieces by the dogs or beaten to death by the guards. 
No system of slavery was ever equal in its cruel and dehuman- 
izing details to this convict system, which, taking advantage of 
race prejudice on the one hand and race ignorance on the other, 
with cupidity and avarice as its chief characteristics, has done 
more to curse the South than all things else since the war. 

It was predicted by persons hostile to the rights and citizen- 
shiji of the Negro, that a condition of freedom would not be in 
harmony with his character ; that it would destroj' him, and that 
he would destroy the country and party which tried to make him 
agree to a state of independent life ; that having been used to 
the "kind treatment " (?) of his master he would find himself un- 
equal to the responsibilities of freedom; and that his migratory 
disposition would lead him into a climate too cold for him, where 
he would be welcomed to an inhospitable grave. 

It is true that a great many Negroes died during the first 
years of their new life. The joy of emancipation and the excite- 
ment that disturbed business swept the Negroes into the large 
cities. Like the shepherds who left their flocks on the plains 
and went into Bethlehem to see the promised redemption, these 
people sought the centres of excitement. The large cities were 
overrun with them. The demand for unskilled labor was not 
great. From mere spectators they became idlers, helpless and 
offensive to industrious society. Ignorant of sanitary laws, im- 
prudent in their daily living, changing from the pure air and 
plain diet of farm life to the poisonous atmosphere and rich, fate- 
ful food of the city, many fell victims to the sudden change from 
bondage to freedom, from darkness to light, and from the flesh- 
pots, garlic, and onions of their Egyptian bondage to the milk 
and honey of the Canaan of their deliverance. 



THE RESULTS OF E.VAXCfPATIOy. 



-»'/" 



But tliis was in accordance with an immutable law of nature. 
Every year a hirge number of birds perish in an attempt to 
change their home ; every spring-time many flowers die at their 
birth. The law of the survival of the fittest is impartial and 
inexorable. The Creator said centuries ago " the soul that 
sinneth shall surely die," and the law has remained until the 
present time. Those who sinned ignorantly or knowingly died 
the death ; but those who obeyed the laws of health, of man, and 
of God, lived to be useful members of societj-. 

But this was the exception to the rule. The Negro race in 
America is not dying out. The charge is false. The wish was 
father to the thought, while no doubt many honest people have 
been misled by false figures. Nearly all white communities at 
the Soutli had more than enough of ])hysicians ; and science and 
culture were summoned to the aid of the white mother in the 
hour of childbirt,h. The record of births was preserved with 
pride and official accuracy; and thus there was a record u])on 
which to calculate the increase. But, on the contary, among the 
Negroes there were no physicians and no record of births. The 
venerable system of midwiter\- prevailed. In burying their dead, 
however, this people were compelled to obtain a burial permit 
from the Board of Health. Thus the statistics were all on one 
side — all deaths and no births. Looking at these statistics it did 
seem that the race was dying out. But the Government steps in 
and takes the census every decade, and, thereby, the world is 
enabled, upon reliable figures, to estimate the increase or de- 
crease of the Colored race. The subjoined table exhibits the in- 
crease of the Colored people for nine decades. 









Colored gain 






Year. 


Colored. 


per cent. 




ist census. 


1790 


757,208 






2d 


1 800 


1,002,037 


i^-3 


I St decade. 


3d " 


1810 


1,377.808 


37-5 


2d 


4th " 


1820 


1,771,656 


28.6 


3d '• 


5th " 


1830 


2,328,642 


i^l 


4th " 


6th 


1840 


2,873.648 


23-4 


Sth " 


7th " 


1850 


3,638,808 


26.6 


6ih 


8th 


i860 


4,441.830 


22.1 


7th " 


9th 


1S70 


4,880,009 


9.9- 


Sth 


loth 


1880 


6.580,793 


34.8 


9th " 



' There is no disguising the fact ihat the ninth census was incorrect. No doul-' 
it W.1S the worst we have ever had. 



4i8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

So here is a remarkable fact, that from 757,208 in 1790 the 
Negro race has grown to be 6,580,793 in 1880 ! The theory that 
the race was dying out under the influences of civilization at a 
greater ratio than under the annihilating influences of slavery 
was at war with common-sense and the efficient laws of Christian 
society. Emancipation has taken the mother from field-work to 
house-work. The slave hut has been supplanted by a pleasant 
house ; the mud floor is done away with ; and now, with carpets 
on the floor, pictures on the wall, a better quality of food prop- 
erly prepared, the influence of books and papers, and the bless- 
ings of a preached Gospel, the Negro mother is more prolific, 
and the mortality of her children reduced to a minimum. The 
Negro is not dying out. On the contrary he has shown the 
greatest recuperative powers, and against the white population 
of the United States as it stands to-day — if it were not fed by 
European immigrants, — within the next hundred years the 
Negroes would outnumber the whites 12,000,000! Or at an in- 
crease of 33|- per cent, tlic Negro population in 1980 would be 
117,000,000! providing the ratio of increase continues the same 
between the races. 

And in addition to the fact that the Negro, like the Irishman, 
is prolific, is able to reproduce his species, it should be recorded 
that the Negro intellect is growing and expanding at a wonder- 
ful rate. The children of ten and twelve years of age are more 
apt to-day than those of the same age ten years ago. And the 
children of the next generation will have no superiors in any of 
the schools of the country. 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEiV. 419 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

REPRESENTATIV1-; COLOkK.I) MFA'. 

Thirteenth Amendment to the CoNSTiTVTroN. — The Legai. DRsrRfcrloN of Slavrrv and a 
Constitutional Prohibition. — Fifteenth Amendment chanting Manhood Si-ffrace to 
THE American Negro. — President Grant's Sj'Ecial Mf.ssage vpon the SrnjECT. — 
Universal Rejoicing among the Colored People. — The NEtiRo in the United States 
Senate and House of Representatives. — ^The Negro in the Ditlomatic Service of the 
Country. — Frederick Douglass. — His Birth, Enslavement, Escape to the North, and 
Life as a Freeman. — Becomes an Anti-slaverv Orator. — Goi:s to Great Britain. — 
Returns to America. — Estari-ishes the " North Star.** — His Eloquence. Influence, and 
Brilliant Career. — Richard Theodore Greener. — His Earlv Life, Education, and 
Successful Literary Career. — John P. Green. — His Early Struggles to obtain an 
Education, — A Successful Orator, Lawyer, and Useful Legislator. — Other Represen- 
tative Colored Men. — Representative Colored Women. 

THE Government could not escape the logic of the position 
it took when it made the Negro a soldier, and invoked 
his aid in putting down tiie slave-holders' Rebellion. As 
a soldier he stood in line of promotion : the Government de- 
stroyed tlie Confederacy when it placed muskets in the liands of 
the slaves ; and at the close of the war had to legally render 
slavery forever iinpossible in the United States. The bloody de- 
duction of the great struggle had to be made a living, legal verity 
in the Constitution, and lience the Thirteenth Amendment. 

" ARTICLE XIII. 

"Section i. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, e.Kcept as 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their 
jurisdiction. 

" Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation." 

This was the consummation of the ordinance of 17S7, carried 
to its last analysis, applied in its broadest sense. It drove the 
last nail in the coflfin of slavery, and blighted the fondest hope 
OK the friends of secession. 



420 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

But there was need for another amendment to tlie Constitu- 
tion conferring upon the Colored people manhood suffrage. On 
the 27th of February, 1869, the Congress passed a resolution 
recommending the Fifteenth Amendment for ratification by the 
Legislatures of the several States. On the 30th of March, 1870, 
President U. S. Grant sent a special message to Congress, calling 
the attention of that body to the proclamation of the Secretary 
of State in reference to the ratification of the Amendment by 
twenty-nine of the States. 

Special Message of President Grant on Ratification of the 
Fifteenth Amendment. 

" To the Senate and Home of Representatives : 

"It is unusual to notify the two houses of Congress, by message, of 
the promulgation, by proclamation of the Secretary of State, of the 
ratification of a constitutional amendment. In view, however, of the 
vast im])ortanre of the XVth Amendment to the Constitution, this 
day declared a part of that revered instrument, I deem a departure 
from the usual custom justifiable. A measure which makes at once four 
millions of people voters, who were heretofore declared by the highest 
tribunal in the land not citizpus of the United States, nor eligible to 
become so, (with the assertion that, ' at the time of the Declaration of 
Inde])endence, the opinion was fixed and universal in the civilized por- 
tion of the wliite race, regarded as an axiom in morals as well as in 
politics, that black men had no rights which the white man was bound 
to respect,') is indeed a measure of grander importance than any other 
one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the 
present day. 

" Institutions like ours, in which all ]5ower is derived directly from 
the people, must depend mainly upon their intelligence, patriotism, and 
industry. I call the attention, therefore, of the newly-enfranchised 
race to the importance of their striving in every honorable manner to 
make themselves worthy of their new privilege. To the race more 
favored heretofore by our laws I would say, withold no legal privilege 
of advancement to the new citizen. The framers of our Constitution 
firmly believed that a republican government could not endure without 
intelligence and education generally diffused among the people. The 
' Father of his Country,' in his farewell address, uses this language : 
' Promote, then, as a matter of primary importance, institutions for 
the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of 
the government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public 
opinion should be enlightened.' In his first annual message to Con- 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 4-'' 

gress the same views are forcibly presented, and are again urged in his 
eighth message. 

"I repeat that the adoption of llie XVth Amendment to the Con- 
stitution completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most 
important event that has occurred since the nation came into life. The 
change will be beneficial in ])roportion to the heed that is given to the 
urgent recommendations of Washington. If these recommendations 
were important then, with a population of but a few millions, how much 
more important now, with a ])opulation of forty millions, and increas- 
ing in a rapid ratio. 

'■ I would therefore call upon Congress to take all tlie means within 
their constitutional powers to promote and encourage popular education 
throughout the country ; and upon the people everywhere to see to it 
that all who possess and exercise political rights shall have the oppor- 
tunity to acquire the knowledge which will make their share in the gov- 
ernment a blessing and not a danger. By such means only can the bene- 
fits contemplated by this amendment to the Constitution be secured. 

" U. S. Gr.-\nt. 
" Executive M.wskin, March 30, 1S70." 

Certificate of Mr. Secret.vry Flsh Respecting the 

R.\TIFIC.\TION OF the XVtH AMEXUMENT TO THE 

Constitution, M.-vrcii 30, 1870. 
" Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State or the United States. 
" To all to whom these presents may come, greeting : 

" Knew ye that the Congress of the United States, on or about the 
27th day of February, in the year 1869, passed a resolution in the 
words and figures following, to wit : 

" A RESOLUTIO^f proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States. 

" Resolved by the Senate and House 0/ Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, {two-thirds of both houses concur- 
ring^ That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the 
several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall 
be valid as part of the Constitution, namely : 

" article XV. 

" Section i. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, 
on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

" Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 



422 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" And, further, tli.it it appears, from official documents on file in tliis 
department, tliat the amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the legislatures of 
the States of North Carolina, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, 
Maine, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, 
Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, 
Nevada, Vermont, Virginia, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, 
lo'.va, Kansas, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Nebraska, and Texas ; in all, 
twenty-nine States. 

" And, further, that the States whose legislatures have so ratified tlie 
said proposed amendment constitute three-fourths of the whole number 
of States in the United States. 

"And, further, that it appears, from an official document on file in 
this department, that the legislature of the State of New York has since 
passed resolutions claiming to withdraw the said ratification of the said 
amendment which had been made by the legislature of that State, and 
of which official notice had been filed in this department. 

" And, farther, that it appears, from an official doctiment on file in 
this department, that the legislature of Georgia has by resolution rati- 
fied the said projiosed amendment. 

" Now, tlierefore, be it known that I, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of 
State of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the 2d section 
of the act of Congress, approved the 20th day of April, 1818, entitled 
" An act to ])rovide for the publication of the laws of the United States, 
and for other purposes," do hereby certify, that the amendment afore- 
said has become valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of the Con- 
stitution of the United States. 

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the Department of State to be affixed. 

" Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of March, in the 
year of our Lord, 1870, and of the independence of the 
[seal.] United States, the ninety-fourth. 

" H.'^MiLTON Fish." 

The Emancipation Proclamation itself did not call forth such 
genuine and wide-spread rejoicing as the message of President 
Grcint. The event was celebrated by the Colored people in all 
the larger cities North and South. Processions, orations, music 
and dancing proclaimed the unbounded joy of the new citizen. 
In Philadelphia Frederick Douglass, Bishop Jabez P. Campbell, 
I. C. Wears, and others delivered eloquent addresses to enthusi- 
astic audiences. Mr. Douglass deeply wounded the religious 
feelings of his race by declaring : " I shall not dwell in any 



REPRESENTATl VE COLORED MEN. 423 

hackneyed cant by thanking God for this deliverance whicli lias 
been wrought out through our common humanity." A hundred 
pulpits, a hundred trenchant pens sprang at the declaration with 
fiery indignation ; and it was some years before the bold orator 
was able to make himself tolerable to his people. There was 
little of the spirit of tolerance among the Colored people at the 
time, and upon such an occasion the remark was regarded as im- 
prudent, to say the least. 

A new era was opened up before the Colored people. They 
were now for the first time in possession of their full political 
rights. On the 25th of February, 1870, Hiram R. Revels took 
his seat as United States Senator from Mississippi. On the 9th 
of January, 1861, Mississippi passed her ordinance of secession, 
and Jefferson Davis resigned his seat as United States Senator. 
Within a brief decade a civil war had raged for four and a 
half years ; and after the seceding Mississippi had passed through 
the refining fires of battle and had been purged of slavery, she 
sent to succeed the arch traitor a Ncgro,^ a representative of the 
race that Mr. Davis intended to be the corner-stone of his new 
government !!' It was God's work, and marvellous in the eyes 
of the world. But this was not all. Just one year from the day 
and hour Senator Revels took his seat in the United States 
Senate, on the 24th of February, 1871, Jefferson F. Long, a 
Negro, was sworn in as a member of the House of Representa- 
tives from Georgia, the State of Alexander H. Stephens, the 
Vice-President of the Confederate States ! ! And then, as if to 
add glory to glory, the American Government despatched E. D. 
Bassett, a Colored man from Pennsylvania, as Minister Resident 
and Consul-General to Hayti! And with almost the same stroke 
of his pen. President Grant sent J. Milton Turner, a Colored man 
from Missouri, as Resident Minister and Consul-General to 
Liberia ! Mr. Bassett came from Philadelphia where the Decla- 
ration of Independence was written and proclaimed, and where 
the noble Dr. Franklin had stood against the slavery compromises 
of the Constitution ! Philadelphia, then, the birthplace of 
American Independence, had the honor of furnishing the first 

'Hir.im R. Revels was the successor of Mr. Jefferson D.ivis. He was a Methodist 
preacher from Mississippi. It was our privilege to be present in the Senate when he 
was sworn in and took his seat. 

"This idea had been put forth in a speech by .\lexander H. Stephens just after he 
had been chosen Vice-President of the Confederate Slates. 



424 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Negro who was to illustrate the lofty sentiment of the equality 
of all men before the law. And the republic that Mr. Bassett 
went to had won diplomatic relations with all the civilized powers 
of the earth through the matchless valor and splendid states- 
manship of Toussaint L'Ouverture. This was a black republic 
that had a history and a name among the peoples of the 
world. 

Mr. Turner went from Missouri, the first State to violate the 
ordinance of 1787, and to establish slavery "northwest of the 
Ohio " River. He went to a republic on the West Coast of 
Africa that had been built by the industry, intelligence, and piety 
of Negroes who had flown from the accursed influences of Ameri- 
can slavery. The slave-ships had disappeared from the coast, 
and commercial fleets from all lands came to trade with the citi- 
zens of a free republic whose ministers were welcomed in every 
court of Europe, and whose official acts were clothed with the 
authority and majesty of " tlie Republic of Liberia J " 

In this same period Frederick Douglass was made a Presi- 
dential Elector for the State of New York; and thus helped 
cast the vote of that great commonwealth for U. S. Grant as 
President, in 1872. In the chief city of this State the first Fed- 
eral Congress met, and on the first day of its first session spent 
the entire time in discussing the slavery question. Through the 
streets of this same city Mr. Douglass had to skulk and hide 
from slave-catchers on his way from the hell of slavery to the 
land of freedom. In this city, a few years later, he was hounded 
by a pro-slavery mob, — but at last he represented the popular 
will of its noblest citizens when they had chosen him to act for 
them in the Electoral College. 

Born a slave, some time during the present century, on the 
eastern shore, Maryland, in the county of Talbot, and in the dis- 
trict of Tuckahoe, Frederick Douglass was destined by nature 
and God to be a giant in the great moral agitation for the extinc- 
tion of slavery and the redemp'tion of his race. He came of two 
extremes — representative Negro and representative Saxon. Tall, 
large-boned, colossal frame, compact head, broad, expressive 
face adorned with small brown, mischievous eyes, nose slightly 
Grecian, chin square set, and thin lips, Frederick Douglass would 
attract attention upon the streets of any city in Europe or 
America. His life as a slave was studded with painful experi- 
ences. Early separation from his mother, neglect, and then cruel 



EEPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEiV. 425 

treatment gave to tlio holy cause of freedom one of its ablest 
cliampions, and to slavery one of its most invincible opponents. 

Transferred from Talbot County to Baltimore, Maryland, 
wliere lie spent seven years, Mr. Douglass began to extend the 
horizon of his intellectual vision, and to come face to face witii 
the hideous monster of slavery in the moments of reflection upon 
his condition in contrast with that of a fairer race about him. 
Inadvertently his mistress began to teach him characters of let- 
ters ; but she was stopped by the advice of her husband, because 
it was thought inimical to the interest of the master to teach his 
slave. But having lighted the taper of knowledge in the mind 
of the slave boy, it was forever beyond human power to put it 
out. The incidents and surroundings of j-oung Douglass peopled 
his brain with ideas, gave wings to his thoughts and order to his 
reasoning. The word of reproof, the angry look, and the jire- 
cautions to prevent liim from acquiring knowledge rankled in 
his young heart and covered his moral sky with thick clouds of 
despair. He reasoned himself right out of slavery, and ran away 
and went North. 

David Ruggles, a Coloretl gentleman of intelligence, took 
charge of Mr. Douglass in New York, and sent him to New Bed- 
ford, Massachusetts. Having married in New York a free Col- 
ored woman from Baltimore named " Anna," he was ready now 
to enter upon the duties of the new life as a freeman. He found 
in one Nathan Johnson, an intelligent and industrious Colored 
man of New Bedford, a warm friend, who advanced him a sum of 
money to redeem baggage held for fare, and gave him the name 
which he has since rendered illustrious. 

The intellectual growth of Mr. Douglass from this on was al- 
most phenomenal. He devoured knowledge with avidity, and 
retained and utilized all he got. He used information as good 
business men use money. He made every idea bear interest ; 
and now setting the music of his soul to the words he acquired, he 
soon earned a reputation as a gifted conversationalist and an im- 
pressive orator. 

In the summer of 1841 an anti-slavery convention was held 
at Nantucket, Massachusetts, under the direction of William 
Lloyd Garrison. Mr. Douglass had attended several meetings in 
New Bedford, where he had listened to a defence of his race and 
a denunciation of its oppressors. And when he heard of the 
forthcoming convention at Nantucket he resolved to take a little 



426 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

respite from the hard work he was performing in a brass foundry, 
and attend. Previous to this he had felt the warm heart of Mr. 
Garrison beating for the slave through the columns of the "Lib- 
erator"; had received a copy each week for a long time, had 
mastered its matchless arguments against slavery, and was, there- 
fore, possessed with an idea of the anti-slavery cause. At Nan- 
tucket he was sought out of the vast audience and I'equested by 
William C. Coffin, of New Bedford, where he had heard the fer- 
vid eloquence of the young man as an exhorter in the Colored 
Methodist Church, to make a speech. The hesitancy and diffi- 
dence of Mr. Douglass were overcome by the importunate invita- 
tion to speak. He spoke : and from that hour a new sphere 
opened to him ; from that hour he began to exert an influ- 
ence against slavery which for a generation was second only to 
that of Mr. Garrison. He was engaged as an agent of the Anti- 
Slavery Society led by Mr. Garrison. He was taken in charge 
by George Foster, and in his company made a lecturing tour of 
the eastern tier of counties in the old Ba)' State. The meetings 
were announced a few days ahead of the lecturer. He was ad- 
vertised as a " fugitive slave," as "a chattel," as "a thing" that 
could talk and give an interesting account of the cruelties of 
slavery. As a narrator he had few ec[uals among the most 
polished white gentlemen of all New England. His white friends 
were charmed by the lucidity and succinctness of his account of 
his life as a slave, and always insisted upon his narrative. But 
he was more than a narrator, more than a story-teller; he was an 
orator, and in dealing with the problem of slavery proved him- 
self to be a thinker. The old story of his bondage became stale 
to him. His friends' advice to keep on telling the same story 
could no longer be complied with ; and dashing out of the 
beaten path of narration he began a career as an orator that has 
had no parallel on this continent. He found no adequate satis- 
faction in relating the experiences of a slave ; his soul burned 
with a holy indignation against the institution of slavery. 
Having increased his vocabulary of words and his information 
concerning the purposes and plans of the Anti-Slavery Society, 
he was prepared to make an assault upon slavery. Instead of 
being the pupil of the anti-slavery friends who had furnished him 
a great opportunity, his close reasoning, blighting iron)', merci- 
less invective, and matchless eloquence made him the peer of any 
anti-slavery orator of his times. His appearance on the anti- 



REPRESEXTATIVE COLORED MEiV. 427 

slavery platform was sudden. He appeared as a new star of 
magnificent magnitude and surpassing beauty. All eyes were 
turned toward tlie " fugitive slave orator." His eloquence so 
astounded the people that few would believe lie had ever felt 
the cruel touch of the lash. Moreover, he had withheld from 
the public, the .State and ])lace of his nativity and the circum- 
stances of his escape. He had done this purposely for pruden- 
tial reasons. In those days there was no protection that pro- 
tected a fugitive slave against the slave-catcher assisted by the 
United States courts. To reveal his master's name and recount 
the exciting circumstances under which he had made his escape 
from bondage, Mr. Douglass felt was but to invite the slave- 
hounds to Massachusetts and endanger his liberty. Rut there 
were many good friends hard by who were ready to pay the 
market value of Mr. Douglass if a price were placed upon his 
flesh and blood. The\- urged him, therefore, to write out an ac- 
count of his life as a slave, — to be specific ; and to boldly men- 
tion names of places and persons. In 1845 -^ pamphlet written 
b)- Mr. Douglass, embodying the experiences of a " fugitive 
slave," was published by the Anti-Slavery .Society. It breathed 
a fiery zeal into the apathy of the North, and drew the fire of 
the Southern press and people. For safety his friends sent him 
abroad. During the voyage, in accepting an invitation to deliver 
a lecture on slavery, he gave offence to some pro-slavery men 
who desired very much to feed his body to the inhabitants of the 
deep. But a resolute captain and a few friends were able to re- 
duce the wrath of the Southerners to a minimum. The occur- 
rence on shipboard duly found its way into the public journals 
of London ; and the Southern gentlemen in an attempt to jus- 
tify their conduct in a card drew upon themselves the wrath of 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and gave Mr. Douglass 
an advertisement such as lie could never have secured other- 
wise. 

Mr. Douglass spent nearly two years in Europe lecturing and 
writing in the cause of anti-slavery. He made a profound im- 
pression and helped the anti-slavery cause amazingly. 

During his absence he wrote an occasional letter to the editor 
of the " Liberator," and the first is, for composition, vigorous 
English, symbols of thought, similes, and irony, superior to any 
letter he ever wrote before or since. It bore date of January 
I, 1846. 



428 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" My Df.ar Friend Garrison : Up to this time I have given no 
direct exprLssion of the views, feelings, and o])inions which I have 
foinied, respecting the character and condition of the people of this 
land. I have refrained thus, purposely. I wish to speak advisedly, and 
in order to do this, I have waited till, I trust, experience has brought 
my opinions to an intelligent maturity. I have been thus careful, not 
because I think what I say will have much effect in shaping the ojiin- 
ions of the world, but because whatever of influence I may possess, 
whether little or much, I wish it to go in the right direction, and 
according to truth. I hardly need say that, in speaking of Ireland, I 
shall be influenced by no prejudices in favor of America. I think my 
circumstances all forbid that. I have no end to serve, no creed to up- 
hold, no government to defend ; and as to nation, I belong to none. I 
have no protection at home, or rcsting-i)lace abroad. The land of my 
birth welcomes me to her shores only as a slave, and spurns with con- 
temi)t the idea of treating me differently ; so that I am an outcast from 
the society of my childhood, and an outlaw in the land of my birth. ' I 
am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.' That 
men should be patriotic, is to me [jerfectly natural ; and as a philo- 
sophical fact, I am able to give it an intellectual recognition. But no 
further can I go. If ever I had any patriotism, or any capacity for the 
feeling, it was whipped out of me long since, by the lash of the .'\mer- 
ican soul-drivers. 

'■ In thinking of America, I sometimes find myself admiring her 
bright blue sky, her grand old woods, her fertile fields, her beautiful 
rivers, her mighty lakes, and star-crowned mountains. But my rapture 
is soon checked, my joy is soon turned to mourning. When I remem- 
ber that all is cursed with the infernal spirit of slave-holding, robbery, 
and wrong ; when I remember that with the waters of her noblest 
rivers, the tears of my brethren are borne to the ocean, disregarded and 
forgotten, and that her most fertile fields drink daily of the warm blood 
of my outraged sisters, I am filled with unutterable loathing, and led to 
reproach myself that any thing could fall from my lips in praise of such 
a land. America will not allow her children to love her. She seems 
bent on compelling those who would be her warmest friends, to be her 
worst enemies. May (}od give her repentance, before it is too late, is 
the ardent j.-rayer of my heart. I will continue to pray, labor, and 
wait, l)elie\'ing that she cannot always be insensible to the dictates of 
justice, or deaf to the voice of humanity. 

" My opportunities for learning the character and condition of the 
people of this land have been very great. 1 have travelled almost from 
the Hill of Howth to the Giant's Causeway, and from the Giant's Cause- 
way to Cap.e Clear. During these travels, I have met with much in the 
character and condition of the peojile to approve, and much to con- 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED At EN. 429 

demn ; much that has thrilled me with pleasure, and very much that 
has filled me with pain. I will not, in this letter, attempt to give any 
description of those scenes which have given me pain. This I will do 
hereafter. I have enough, and more than your subscribers will be dis- 
posed to read at one time, of the bright side of the picture. I can truly 
say, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life since land- 
ing in this country. I seem to have undergone a transformation. I 
live a new life. The warm and generous cooperation extended to me 
by the friends of my despised race; the prompt and liberal manner 
with which the press has rendered me its aid ; the glorious enthusiasm 
with which thousands have flocked to hear the cruel wrongs of my 
down-trodden and long-enslaved fellow-countrymen portrayed; the 
deep sympathy for the slave, and the strong abhorrence of the slave- 
holder, everywhere evinced ; the cordiality with which members and 
ministers of various religious bodies, and of various shades of religious 
opinion, have embraced me, and lent me their aid ; the kind hospitality 
constantly proffered me by persons of the highest rank in society ; the 
spirit of freedom that seems to animate all with whom I come in con- 
tact, and the entire absence of every thing that looked like prejudice 
against me, on account of the color of my skin — contrasted so strongly 
with my long and bitter experience in the United States, that I look 
with wonder and amazement on the transition. In the southern part of 
the United States, I was a slave, thought of and spoken of as property ; 
in the language of the i.kW','' held, taken, reputed, and adjudged to be a 
chattel in the hands of my owners and possessors, and their executors, ad- 
tiiinistrators, and assigns, to all intents, constructions, and purposes what- 
soever' (Brev. Digest, 224.) In the northern states, a fugitive slave, 
liable to be hunted at any moment like a felon, and to be hurled into 
the terrible jaws of slavery — doomed by an inveterate jirejudice against 
color to insult and outrage on every hand, (Massachussetts out of the 
question) — denied the privileges and courtesies common to others in 
the use of the most humble means of conveyance — shut out from the 
cabins of steamboats — refused admission to respectable hotels — carica- 
tured, scorned, scoffed, mocked, and maltreated with imjiunity by any 
one, (no matter how black his heart.) so, he has a white skin. But now 
behold the change ! Eleven days and a half gone, and I have crossed 
three thousand miles of the perilous deep. Instead of a democratic 
government, I am under a monarchical government. Instead of the 
bright, blue sky of .America, I am covered with the soft, grey fog of the 
Emerald Isle. I breathe, and lo ! the chattel becomes a man. I gaze 
around in vain for one who will question my ecpial humanity, claim me 
as his slave, or offer me an insult. I employ a cab — I am seated beside 
while people — I reach the hotel — I enter the same door — I am shown 
into the same parlor — I dine at the same table — and no one is offended. 



430 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

No delicate nose grows deformed in my presence. I find no difficulty 
here in obtaining admission into any place of worship, instruction, or 
amusement, on equal terms with people as white as any I ever saw in 
the United States. I meet nothing to remind me of my comijlexion. I 
find myself regarded and treated at every turn with the kindness and 
deference paid to white people. When I go to church, I am met by no 
upturned nose and scornful lip to tell me, '/JV don't alhno nigi^ers in 
here ! ' 

" I remember, about two years ago, there was in Boston, near the 
south-west corner of Boston Common, a menagerie. I had long de- 
sired to see such a collection as I understood was being exhibited 
there. Never having had an opportunity while a slave, I resolved to 
seize this, my first, since my escape. I went, and as I approached the 
entrance to gain admission, I was met and told by the door-keeper, in a 
harsh and contemptuous tone, ' IJ'e don't alloiv niggers in here I ' I also 
remember attending a revival meeting in the Rev. Henry Jackson's 
meeting-house, at New Bedford, and going up the broad aisle to find a 
seat, I was met by a good deacon, who told me, in a pious tone, ' IFg 
don't allo70 niggers in here ! ' Soon after my arrival in New Bedford, 
from the South, I had a strong desire to attend the Lyceum, but was 
told, ' Tliey don't allow niggers in here .' ' ^\'hile passing from New 
York to Boston, on the steamer ' Massachusetts,' on the night of the 
gth of December, 1S43, when chilled almost through with the cold, I 
went into the cabin to get a little warm. I was soon touched upon the 
shoulder, and told, ^ We don't allow niggers in here!' On arriving in 
Boston, from an anti-slavery tour, hungry and tired, I went into an 
eating-house, near my friend, Mr. Campbell's, to get some refreshments. 
I was met by a lad in a white apron, ' We don't alhnv niggers in here !' 
A week or two before leaving the United States, I had a meeting 
appointed at Weymouth, the home of that glorious band of true aboli- 
tionists, the Weston family, and others. On attempting to take a seat 
in the omnibus to that place, I was told by the driver (and I never 
shall forget his fiendish hate), ' / don t alhnv niggers in. here ! ' "fhank 
heaven for the respite I now enjoy ! I had been in Dublin bur a few 
days, when a gentleman of great respectability kindly offered .to con- 
duct me through all the public buildings of that beautiful city ; and a 
little afterward, I found myself dining with the lord mayor of Dublin. 
What a pity there was not some American democratic christian at the 
door of his splendid mansion, to bark out at my ap|)roach, ' They don't 
allow niggers in here ! ' The truth is, the people here know nothing of 
the republican negro hate prevalent in our glorious land. They meas- 
ure and esteem men according to their moral and intellectual worth, 
and not according to the color of their skin. Whatever may be said of 
the aristocracies here, there is none based on the color of a man's skin. 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 43 ^ 

This species of aristocracy belongs preeminently to ' the land of the 
free, and the home of the brave.' I have never found it abroad, in any 
but Americans. It sticks to them wherever they go. They find it 
almost as hard to get rid of, as to get rid of their skins. 

" The second day after my arrival at Liverpool, in company with 
my friend, Biiffum, and several other friends, I went to Katon Hail, the 
residence of the Mar(}uis of Westminster, one of the most splendid 
buildings in ]<;nghind. On approaching the door, I found several of 
our American passengers, who came out with us in the ' Cambria,' wait- 
ing for admission, as but one party was allowed in tile house at a time. 
We all had to wait till the company within came out. .\nd of all the 
faces, expressive of chagrin, those of the Americans were preeminent. 
They looked as sour as vinegar, and as bitter as gall, when they found 
I was to be admitted on eepial terms with themselves. NN'hen the door 
was opened, I walked in, on an equal fooling with my white fellow- 
citizens, and from all I could see, I had as mu'cli attention ]Kiid me by 
the servants that showed tis through the house, as any with a ])aler 
skin. As I walked through the building, the statuary did not f.ill down, 
the pictures did not leap from their places, the doors did not refuse to 
open, and the servants did not say, ' We don't allow niggers in here.' 

"A happy new-year to you, and all the friends of freedom." 

During the time of his visit in Europe a few friends, under 
the inspiration of one Mrs. Henry Richardson, raised money, 
purchased Mr. Douglass, and placed hi.s freedom papers in his 
hands. The documents are of quaint historic \'aluc. 

" The following is a copy of these curious papers, both of my trans- 
fer from Thomas to Hugh Auld, and from Hugh to myself : 

" Know all men by these Presents. That I. 'i'homas Auld, of Talbot 
county, and state of Maryland, for and in consideration of the sum of 
one hundred dollars, current money, to me ])aid by Hugh Auld, of the 
city of Baltimore, in the said state, at and before the sealing and deliv- 
ery of these presents, the receijit whereof, I, the said Thomas .-^uld, do 
hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these 
presents do grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Hugh .-\uld, his execu- 
tors, administrators, and assigns, one negro man, by the name of 
Frederick. B.mly, or Dougl.-vss, as he calls hiniselt" — he is now about 
twenty-eight years of age — to have and to hold the said negro man for 
life. And I, the said Thomas Auld, for myself, my heirs, executors, 
and administrators, all and singular, the said Frederick Bailv, alias 
Douglass, unto the said Hugh Auld. his executors, administrators, and 
assigns, against me, the said Thomas .\uld, my executors, and adminis- 



432 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

trators, and against all and every other person or persons whatsoever, 
shall and will warrant and forever defend by these presents. In wit- 
ness whereof, I set my hand and seal, this thirteenth day of November, 
eighteen hundred and forty-six. Thomas Auld. 

" Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of Wrightson Jones. 
"John C. Leas." 

" The authenticity of this bill of sale is attested by N. Harrington, 
a justice of the peace of the state of Maryland, and for the county of 
Talbot, dated same day as above. 



" To all whom it may concern : Be it known, that I, Hugh Auld, of 
the city of Baltimore, in Baltimore county, in the state of Maryland, for 
divers good causes and considerations, me thereunto moving, have re- 
leased from slavery, liberated, manumitted, and set free, and by these 
presents do hereby release from slavery, liberate, manumit, and set free, 
MY NEGRO MAN, named Frederick Baily, otherwise called Douglass, 
being of the age of twenty-eight years, or thereabouts, and able to work 
and gain a sufficient livelihood and maintenance ; and him the said 
negro man, named Frederick Baily, otherwise called Frederick 
Douglass, I do declare to be henceforth free, manumitted, and dis- 
charged from all manner of servitude to me, my executors, and adminis- 
trators forever. 

" In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Auld, have hereunto set my 
hand and seal, the fifth of December, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and forty-si.\. Hugh Auld. 

" Sealed and delivered in presence of T. Hanson Belt. 
"James N. S. T. Wright." 

Mr. Douglass had returned to America, but the truths he pro- 
claimed in England, Ireland, and Scotland echoed adovvn their 
mountains, and reverberated among their hills. The Church of 
Scotland and the press of England were distressed vk^ith the prob- 
lem of slavery. The public conscience had been touched, and 
there was " no rest for the wicked." Mr. Douglass had received 
his name — Douglass — -from Nathan Johnson, of New Bedford, 
Massachusetts, because he had just been reading about the virt- 
uous Douglass in the works of .Sir Walter Scott. How wonder- 
ful then, in the light of a few years, that a fugitive slave from 
America, bearing one of the most powerful names in Scotland 
should lean against the pillars of the Free Chureh of Scotland, and 
meet and vanquish its brightest and ablest teachers (the friends 
of slavery, unfortunately). Doctors Cunningham and Candlish ! 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 433 

It will be remembered that Mr. Ci.urison had built his school 
upon the fundamental idea that slavery was constitutional ; and 
that in order to secure the overthrow of the institution he was 
compelled to do his work outside of the Constitution ; and to 
cfTect the good desired, the Union should be dissolved. With 
these views Mr. Douglass had coincided at first, and into the 
ranks of this party he had entered. But upon his return from 
England he changed his residence and views about the same time, 
and establisiied his home and a newspaper in Rochester, New 
York State. Mr. Douglass gave his reasons for leaving the Gar- 
risonian party as follows: 

■■ About four years ago, upon a reconsideration of the whole sub- 
ject, I became convinced that there was no necessity for dissolving the 
■ union between the nortliern and southern states ' ; that to seek this 
dissolution was no part of my duty as an abolitionist ; that to abstain 
from voting, was to refuse to exercise a legitimate and jjowerlul means 
for abolishing slavery ; and tiiat the constitution of the United States 
not only contained no guarantees in favor of slavery, but, on the con- 
trary, it is. in its letter and spirit, an anti-slavery instrument, demand- 
ing the abolition of slavery as a condition of its own existence, as the 
supreme law of the land." ' 

It was charged by some persons that for financial reasons Mr. 
Douglass changed his views and residence ; that the Garrisonians 
were poor; but that (jcrrit Smith was rich; and that he assisted 
Mr. Douglass in establishing the " North Star," a weekly paper. 
Hut Mr. Douglass was a man of boldness of thought and inde- 
pendence of character ; and whatevirr the motives were which 
led him away from his early friends he at least deserved credit 
for possessing the courage necessary to such a change. But Mr. 
Douglass was not the only anti-slavery man who imagined that 
the Constitution was an anti-slavery instrument. This was the 
error of Charles Sumner. Slavery was as legal as the right of 
the Government to coin money. As has been shown already, it 
was recognized and protected by law when the British sceptre 
ruled the colonies ; it was recognized by all the courts during 
the Confederacy ; it was acknowledged as a legal fact by the 
Treaty of Paris of 1782, anti of Ghent in 1S14: the gentlemen 
who framed the Constitution fi.xcd the basis of representation in 
Congress upon three fifths of the slaves ; and gave the owners of 



' My Bondage and My Freedom, p. 396. 



434 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

slaves a fugitive slave law, at the birth of the nation, by which to 
hunt their slaves in all the States and Territories of North 
America. But Mr. Douglass lived long enough to see that he 
was wrong and Mr. Garrison right ; that the dissolution of the 
Union was the only way to free his race. In his way he did 
his part as faithfully and as honestly as any of his brethren in 
either one of the anti-slavery parties. 

Having established a reputation as an orator in England and 
America ; and having lifted over the tangled path of his fugitive 
brethren the unerring, friendly " North Star,'-' he now turned his 
attention to debating. It was a matter of regret that two such 
powerful and accomplished orators as Frederick Douglass and 
Samuel Ringgold Ward should have taken up so much precious 
time in splitting hairs on the constitutionality or imconstitution- 
ality of slavery. Perhaps it did good. It certainly did the men 
good. It was an education to them, and exciting to their audi- 
ences. Mr. Douglass's forte was in oratory ; in exposing the 
hideousness of slavery and the wrongs of his race. Mr. Ward — 
^. protege of Gerrit Smith's — was scholarly, thoughtful, logical, 
and eloquent. Mr. Douglass was gener.dly worsted in debate, 
but al\va\-s triumphant in oratory. A careful study of Mr. 
Douglass's speeches from the time he began his career as a public 
speaker down to the present time reveals wonderful progress in 
their grammatical and s)-nthetical structure. He grew all the 
time. On the I2th of May, 1846, he delivered a speech at Fins- 
bury Chapel, Moorfields, England, from which the following is 
extracted : 

'All the slavcholdt-r asks of me is silence. He does not ask me to go 
abroad and preach in favor of slavery ; he does not ask any one to do 
that. He would not say that slavery is a good thing, but the best under 
the circumstances. The slaveholders want total darkness on the sub- 
ject. They want the hatchway shut down, that the monster may crawl 
in his den of darkness, crushing human hopes and hapjjiness, destroying 
the bondman at will, and having no one to reprove or rebuke him. 
Slavery shrinks from the light ; it hateth the light, neither cometh to the 
light, lest its deeds shoidd be re[)roved. To tear off the mask from this 
abominable system, to expose it to tiie light of heaven, aye, to the heat 
of the Sim, that it may burn and wither it out of existence, is my object 
in coming to this country. I want the slaveholder surrounded, as by a 
wall of anti-slavery fire, so that he may see the condemnation of himself 
and his system glaring down in letters of light. I want him to fee! that 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 435 

« 
he has no sympathy in Enghind, Scolhind, or Ireland ; that ho has none 
in Canada, none in Mexico, none among the poor wild Indians; tiiat 
the voice of the civilized, aye, and savage world is against him. I 
would have condemnation blaze down upon him in every direction, till, 
stunned and overwhelmed with shame and confusion, he is compelled 
to let go the grasp he holds uiion the persons of his victims, and restore 
them to their long-lost rights." 

This was in 1846. On the 5th of Jul)', 1852, at Rochester, New 
Yorlc, lie, perhaps, made the most effective speech of his life. The 
poet Sheridan has written : " Eloquence consists in the man, the 
subject, and the occasion." None of these conditions were want- 
ing. There was the man, the incomparable Douglass; the wrongs 
of slavery was his subject ; and the occasion was tlie 4tli of July. 

" Fellow-Citizens : — Pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I 
called upon to speak here to-day ? What have I, or those I re|)resent, 
to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of 
political freedom and of natural justice embodied in that Declaration 
of Independence, extended to us ? and am I, therefore, called upon to 
bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the bene- 
fits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your 
independence to us ? 

" Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative 
answer could be truthfully returned to these questions ! Then would 
my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there 
so cold, that a nation's sympathy could not warm him ? Who so obdu- 
rate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully ac- 
knowledge such priceless benefits ? Who so stolid and selfish, that would 
not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the 
chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs ? I am not that man. 
In a case like that, the dumb might elo(piently speak, and the ' lame 
man leap as an hart.' 

" Piut, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the 
disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious 
anniversary ! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable 
distance lietween us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice, are 
not enjqyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, pros- 
])erity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared bv you, 
not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has 
brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not 
7iiiiie. You may rejoice, / must mourn. To drag a ma 1 in fetters into 
the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you 



43<5 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

• 
in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do 

you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day ? If so, 
there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dan- 
gerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to 
heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that 
nation in irrecoverable ruin ! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament 
of a peeled and woe-smitten iieople. 

" ' By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when 
we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the 
midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of 
us a song ; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing 
us one of the songs of Zion, How shall we sing the Lord's song in a 
strange land ? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget 
her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the 
roof of my mouth.' 

" Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the 
mournful wail of millions, whose thains, heavy and grievous yesterday, 
are to-day rendered more intoler.ilile by the jubilant shouts that reach 
them. If I do forget, if I do nut faithfully remember those bleeding 
children of sorrow this day, ' may my right hand forget her cunning, 
and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ! ' To forget 
them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to 'chime in with the popu- 
lar theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would 
make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, 
fellow-citizens, is American Slavery. I shall see this day and its 
popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there, 
identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do 
not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct 
of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July. 
Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions 
of the present, the conduct of the nation seems ecjually hideous and 
revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and sol- 
emnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and 
the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of 
humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, 
in the name of the Constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded 
and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all 
the emphasis I can command, every thing that serves to perpetuate 
slavery — the great sin and shame of America ! ' I will not equivo- 
cate ; I will not excuse ' ; I will use the severest language I can com- 
mand ; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose 
judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, 
shall not confess to be right and just." 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. All 

His speech in England was labored, heavy, and some portions 
of it ambitious. But here are measured sentences, graceful tran- 
sitions, truth made forcible, and the oratory refined. Thus he 
went on from good to better, until the managers of leading lecture- 
courses of the land felt that the season would not be a success 
without Frederick Douglass. He began to venture into deeper 
water ; to expound problems not exactly in line with the only 
theme that he was complete master of. His attempts at wit 
usually missed fire. He could not be fuiin\'. He was in earnest 
from the first moment the light broke into liis mind in Baltimore. 
He was rarely eloquent except when denouncing slavery. He 
was not at his best in abstract thought : too much logic dampened 
his enthusiasm ; and an attempt at elaborate preparation weak- 
ened liis discourse. He was majestic when speaking of the in- 
sults he had received or the wrongs his race were suffering. 
Martin Luther said during the religious struggle in Germany for 
freedom of thought : " Sorjow has pressed many sweet songs out 
of me." It was the sorrows of the child-heart of Douglass the 
chattel, and the sorrows of the great man-heart of Douglass the 
human being, that gave the world such remarkable eloquence. 
There were but two chords in his soul that could yield a rich 
sound, viz. : sorrow and indignation. Sorrow for the helpless 
slave, and indignation against the heartless master, made him 
grand, majestic, and eloquent beyond comparison. 

Although he was going constantly he saved his means, and 
raised a family of two girls — one dying in her teens, an affliction 
he took deeply to heart — and three boys. When the war was 
on at high tide, and Colored soldiers requiretl, he gave all he had, 
three stalwart beys, while he made it very uncomfortable for the 
Copperheads at home. At the close of the war he moved to 
Washington and became deeply interested in the practical work 
of reconstruction. He was appointed one of the Commissioners 
to visit San Domingo, when General Grant recommended its an- 
nexation to the United States; was a trustee of Howard Univer- 
sity and of the Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust Company. 
Unfortunately he accepted the presidency of the latter institu- 
tion after nearly all the thieves had got through with it, and was 
its official head when the crash and ruin came. 

Mr. Douglass's home ' life has been pure and elevated. He 



'While this history is p.assing ihiouyh the press, llic s.id intelligence comes of the 
death, after a painful illness, of his beloved wife. .Ml through her life she was justly 
proud of her husband and children , an' she leaves a precious memory. 



43S HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

has done well by his boys; and has aided many young men to 
places of usefulness and profit. He strangely and violently op- 
posed the exodus of his race from the South, and thereby in- 
curred the opposition of the Northern press and the anathemas 
of the Colored people. It was not just the thing, men said — 
white and black,— -for a man who had been a slave in the South, 
and had come North to find a market for his labor, to oppose his 
brethren in their flight from economic slavery and the shot-gun 
policy of the South. His efforts to state and justify his position 
before the Colored people of New York were received with an 
impatient air and tolerated even for the time with ill grace. Be- 
fore the Social Science Congress at Saratoga, New York, he met 
Richard T. Greener, a young Colored man, in a discussion of this 
subject. But Mr. Greener, a son of Harvard College, with a keen 
and merciless logic, cut right through the sophistries of Mr. 
Douglass; and although the latter gentleman threw bouquets at 
the audience, and indulged in the most exquisite word-painting, 
he was compelled to leave the field a vanquished disputant. 

President Hayes appointed Mr. Douglass United .States Mar- 
shall for the District of Columbia, an office which he held until 
President Garfield made him Recorder of Deeds for the same 
district. He has accumulated a comfortable little fortune, has 
published three books, edited two newspapers, passed through 
a checkered and busy life; and to-day, full of honors and years, 
he stands confessedly as the first man of his race in North 
America. Not that he is the greatest in every sense ; but con- 
sidering " the depths from whence he came," the work he has 
accomplished, the character untarnished, — his memory and 
character, like the granite shaft, will have an enduring and 
undying place in the gratitude of humanity throughout the 
world. 

Among the representative young men of color in the United 
States — and now, happily in the process of time, their name is 
legion — Richard Theodore Greener has undisputed standing. He 
was born in Pennsylvania in 1844, but spent most of his life in 
Massachusetts. His father and grandfather were men of un- 
usual intelligence, social energy, and public spirit. Richard T. 
early manifested an eagerness to learn and a capacity to retain 
and utilize. He enjoyed better surroundings in childhood than 
the average Colored child a generation ago ; and always accus- 
tomed to hear the English correct])' spoken, he had in himself all 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 439 

the required conditions to acquire a thorouj^li education. Having 
obtained a start in the common schools, he turned to Oberlin 
College, Lorain Count}', Ohio, — at that time an institution 
toward which the Colored people of the country were \ery par- 
tial, and whose anti-slavery professors they loved with wonderful 
tenderness. For some of these professors, in the Chcrlin-Wcl- 
lington Rescue Case, had preferred imprisonment in preference to 
obedience to the unholy fugitive-slave law. The )ears of 1S62-3 
were spent at Oberlin, and Mr. Greener showed himself an 
excellent student. His ambition was to excel in every thing. 
Not exactly satisfied with the course of studies at Oberlin, he 
went to Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. This insti- 
tution was a feeder for Harvard, and using uniform text-books 
he was placed in line and harmony with the course of studies to 
be pursued at Cambridge. He entered Harvard College in the 
autumn of 1865, and graduated with high honors in 1S70.' He 
was the first of his race to enter this famous university, and 
while there did himself credit, and honoretl the race from which 
he sprang. All his performances were creditable. He won a 
second prize for reading aloud in his freshman j'ear ; in his 
sophomore year he won the first prize for the I^oylston Decla- 
mation, notwithstanding members of the junior and senior 
classes contested. During his junior year he ditl not contest, 
preferring to tutor two of the competitors who were successful. 
In his senior ye^r he won the two highest prizes, viz: the First 
Bowdoin for a Dissertation on " The Tenures of Land in Ire- 
land," and the " lioylston Prize for Oratory." 

The entrance, achievements, and gradu;ition of Mr. Greener 
received the thoughtful and grateful attention of the press of 
Europe and America ; while what he did was a stimulating ex- 
ample to the young men of his race in the United States. 

At the time of his graduation there was a great demand for 
and a wide-spread need of educated Colored men as teachers. 
The Institute for Colored Youth, in Philadelphia, had been but 
recently deprived of its principal, Prof. E. D. Bassett, who had 
been sent as Resident Minister and Consul-Generai to the Re- 



' Mr. Greener was turned back one year upon ihegrouml of alleged iinperfeclion in 
mathemalics ; but it was done in support of an old theory, long since exploded, that 
the Negro has no capacity for tlie soUuion of niatliemalical problems. We know this 
to be the case. But '.he charming nature anil natural pluck of young Greener brought 
him out at last without a blemi^h in any of his sludi'.-s. 



440 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

public of Hayti. Mr. Greener was called to take the chair vacated 
by Mr. Bassett. He was principal of this institution from Sept., 
1870, to Dec, 1872. From Philadelphia he was called to fill a 
similar position in Sumner High School, at Washington, D. C. 
He did not remain long in Washington. His fame as an educa- 
tor had grown until he was celebrated as a teacher throughout 
the country. He was offered and accepted the Chair of Meta- 
physics and Logic in the University of South Carolina, situate at 
Columbia. He remained here until 1877, when the Hampton 
Government found no virtue in a Negro as a teacher in an insti- 
tution of the fame and standing of this university. In 1877 he 
was made Dean of the Law Department of Howard University, 
Washington, D. C, and held the position until 18S0. He grad- 
uated from the Law School of the University of South Carolina, 
and has practised in Washington since his residence there. In 
addition to his work as teacher, lawyer, and orator, Prof. Greener 
was associate editor of the New National Era at Washington, D. 
C, and his editorial Young Men to the Fro?tt, gave him a reputa- 
tion as a progressive and aggressive leader which he has sustained 
ever since with marked ability. 

As a political speaker he began while in college, in 1868, and 
has continued down to the present time. He is a pleasant 
speaker, and acceptable and efficient in a campaign. As an ora- 
tor and writer he e.xcels. His early style was burdened, like that 
of the late Charles Sumner, with a too-abundant classical illus- 
tration anil quotation ; but during the last five years his illustra- 
tions are drawn largely from the English classics and history. 
His ablest effort at oratory was his oration on Charles Sunnier, 
the Idealist , Statesman, and Seholar. It was by all odds the finest 
effort of its kind delivered in this country. It was eminently 
fitting that a representative of the race toward whose elevation 
Mr. Sumner contributed his splendid talents, and a graduate 
from the same College that honored Sumner, and from the State 
that gave him birth and opportunity, should give the true 
analysis of his noble life and spotless character. 

In the " National Quarterly Review " for July, 1880, Prof. 
Greener replied to an article from the pen of Mr. James Parton on 
Antipathy to the Negro, published in the " North American Re- 
view." Prof. Greener's theme was Tlie Intellectual Position of 
the Negro. The following paragraphs give a fair idea of the 
style of Mr. Greener : 



REPRESENTATI\-E COLORED MEN. 441 

" The writer himself appears not to feel such an antipathy to us 
that it must need find expression ; for his liberality is well known to 
those who have read his writings for the past fifteen years. Nor is 
there any apparent ground for its ajjpearance because of any new or 
startling exliibitions of anfipalhia against us noticeable at the present 
time. No argument was needed to prove that there has been an un- 
reasonable and unreasoning prejudice against negroes as a class, a long- 
existing antipathy, seemingly ineradicable, sometimes dying out it would 
appear, and then bursting forth afresh from no apparent cause. If Mr. 
Parton means to assert that such prejudice is ineradicable, or is in- 
creasing, or is even rapidly passing away, then is his venture insuffi- 
cient, because it fails to support either of these views. It does not even 
attempt to show that the supposed antipathy is general, for the author 
expressly, and, we think, very properly, relegates its exercise to those 
whom he calls the most ignorant — the ' meanest ' of mankind. 

" If his intention was to attack a senseless antipathy, hold it up to 
ridicule, show its absurdity, analyze its constituent parts, and suggest 
some easy and safe way for .\niericans to rid themselves of unchristian 
and un-American prejudices, then has he again conspicuously failed 
to carry out such purpose. He asserts the existence of antipathies, but 
only by inference does he discourage their maintenance, although on 
other topics he is rather outspoken whenever he cares to express his own 
convictions. 

"On this question Mr. Parton is, to say the least, vacillating, be- 
cause he fails to exhibit any platform upon which we may combat those 
who support early prejudices and justify their continuance from the 
mere fact of their existence. We never expect Mr. Gayarre and Mr. 
Henry Watterson to look calmly and dispassionately at these questions 
from the negro's point of view. The one gives us the old argument of 
De Bow's Review, and the other deals out the ex parte views of the 
present leaders of the South. The one line of argument has been an- 
swered over and over again by the old anti-slavery leaders ; the pun- 
gent generalizations of the latter, the present generation of negroes can 
answer whenever the opportunity is afforded them. 

" But Mr. Parton was born in a cooler and calmer atmosphere, 
where men are accustomed to give a reason for the faith tliat is in them, 
and hence it is necessary, in opening any discussion such as he had pro- 
voked, that he should assign some ground of opposition or support — 
Christian, Pagan, utilitarian, constitutional, optimist, or pessimist. 

" The very apparent friendliness of his intentions makes even a 
legitimate conclusion from him seem mere conjecture, likely to be suc- 
cessfully controverted by any subtle thinker and opponent. No definite 
conclusion is, indeed, reached with regard to the first query (Jefferson's 
fourteenth) with which Mr. Parton opens his article : Whether the 



442 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

white and black races can live together on this continent as equals. He 
lets us see at the close, incidentally only, what his opinion is, and it in- 
clines to the negative. But throughout the article he is in the anoma- 
lous and dubious position of one who opens a discussion which he can- 
not end, and the logical result of whose own opinion he dares not boldly 
state. The illustrations of the early opinions of Madison and Jef- 
ferson only show how permanent a factor the negro is in American his- 
tory and polity, and how utterly futile are all attempts at his expatria- 
tion. Following Mr. I'arton's advice, the negro has always prudently 
abstained from putting 'himself against inexorable facts,' He is care- 
ful, however, to make sure of two things, — that the alleged facts are 
verities and that they are inexorable. Prejudice we acknowledge as a 
fact ; but we know that it is neither an ineradicable nor an inexorable 
one. We find fault with Mr. Parton because he starts a trail on an- 
tii)athy, evidently purposeless, and fails to track it down either system- 
atically or persistently, but branches off, daipere in loco, to talk loosely 
of 'physical antipathy,' meaning what we usually term natural an- 
tipathy; and at last, emerging from the 'brush,' where he has been 
hopelessly beating about from Pliny to Mrs. Kemble, he gains a partial 
' open ' once more by asserting a truism — that it is the ' ignorance of a 
despised class ' (the lack of knowledge we have of them) which nour- 
ishes these 'insensate antipathies.' Here we are at one with Mr. Par- 
ton. Those who know us most intimately, who have associated with us 
in the nursery, at school, in college, in trade, in the tenderer and con- 
fidential relations of life, in healtli, in sickness, and in death, as trusted 
guides, as brave soldiers, as magnanimous enemies, as educated and re- 
spected men and women, give up all senseless antipathies, and feel 
ashamed to confess they ever cherished any prejudice against a race 
whose record is as unsullied as that of any in the land." 

The following passages from a most brilliant speech at the 
Dinner of the Harvard Club of New York, exhibit a pure, per- 
spicuous, and charming style : 

" What Sir Jolin Coleridge in his ' Life of Keble ' says of the tradi- 
tions and influences of Oxford, each son of Harvard must feel is true 
also of Cambridge. The traditions, the patriotic record, and the 
scholarly attainments of her alumni are the pride of the College. Her 
contribution to letters, to statesmanship, and to active business life, will 
keep her memory perennially green. Not one of the humblest of her 
children, who has felt the touch of her pure spirit, or enjoyed the bene- 
fits of her culture, can fail to remember what she expects of her sons 
wherever they may be : to stand fast for good government, to maintain 



REPRESENTATil J: COLORED MEN. 443 

the right, to uphold honesty and character, to be, if nothing else, good 
citizens, and to perform, to the extent of their ability, every duty as- 
sumed or imposed upon them, — democratic in their aristocracy, catholic 
in their liberality, impartial in judgment, ".nd uncompromising in their 
convictions of duty. [Cheers and applause.] 

" Harvard's impartiality was not demonstrated solely by my admission 
to the College. In 1770, when Crispus .Vttucks died a patriot martyr on 
State Street, she answered the rising spirit of independence and liberty 
by abolishing all distinctions founded upon color, blood, and rank. 
Since that day, there has been but one test for all. Ability, character, 
and merit, — these are the sole passports to her favor. [.Applause] 

" When, in my adopted State, I stood on the battered ramparts of 
Wagner, and recalled the fair-haired son of Harvard who died there 
with his brave black troops of Massachusetts, — 

" ' him who, deadly hurt, agcii 
Flashed on afore the charge's ihunder, 

Tippin' wiih fire the holt of men, 
Thet rived the Rebel line asunder,' — 

I thanked God, with patriotic pleasure, that the first contingent of negro 
troops from the North should have been led to death and fame by an 
alumnus of Harvard ; and I remembered, with additional pride of race 
and college, that the first regiment of black troops raised on South 
Carolina soil were taught to drill, to fight, to plough, and to read by a 
brave, eloquent, and scholarly descendant of the Puritans and of Har- 
vard, Thomas Wentworth Higginson. [Great applause and cheers.] 

" Is it strange, then, brothers, that I there resolved for myself to 
maintain the standard of the College, so far as I was able, in ])ul)lic and 
in private life .' I am honored by the invitation to be present here to- 
night. .Around me I see faces I have not looked upon for a decade. 
Many are the intimacies of the College, the society, the buskin, and the 
oar which they bring up, from classmates and college friends. I miss, 
as all Harvard men must miss to-night, the venerable and kindly figure 
of Andrew Preston Peabody, the student's friend, the consoler of the 
plucked, the encourager of the strong, Maecenas's benign almoner, the 
felicitous exponent of Harvard's Congregational Unitarianism. I miss, 
too, another of high scholarsiiip, of rare ])oetic taste, of broad liberality 
— my personal friend, Elbridge Jefferson Cutler, loved alike by students 
and his fellow-members of the Faculty for his conscientious performance 
of duty and his genial nature. 

" Mr. President and brothers, my time is up. I give you ' Fail- 
Harvard,' the exemplar, the prototype of that ideal America, of which 
the createst American poet has written, — 



444 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

" ' Thou, taught by Fate to know Jehovah's plan, 
Thet man's devices can't unmake a man, 
An' whose free latch-string never was drawed in 
Against the poorest child of Adam's kin.' 

" [Great applause.] " 

Prof. Greener rendered legal services in the case of Cadet 
Whittaker at West Point, and in the trial at New York City, 
where, as associate counsel with ex-Gov. Chamberlain, — an able 
lawyer and a magnificent orator, — he developed ability and in- 
dustry as an attorney, and earned the gratitude of his race. 

Prof. Greener entered Harvard as a member of the Baptist 
Church ; but the transcendentalism and rationalism of the place 
quite swept him from his spiritual moorings. In a recent address 
before a literary society in Washington, D. C., he is represented 
to have maintained that Mohammedanism was better for the in- 
digenous races of Africa than Christianit)-, Dr. John William 
Draper made a similar mistake in his " Conflict bctivecn Religion 
and Science ! " The learned doctor should have written "Conflict 
between the Churcli and Science." Religion is not and never 
was at war with science. Prof. Greener should have written, 
" Mohammedanism better for the Africans than Snake Wor- 
ship." This brilliant young man cannot afford to attempt to 
exalt Mohammedanism above the cross of our dear Redeemer, 
and expect to have leadership in the Negro race in America. 
Nor can he support the detestable ideas and execrable philoso- 
phy of Senator John P. Jones, which seek to shut out the China- 
man from free America. The Negro must stand by the weak in 
a fight like this, remembering the pit from which he was dug. 
But Prof. Greener is young as well as talented ; and seeing his 
mistake, will place himself in harmony with not only the rights 
of his race, but those of humanity everywhere. 

Blanche K. Bruce was born a slave on a plantation in Prince 
Edward County, Virginia, March i, 1841, and in the very month 
and week of the anniversary of his birth he was sworn in as 
United States Senator from Mississippi. Reared a slave there 
was nothing in his early life of an unusual nature. He secured 
his freedom at the end of the war, and immediately sought the 
opportunities and privileges that would, if properly used, fit him 
for his new life as a man and a citizen. He went to Oberlin Col- 
lege where, in the Preparatory Department, he applied himself to 
his studies, attached himself to his classmates by charming per- 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 445 

sonal manners, and gentlemanly deportment. He realized that 
there were many splendid opportunities awaiting young men of 
color at the South ; and that profitable positions were going 
begging. 

Mr. Rruce made his appearance in Mississippi at an opportune 
moment. The State was just undergoing a process of recon- 
struction. He appeared at the capital, Jackson, with seventy- 
five cents in his pocket ; was a stranger to every person in the 
city. He mingled in the great throng, joined in the discussions 
that took place by little knots of politicians, made every man his 
friend to whom he talked, and when the State Senate was organ- 
ized secured the position of Sergeant-at-arms. He attracted the 
attention of Gov. Alcorn, who appointed him a member of his 
staff with the rank of colonel. Col. Bruce was not merely Ser- 
geant-at-arms of the Senate, but was a power behind that body. 
His intelligence, his knowledge of the character of the legislation 
needed for the people of Mississippi, and the excellent impres- 
sion he made upon the members, gave him great power in suggest- 
ing and influencing legislation. 

The sheriffs of Mississippi were not elected in those days ; and 
the Governor had to look a good ways to find the proper men 
for such positions. His faith in Col. Rruce as a man and an offi- 
cer led him to select him to be sheriff of Bolivar County. Col. 
Bruce discharged the delicate duties of his office with eminent 
ability, and attained a popularity very remarkable under the cir- 
cumstances. 

During this time, while other politicians were dropping their 
money at the gaming-table and in the wine cup. Col. Bruce was 
saving his funds, and after purchasing a splendid farm at Flora- 
ville, on the Mississippi River, he made cautious and profitable in- 
vestments in property and bonds. His executive ability was 
marvellous, and his successful management of his own business 
and that of the people of the county made him friends among 
all classes and in both political parties. He was appointed tax- 
collector for his county, a position that was calculated to tax the 
most accomplished financier and business man in the State. But 
Col. Bruce took to the position rare abilities, and managed his 
ofiice with such matchless skill, that when the term of Henry R. 
Pease expired, he was chosen United States Senator from Missis- 
sippi on the third of February, 1875, for the constitutional term 
of six years. He took his seat on the 4th of March, 1875. 



446 HJSTOR V OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

He did nothing in the line of oratory while in the Senate. 
That was not his forte. He was an excellent worker, a faithful 
committee-man, and finally was chairman of the Committee on 
the Freedman's Savings Bank, etc. Mr. Bruce was chairman of the 
Committee on Mississippi Levees, where he performed good 
work. He presided over the Senate with dignity several times. 
To the charge that he was a " silent Senator," it may be ob- 
served that it was infinitely better that he remained silent, than 
in breaking the silence to exhibit a mental feebleness in attempt- 
ing to hantUe problems to which most of the Senators had given 
years of patient study. His conduct was admirable ; his discre- 
tion wise; his service faithful, and his influence upon the honor- 
able Senate and the country at large beneficial to himself and 
helpful to his race. 

In the convention of the Republican partyat Chicago, in 1880, 
he was a candidate for Vice-President. In the spring of 1881, 
after the close of his senatorial career the President nominated 
him to be Register of the United States Treasury, and the nomi- 
nation was confirmed without reference, after a complimentary 
speech from his associate. Senator L. Q. C. Lamar. He has ap- 
peared as apolitical speaker on several occasions. As nature did 
not intend him for this work, his efforts appear to be the prod- 
ucts of hard labor, but nevertheless excellent ; his estimable and 
scholarly wife [tide Miss Wilson, of Cleveland, Ohio) has been a 
great blessing to him ; — a good wife and a helpful companion. 
From a penniless slave he has risen to the position of writing his 
name upon the currency of the country. Register Bruce is a 
genial gentleman, a fast friend, and an able officer. 

John Mercer Langston was born a slave in Virginia ; is a grad- 
uate of Oberiin College and Theological Institution, and as a 
lawyer, college president, foreign minister, and politician, has ex- 
erted a wide influence for the good of his race. As Secretary of 
the Board of Health for the District of Columbia, and as Presi- 
dent of the Howard University, he displayed remarkable execu- 
tive ability and sound business judgment. He is one of the 
bravest of the brave in public matters, and his influence upon 
young Colored men has been wide-spread and admirable. He is 
now serving as Resident Minister and Consul-General to Hayti ; 
and ranks among the best diplomats of our Government. 

In Massachusetts, Charles L. Mitchell, George L. Ruffin, John 
J. Smith, J. B. Smith, and Wm. J. Walker have been members 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN. 447 

of the Legislature. In Illinois, a Colored man has held a position 
in the Board of Commissioners for Cook County — Chica<;o ; and 
one has been sent to the Legislature. In Ohio, two Colored men 
have been members of the Legislature, one from Cincinnati and 
the other from Cleveland. Gov. Charles Foster was the first 
Executive in any of the Noithern States to appoint a Colored 
man to a responsible position ; and in tiiis, as in nearly every 
other thing, Ohio has taken the lead. The present member (John 
P. Green) of the Legislature of Ohio representing Cuyahoga 
County, is a young man of excellent abilities both as a lawyer 
and as an orator. John P. Green was born at New Berne, North 
Carolina, April 2, 1845, of free parents. His father died in 1850, 
and his widow was left to small resources in raising her family. 
But being an excellent seamstress she did very well for her five- 
year-old son, while she had an infant in her arms. 

In 1857 Mrs. Green moved to Ohio and located at Cleveland. 
Her son John was now able and willing to assist his mother 
some ; and so as an errand-boy he hired himself out for $4 per 
month. He obtained about a year and one half of instruction in 
the common schools, and did well. In 1862 he became a waiter 
in a hotel, and spent every leisure moment in study. He suc- 
ceeded in learning something of Latin and Algebra, without a 
teacher. 

Mr. Green had acquired an excellent style of composition, and 
to secure funds with which to complete his education, he wrote 
and published a pamphlet containing Essays on Miscellaneous 
Subjects, by a self-educated Colored youth. He sold about 1,500 
copies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, and then entered 
the Cleveland Central High School. He completed a four years' 
classical course in two years, two terms, and two months. He 
graduated at the head of a class of twenty-three. He entered the 
law office of Judge Jesse P. Bishop, and in 1870 graduated from 
the Cleveland Law School. He turned his face Southward, and 
having settled in South Carolina, began the practice of law, which 
was attended with great success. But the climate was not agree- 
able to his health, and in 1872 he returned to the scenes of his early 
toils and struggles. He became a practising attorney in Cleve- 
land, and in the spring of 1873 was elected a justice of the peace 
for Cuyahoga County by a majority of 3,000 votes. He served 
three terms as a justice, and in eight years of service as such de- 
cided more than 12,000 cases. As a justice he has had no equal 



448 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

for many years. In 1877 he was nominated for the Legislature, 
but was defeated by sixty-two votes. In 1881 he was again be- 
fore the people for the Legislature, and was elected by a hand- 
some majority. 

Mr. Green is rather a remarkable young man ; and with good 
health and a fair field he is bound to make a success. He will 
bear comparison with any of his associates in the Legislature ; 
and, as a clear, impressive speaker, has few equals in that body. 

There are yet at least one hundred representative men of 
color worthy of the places they hold in the respect and con- 
fidence of their race and the country. Their number is rapidly 
increasing; and ere many years there will be no lack of repres- 
entative Colored men.' 

Colored women had fewer privileges of education before the 
war, and indeed since the war, than the men of their race, yet, 
nevertheless, many of these women have shown themselves capa- 
ble and useful. 

FRANCES ELLEN HARPER 

was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1825. She was not per- 
mitted to enjoy the blessings of early educational training, but 
in after-years proved herself to be a woman of most remarkable 
intellectual powers. .She applied herself to study, most assidu- 
ously ; and when she had reached woman's estate was well edu- 
cated. 

She developed early a fondness for poetry, which she has 
since cultivated ; and some of her efforts are not without merit. 
She excels as an essayist and lecturer. She has been heard upon 
many of the leading lecture platforms of the country; and her 
efforts to elevate her sisters have been crowned with most signal 
success. 

MARY ANN SHADD CAREY, 

of Delaware, but more recently of Washington, D. C, as a lecturer, 
writer, and school teacher, has done and is doing a great deal for 
the educational and social advancement of the Colored people. 

FANNY M. JACKSON — 

at present Mrs. Fanny M. Jackson Coppin — was born in the 
District of Columbia, in 1837. Though left an orphan when 



' Biography is (|uite .1 dilTcient thing from history ; and the Colored men who 
may imagine themselves neglected ought to remember tliat this is a Hislory of t}u 
Negro Race. We have mentioned tliese men as representative of several classes. 



REPRESENTATIVE COLORED MEN 449 

quite a child, Mrs. Sarah Clark, her aunt, took charge of her, and 
gave her a first-class education. She prosecuted the gentlemen's 
course in Oberlin College, and graduated with high honors. 

Deeply impressed with the need of educated teachers for the 
schools of her race, she accepted a position at once in the Insti- 
tute for Colored Ymith, at Philadelphia, Pa. And here for many 
years she has taught with eminent success, and exerted a pure 
and womanl)' influence upon all the students that have come 
into her classes. 

Without doubt she is the most thoroughly competent and 
successful of the Colored women teachers of her time. And her 
example of race pride, industry, enthusiasm, and nobility of 
character will remain the inheritance and inspiration of the 
pupils of the school she helped make the pride of the Colored 
people of Pennsylvania. 

LOUISE DE MORTIK, 

of Norfolk, Virginia, was born of free parents in that place, 
in 1833, but being denied the privileges of education, turned her 
face toward Massachusetts. 

In 1853 she took up her residence in Boston. She immedi- 
ately began to avail herself of all the opportunities of education. 
A most beautiful girl, possessed of a sweet disposition and a 
remarkable memory, she won a host of friends, and took high 
standing as a pupil. 

In 1862 she began a most remarkable career as a public 
reader. An elocutionist by nature, she added the refinement of 
the art; and with her handsome presence, engaging manners, and 
richly-toned voice, she took high rank in her profession. Just as 
she was attracting public attention by her genius, she learned of 
the destitution that was wasting the Colored orphans of New- 
Orleans. Thither she hastened in the spirit of Christian love ; 
and there she labored with an intelligence and zeal which made 
her a heroine ainong her people. In 1867 she raised sufficient 
funds to build an asylum for the Colored orphans of New Orleans. 
But just then the yellow fever overtook her in her work of mercy, 
and she fell a victim to its deadly touch on the loth of October, 
1867, saying so touchingly, " I belong to God, our Father," as she 
expired. 

Although cut off in the morning of a useful life, she is of 
blessed memory among those for whose improvement and eleva- 



450 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tion she gave the strength of a brilliant mind and the warmth of 
a genuine Christian heart. 

MISS CHARLOTTE L. FORTUNE — 

now the wife of the young and gifted clergyman, Rev. Frank J. 
Grimke, — is a native of Pennsylvania. She comes of one of the 
best Colored families of the State. She went to Salem, Massa- 
chusetts, in 1854, where she began a course of studies in the 
" Higginson High School." She proved to be a student of more 
than usual application, and although a member of a class of 
white youths, Miss Fortune was awarded the hopor of writing 
the Parting Hymn for the class. It was sung at the last examina- 
tion, and was warmly praised by all who heard it. 

Miss Fortune became a contributor to the columns of the 
"Anti-Slavery Standard " and "Atlantic Monthly." She wrote 
both prose and poetry, and did admirably in each. 

EDMONIA LEWIS, 

the Negro sculptress, is in herself a great prophecy of the pos- 
sibilities of her sisters in America. Of lowly birth, left an orphan 
when quite young, unable to obtain a liberal education, she never- 
theless determined to be somebody and do something. 

Some years ago, while yet in humble circumstances, she visited 
Boston. Upon seeing a statue of Benjamin Franklin she stood 
transfixed before it. It stirred the latent genius within the 
untutored child, and produced an emotion she had never felt 
before. " I, too, can make a stone man," she said. Almost 
instinctively, she turned to that great Apostle of Human Lib- 
erty, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, and asked his advice. The kind- 
hearted agitator gave her a note to Mr. Brackett, the Boston 
sculptor. He received her kindly, heard her express the desire 
and ambition of her heart, and then giving her a model of a 
human foot and some clay, said: "Go home and make that. 
If there is any thing in you it will come out." She tried, 
but her teacher broke up her work and told her to try again. 
And so she did, and triumphed. 

Since then, this ambitious Negro girl has won a position 
as an artist, a studio in Rome, and a place in the admiration 
of the lovers of art on two continents. She has produced many 
meritorious works of art, the most noteworthy b-.ng //rt^rtr/r^/'//^ 
Wilderness ; a group of the Madonna with the In/afit Christ and 



REPRESEXrA THE COLORED MEN. 45 i 

iwo adoring Angels ; Forever Free ; Hiawatha's Wooing; a bust 
of Longfellow, the Poet ; a bust of John Brown ; and a medallion 
portrait of Wendell Phillips. The Madonna was purchased by the 
Marquis of Bute, Disraeli's Lothair. 

She has been well received in Rome, and her studio has become 
an object of interest to travellers from all countries. 

Of late many intelligent young Colored women have risen to 
take their places in society, and as wives and mothers are doing 
much to elevate the tone of the race and its homes. Great care 
must be given to the education of the Colored women of America ; 
for virtuous, intelligent, educated, cultured, and pious wives 
and mothers are the hope of the Negro race. Without them 
educated Colored men and the miraculous results of emancipation 
will "o for nothing. 



452 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Its Origin, Growth, Organization, and Exxilllent Influence. — Its Publishing House, Pe- 
riodicals, AND Papers. — Its Numerical and Financial Strength. — Its Missionary and 
Educational Spirit. — Wilberforce University. 

THE African Methodist Episcopal Cluirch of America has 
exerted a wider and better influence upon the Negro 
race than any other organization created and managed by 
Negroes. The hateful and hurtful spirit of caste and race preju- 
dice in the Protestant Cluirch during and after the American 
Revolution drove the Negroes out. The Rev. Richard Allen, of 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the founder of the African Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. He gathered a few Christians in his private 
dwelling, during the year 1816, and organized a church and named 
it " Bethel." Its first General Conference was held in Philadel- 
phia during the same year with the following representation : 

Rev. Richard Allen, Jacob Tapsico, Clayton Durham, James 
Champion, and Thomas Webster, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; 
Daniel Coker, Richard Williams, Henry Harden, Stephen Hill, 
Edward Williamson, and Nicholas Gailliard, of Baltimore, Mary- 
land; Peter Spencer, of Wilmington, Delaware; Jacob Marsh, 
Edward Jackson, and William Andrew, of Attleborough, Penn- 
sylvania ; Peter Cuff, of Salem, New Jersey. 

The minutes of the Conference of 1817 were lost, but in 1818 
there were seven itinerants: Baltimore Conference — Rev. Daniel 
Coker, Richard Williams, and Rev. Charles Pierce ; Philadelphia 
Conference — Bishop Allen, Rev. William Paul Quinn, Jacob Tap- 
.sico, and Rev. Clayton Durham. 

The Church grew mightily, increasing in favor w-iih God and 
man. The zeal of its ministers was wonderful, and the spirit of 
missions and consecration to the work wrought miracles for the 
cause. In 1826 the strength of the Church was as follows: 



AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 4S3 



Bishops ....... 

Annual conferences .... 

Itinerant preachers ..... 

Stations ...... 

Circuits 

Missions ...... 

Total number of members 

Amount of salary for travelling preachers 

Amount of incidental expenses 

The (jrand total ainount of money raised in 1826 for al 
poses was SU'5i-75- In 1836 there were: 



■ 


2 




17 




2 




10 




5 




7.9-7 


$• 


,054-50 




S97-25 



pur- 



Bishops ...... 

Conferences ..... 

Travelling preachers 

Stations ..... 

Circuits ...... 

Missions . . . . . 

Churches . . . . . 

Probable value of church property 

Total salary of pastors 

.\mount raised for general purposes 



3 

4 
27 

7 

18 

2 

. 86 

$43,000.00 

$1,126.29 

$259-59 



Total amount of money raised in 1836 for all purposes, 
$1,385.88. The total number of members in 1836 was 7,594. 
This was a decrease of 333 members, and is to be accounted 
for in the numerous sales of slaves in the Baltimore Conference, 
as the decrease was in that conference. In 1846 there were : 

Bishoi)s 4 

Annual conferences ...... 6 

Travelling preachers ...... 40 

Stations 16 

Circuits and missions . . .... 25 

Churches . . . . . . . 198 

Probable value of church property . . §90.000.00 

Total amoimt raised to supi)ort ministers . $6,267,431- 
Amount raised for general jiurposcs . . $963.59^ 

The grand total ainount of money raised in 1846 for all 
purposes was $7,231.03. 

There were supported in the Church in 1846 three educational 
societies and three missionary societies. 



454 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

In 1866 there were : 

Annual conferences 10 

Bishops 4 

Travelling preachers 185 

Stations ........ 50 

Circuits ......... 39 

Missions ........ 96 

Churches ........ 285 

Probable value of church property . . $823,000.00 

Number of .Sunday-school teachers and officers, 21,000 

" " volumes in libraries .... 17,818 

" " members ..... 50,000 

The amount of money expended to assist the widows and 
orphans was $5,000. The amount paid this year for the support 
of the pastors was $83,593. The amount expended for Sunday. 
school work was $3,000. 

The receipts of the Church in 1876 were as follows: 

Amount of contingent money raised . . $2,976 85 

Amount raised for the support of pastors . 201,984 06 

Amount raised for the support of presiding 

elders ....... 23,896 66 

Amount of Dollar Money for general educa- 
tional purposes, etc. .... 28,009 97 

Amount raised to support Sunday-scliools 

for the year 1876 ..... I7>415 2>2> 

Amount raised for the missionary society, 3,782 72 

Amount raised in one year for building 

churches ...... 169,558 60 

Total amount raised for all purposes, $447,624 19 

Statistics of Me.mbers. 

Ministers. 
Number of bishops ..... 
" " travelling preachers . 
" " local preachers 
" " exhorters ..... 

Total ministerial force in 1876 
Ministerial force in 1816 .... 

Ministerial gain in 60 years . . . 7,130 



6 
1,418 
3,168 
2.546 


7,138 
8 



AFRICAX MF.TIIOD/ST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 455 

Members and Probationers. 
Number of members ..... 172,806 

" " probationers .... 33. 5 -5 



Total number of members and probationers 206,331 

SUMMARV OF Me.MBERS. 

Total number of ministers .... 7,138 

Total number of members and probationers . 206,331 



Grand total membership . . . 213,469 

Church Proi'erty. 
Number of churches ..... 1.833 

" " jjarsonages . . . . 218 

\'alue of Church Property. 
Value of churches ..... §3,064,911 00 
" '' parsonages .... 138,800 00 



Total value of church property . §3,203,711 00 

Annual Conferences. 
Number of annual conferences .... 25 

Sunday-Schools. 

Number of Sunday-schools .... 2,309 

" " superintendents .... 2,458 

" " teachers and officers . . . 8,085 

" P"P>ls 87,453 

" " volumes in libraries . . . 129,066 

Missionary Societies. 

Number of parent home and foreign societies . 11 

" " annual conference societies . . 24 

" " local societies ..... 250 

WlLBERFORCE UNIVERSITY I.N" 1S76. 

Number of students enrolled — males . . . 375 

—females . . 225 

" " professors — males ..... 3 

—females .... 7 

The total receipts of Wilberforce University for the year was 
^, 547.89. 



456 HISTORY OF THE yEGRO RACE I.V AMERICA. 

The assets of Wilberforce University in 1876 were as follows; 

Endowment notes ..... $iS,ooo 00 

College property ..... 39,°oo 00 

Bequest of Chief-Justice Chase . . . 10,000 00 

Nine semi-.annual and annual notes . . 900 00 

Bills receivable . . . . . . 125 00 

Horse, wagon, etc. ..... 200 00 

Cash in bank ...... 1,000 00 



Total assets .... . $69,225 00 

The liabilities were only $2,973.42, leaving the handsome 
aniount of $66,251.58 of assets over the liabilities of the institu- 
tion. 

The General Conference of 1880 met in St. Louis, Mo., on 
the third day of May. The following are some of the facts, as we 
glean from the reports: 

The Financial Secretary, Rev. J. C. Embry, reported that for 
the fiscal year ending April 24, 1880, he had received $32,336.31 
for general purposes alone, and in the four j'ears from April 24, 
1876, to April 24, 1880, he had received $99,999.42 for the general 
expenses of the Church. 

The General Business Manager, Dr. li. M. Turner, reported 
the receipts in the Book Concern to be $50,133.76. This was the 
largest amount of business ever reported by the Concern. 

The receipts of the two departments were $150,133.18. The 
total amount raised in 1826 was $i, I 5 1. 75. The gain since that 
time has been $148,981.43. 

Receipis. 

Amount of contingent money . . . $27,897 t,^ 

" " dollar money . . . 33,400 00 

" " missionary money . . . 25,248 08 

" " ladies' mite missionary money 2,296 06 

" for Sunday-scliool purposes . 115,694 40 

" " pastors' support . , . 1,282,465 16 

" " pastors' travelling expenses . 36,608 16 

" " presiding elders' travelling e.xps. 7.33S so 

" " presidir,g elders' support . 106,817 20 



Si.637.764 62 



AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 457 

K ECElPTS. — (Continued!) 

Amount brought up .... $1,637,764 62 

Amount for educational purposes. . 6,125 4^ 

" " building and repairing churches 596,824 48 

" " charitable and benevolent pur- 
poses .... . 20,937 02 

Total annual collection . . . $2,261,651 58 

The amount for four years . . . 9,046,606 24 

I'he General Business Manager's report . 51,000 00 

Grand total for four years . . $9,097,606 24 

Statistics of Memuers. 

Travelling Preachers. 

Number of bisliops ....... 9 

" " general officers ..... 4 

" '■ travelling licentiates .... 434 

" " travelling elders .... 445 

" ■' travelling deacons ..... 940 



Total number of travelling preachers . . 1,832 

Local Preachers. 

Number of superannuated preachers . . .21 
" " local preachers and exliorters . . 7,719 

" " elders 42 

" " " deacons 146 



Total number of local preachers . . 7,928 

Members and Probationers. 

Number of members 306,044 

" " probationers .... 85,000 

Total number of members and probationers, 391,044 

Summary of Members. 

Total number of travelling preachers . . 1,832 

" ■' " local preachers . . . ",928 

" " " members and probationers . 391,044 

Grand total membership . . 400,804 



. 


2,051 


• 


395 


v. 

S26 


400 


00 


2,884 


251 


00 


162 


603 


20 



45S HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Sunday-Schools. 

Number of Sunday-schools .... 2,345 

" " teachers and officers . . . I5i454 

" " p.upils 154,549 

" " volumes in library . . . '93, 35^ 

Church Property. 

Number of school-houses ..... 88 

" " churches 
" " parsonages 

Value of Church Property, 

Value of school-houses . 

" " churches .... 
" '' parsonages 

Total value of church property . $3,073,254 20 

Paper. 
Number of subscriptions to " Christian Recorder " 5,380 

In 181S a publishing department was added to the work of 
the Church. But its efificiency was impaired on account of the 
great mass of its members being in slave States or the District of 
Columbia, where the laws prohibited them from attending school, 
and deprived them of reading books or papers. In 1817 the Rev. 
Richard Allen pubHshed a book of discipline; and shortly after 
this a Church hymn-book was published also. Beyond this there 
was but little done in this department until 1841, when the New 
York Conference passed a resolution providing for the publica- 
tion of a monthly magazine. But the lack of funds compelled 
the projectors to issue it as a quarterly. For nearly eight years 
this magazine exerted an excellent influence upon the ministers 
and members of the Church. Its coming was looked forward to 
with a strange interest. It contained the news in each of the 
conferences; its editorials breathed a spirit of love and fellow- 
ship ; and thus the members were brought to a knowledge of the 
character of the work being accomplished. 

At length the prosperity of the magazine seemed to justify 
the publication of a weekly paper. Accordingly a weekly jour- 
nal, named the "Christian Herald," made its appearance and ran its 
course for the space of four years. In 1852, by order of the Gen- 



AFRICAN METJJODISr EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 459 

eral Conference, the paper was enlarged and issued as the 
"Christian Recorder," which has continued to be published up to 
the present time In addition to this a " Child's Recorder" is pub- 
lished as a monthly. About 50,000 copies of both arc issued 
every month. 

The managers and editors in this department have been : 

From 1818 to 1826 — Right-Reverened Richard Allen, First 
Bishop of the A. M. E. Church, served in the capacity of Bishop 
and General Book Steward. 

From 1826 to 1835— Rev. Jos. M. Corn He was the first 
regularly appointed General Book Steward, and served until Oc- 
tober, 1836, at which time he died. 

p-rom 1835 to 1848 — Rev. Geo. Hogarth. 

From 1848 to 1852 — Rev. Augustus R. Green. 

From 1852 to 1854— Rev. M. M. Clark, Editor; Rev. W. T. 
Catto, General Book Steward, and Rev. \V. II. Tones, Travellin"- 
Agent. 

From 1S54 to i860— Rev. J. P. Campbell (now Bishop)served 
in the capacity of General Book Steward and Editor. 

I<"rom i860 to 1 868 — Rev. Elisha Weaver served the most of 
the time as both Manager and Editor. 

From 1868 to 1869— Rev. Joshua VVoodlin, Manager, and Rev. 
B. T. Tanner, Editor. During the year iS6(j Rev. Joshua Wood- 
lin resigned. 

From 1869 to 1871— Rev. A. L. Stanford served until above 
date, when he also resigned, and Dr. B. T. Tanner was left to 
act in the capacity of Editor and Manager until May, 1872. 

From 1872 to 1876— Rev. W. H. Hunter, Business Manager, 
and Rev. B. T. Tanner reappointed Editor. 

From 1876 to 1880— Rev. H. M. Turner, Business Manager, 
and Rev. B. T. Tanner again reappointed Editor. 

1880 — Rev. Theo. Gould, lousiness Manager, and Rev. B. T. 
Tanner was for the fourth term appointed Editor. 

In addition to the work clone here on the field, this Church has 
been blessed with a true missionar\- spirit. It has pushed its 
work into "the regions beyond." In 1844 Thr Pcirctit Home and 
Foreign Missionary Society was organized by the General Confer- 
ence. Its first corresponding secretary was appointed in 1864, 
John M. Brown, Washington. D.C. ; 1865 to 1S68, John M. 
Brown; 1868 to 1872, James A. Handay, Baltimore, Maryland; 
1872, Rev. W. J. Gaines, Macon, Georgia; 1873, Rev. T. G. 



46o HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Stewart, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 1874 to 1876, Rev. G. W. 
Brodie ; 1876 to 1878, Rev. Riehard H. Cain, Columbia, S. C. : 
1878 to 1881, Rev. James M. Townsend, Richmond, Indiana. 

The following is the last report of the present missionary 
secretary : 

Recapitulation. 

Receipts. 

Collected for general work (including $300 from 

the \V. M. M Society) .... $2,630 35 
Collected on the field in Hayti . . . 1,221 54 

Women's Mite Society (in addition to the above 

$30°) 364 31 

Collected for domestic missions . . . 3,743 87 



Total receipts ..... $7,960 07 

Expend it It res. 

Total expended on salaries, travelling expenses, 
printing, etc. ..... 

Balance in Women's M. M. treasury . 
Balance in general treasury . 



$7,773 


10 


48 


97 


138 


00 


$7,960 


21 



Respectfully submitted, 

James M. Townsend. 

The work of education has been fostered and pushed forward 
by this Church. Wilberforce University is owned and managed 
by the Church, and is doing a noble work for both sexes. More 
than one thousand students have received instruction in this in- 
stitution, and some of the ablest preachers in the denomination 
are proud of Wilberforce as their Alma Mater. The following 
gentlemen constitute the faculty : 

WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY. 



Faculty. 



Rev. B. F. LEE, B.D., President, 
Professor of Intellecttdil and Moral Philosophy and Systematic 

Theology. 



Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Homiletics, and Pastoral Tluology. 



AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 461 

J. P. SHORTER, A.B., 

Professor of Mathematics and Secretary of the Faculty. 

W. S. SCARBOROUGH, A.M., 

Professor of Latin and Greek. 

ROSWELL F. HOWARD, A.B., B.L., 

Professor of La-iC. 

Hon. JOHN LITTLE, 

Professor of Law. 

Mrs. S. C. BIERCE, 

Principal of Normal Department, Instructor in French, and 

Natural Sciences. 

Mrs. ALICE M. ADAMS, 

Lady Principal, Matron, and Instructor in Academic Department. 

Miss GUSSIE E. CLARK, 

Teacher of Instrumental Music. 



Assistant Te.vchers. 



CARRIE E. FERGUSON, 

Teacher of Penmanship. 

D. M. ASH BY, 

G. S. LEWIS, 

Teachers of Arithmetic. 

ANNA H. JONES, 

Teacher of Reading. 



Rev. T. H. JACKSON, D.D., 
General Agent. 

In the summer of 1856 the Cincinnati Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church decided to establish in that place a 
university for the education of Colored youth. Its Board of 
Trustees consisted of twenty white and four Colored men. Mr. 
Alfred J. Anderson, Rev. Lewis W^oodson, Mr. Ishmael Keith, 
and Bishop Payne were the Colored members. Among the for- 
mer were State Senator M. D. Gatch and the late Salmon P. 
Chase. It was dedicated in October, 1856, when the Rev. M. 
P. Gaddis took charge. He held the position of Principal for one 
year, when he was succeeded by Professor J. R. Parker, who 
worked faithfully and successfully until 1859. Rev. R. T. Rust, 
D.D., became President upon the retirement of Mr. Parker, and 



4G2 HISTORY OF THE .VEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

accomplished a iKib'ie work. He raised the educational standard 
of the school, attracted to its support and halls friends and pu- 
pils, and gained the confidence of educators and laymen within 
the outside of his denomination. Unfortunately, his faithful 
labors were most abruptly terminated by the war of the Rebel- 
lion. The college doors were closed in 1S62 for want of funds ; 
the main friends of the institution having cast their lot with the 
Confederate States. It should be remembered that up to this 
time this college was in the handsof the white Methodist Church. 
The Colored Methodists bought the land and buildings on the 
loth of March, 1S63, for the sum of $10,000. The land consisted 
of fifty-two acres, with an abundance of timber, fine springs, and 
a commodious college building with a dozen beautiful cottages. 
And the growth of the institution under the management of 
Colored men is a credit to their Church and race. 

Bishop D. H. Payne, D.D., was elected to the presidency of 
the university, which position he has filled with rare fidelity and 
ability for the last tliirteen years. In 1876 Rev. B. F. Lee, a 
former graduate of the college, was elected to occupy the presi- 
dential chair. It was not a position to be sought after since it 
had been filled for thirteen years by the senior bishop of the 
Church, but Mr. Lee was the choice of his official brethren and so 
was elected. President Lee is a native of New Jersey. He is 
about the medium height, well knit, of light complexion, dark 
hair and beard of the same color that covers a face handsomely 
moulded. He is plainly a man of excellent traits of character ; 
he is somewhat bald and has a finely-cut head, broad and mas- 
sive. He moves quickly, and impresses one as a man who is 
armed with a large amount of executive tact. His face is of a 
thoughtful cast, and does not change much when he laughs. 
There were many difificulties to hinder his administration when he 
took charge, but he surmounted them all. Under his adminis- 
tration the institution has grown financially and numerically. 

The following report shows the financial condition of the col- 
lege at the present time. 

Receipts. 

June 20, iSSo. 

Balance in Treasury, Avery Fund . . $10,000 00 

" " Rust Prize Fund . 100 00 

" " cash . . 63 82 



Total balance 



AFRICAN METHODIST FPISCOTAL CHURCH. 463 

Receipts. — (Contimu.i!) 

Balance ..... 

Received from Financial Secretary 
tuition 
" " dormitories . 

" " Unitarian .Associa- 

tion ..... 
Received from loans 
Received from interest from .\very 

Fund .... 
Received from interest Imin Rust 
Fund ..... 

Received from General .Agent . 
" " contributions 

" I'hiladelphia Con- 
ference 5-95 

Received from Illinois Conference 30 00 
'■ " beijuest of John 

Pfaff .... 602 08 

Received from miscellaneous . 407 64 



. 


. $10,163 82 


200 


00 


1,604 


49 


5-5 


.So 


(1.:..;, 


00 


100 


00 


Soo 


00 


S 


00 


15° 


00 


2.?-' 


00 



S5.>'- 9^ 
Total receipts ^'_5.476_78 

EXTENDITURES. 

To salaries §3,166 15 

" building and grounds .... 243 25 

" furnishing building . . . . . i77 37 

" notes paid with interest .... 285 86 

" lectures 600 00 

" fuel 116 64 

" Powers' Fund interest . . . . 114 9° 

" incidental 296 17 

" insurance 219 00 

" miscellaneous i44 21 



Total expenditures ..... §5,3^3 55 

Balance in bank — Avery Fund se- 
curities ..... $10,000 00 

Balance in bank — Rust Fund se- 
curities .... 100 00 

Balance in bank — cash . . '^2, '^7> 

$>o,ii3 23 

S's.47'J 7S 



464 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

STATEMENT OF CASH RECEIPTS, FROM 1 865 TO 1S81. 



1865 to 


1866 


s 


10,677 82 


1866 to 


1867 . 




6.717 88 


1867 to 


1S6S 


. 


9.0C0 00 


1868 to 


1869 




5.403 83 


1869 to 


1870 


. 


9.498 24 


1S70 to 


1S71 . 




28,672 22 


I 87 1 to 


1872 . . 


. 


7.270 3' 


1872 to 


1873 . . . 




4.45- 3° 


1873 to 


1874 




6,129 77 


1874 to 


1875 . . . 




4,962 50 


1S75 to 


1876 


. 


7.805 36 


1876 to 


1S77 . 




13.757 66 


1877 to 


1878 




14,429 15 


1878 to 


1S79 • 




4.944 37 


1879 to 


1880 




6,942 98 


1880 to 


18S1 . 




5.3'-' 96 


Total 


S'45.977 35 



The following-natned persons are the bishops of the Church : 
James A. Shorter, Daniel A. Payne, A. W. Wayman, J. P. Camp- 
bell, John M. Brown, T. Vi. D. Ward, H. M. Turner, William F. 
Dickerson, and R. H. Cain. 

The African ^ilethodist Episcopal Church will remain through 
the years to come as the best proof of the Negro's ability to 
maintain himself in an advanced state of civilization. Com- 
mencing w'ith nothing — save an unfaltering faith in God, — this 
Church has grown to magnificent proportions. Her name has 
gone to the ends of the earth. In the Ecumenical Council of the 
Methodists in London, 1881, its representatives made a splendid 
impression ; and their addresses and papers took high rank. 

This Church has taught the Negro how to govern and how to 
submit to government. It has kept its membership under the 
influence of wholesome discipline, and for its beneficent influ- 
ence upon the morals of the race, it deserves the praise and 
thanks of mankind.' 



'We have to thank the Rev. B. W. Arnett, B.D., the Financial Secretary, 
for the valuable statistics used in this chapter. He is an intelligent, energetic, and 
faithful minister of the Gospel, and a credit to his Church and race. 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CIIUKCH 463 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Founding of the M. E. Chlrch of America in 1768.— Xp.gro Servants and Slaves amokq 
THE First Contributors to the Erection of the Kirst Chacel in New York. — The 
Rev, Harrv Hosier the First Neoro Preacher in the M. E. Church in America.— His 
Remarkable Eloquence as a PuuriT Orator. — Early Prohiiution against Slave- holding 
IN- the M. E. Chirch. — Strength of the Churches and Sundav-schools op the Colored 
Members in the M. E. Church. — The Rev. Marshall W. Tavlor, D.D.— His An- 
cestors.— His Early Life and Struggles for an Education. — He teaches School in 
Kentucky. — His Extekiences as a Teacher. — Is ordained to the Gosvel Ministry and 
becomes a Preacher and Missionary Teacher.-- His Settlement as Pastor in Indiana 
and Ohio, — Is given the Title of Doctor of Divinity by the Tennessee College. — His 
Ikfh ENCB AS A Leader, and his Standing as a Preacher. • 

PHILLIP EMBURY, Barbara Heck, and Capt. Thomas 
Webb were the germ from which, in the good providence 
of God, has sprung the Methodist Episcopal Churcli in 
the United States of America. The first chapel was erected 
upon leased ground on John Street, New York City, in 176S. 
The ground was purchased in 1770. Subscriptions were asked 
and received from all classes of people for the building, from the 
mayor of the city down to African female servants known only 
by their Christian names. Here the Colored people became first 
identified with American Methodism. From this stock have 
sprung all who have been subsequently connected with it. Meet- 
ings were held, prior to the erection of John Street Church, in 
the private residence of Jvlrs. Heck, and in a rigging-loft, sixty 
by eighteen feet, in William Street, which was rented in 1767. 
Here Capt. Webb and Mr. Embury preached thrice a week to 
large audiences. The original design to erect a chapel must be 
credited to Mrs. Heck, the foundress of American Methodism. 
Mr. Richard Owen, a convert of Robert Strawbridge, the founder 
of Methodism in Baltimore, was the first native Methodist 
preacher on the continent. The first American Annual Confer- 
ence was held in Philadelphia, Pa., twent\--nine years after Mr. 
Wesley held his first conference in England, with ten members, 



466 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

precisely the same number there were in his. They were Thos. 
Rani-;in, President ; Richard Boardman, Joseph Pilmoor, Francis 
Asbury, Richard Wright, George Shadford, Thomas Webb, John 
King, Abraham Whiteworth, and Joseph Yearbry. It began 
Wednesday the 14th and closed Friday the 1 6th of July, 1773. 
All the members were foreigners, and in the Revolution many of 
them were subject to unjust suspicions of sympathy with Eng- 
land, in consecjuence of this fact alone. The aggregate statisti- 
cal returns for this conference showed 1,160, which was much less 
than Mr. Rankin supposed to be the strength of Methodism in 
America. 

On the 2d of September, 1784, Rev. Thomas Coke, D.D., 
LL.D., a presbyter in the Church of England, was ordained by 
John Wesley, A.M., Superintendent or Bishop of the Methodist 
Societies in America. He was charged with a commission to 
organize them into an Episcopal Church, and to ordain Mr. 
Francis Asbury an Associate Bishop. He sailed for America at 
10 o'clock A.M., September iSth, and landed at New York, 
Wednesday, November 3, 1784. Mr. Coke at once set out on a 
tour of observation, accompanied by Harry Hosier, Mr. Asbury's 
travelling servant, a Colored minister. Hosier was one of the 
notable characteis of that day. He was the first American 
Negro preacher of the M. E. Church in the United .States. In 
1780 Mr. Asbury alluded to him as a companion, suitable to 
preach to the Colored people. Dr. Rush, allowing for his il- 
literacy — for he could not read — pronounced him the greatest 
orator in America. He was small in stature and very black; but 
he had eyes of remarkable brilliancy and keenness; and singular 
readiness and aptness of speech. He travelled extensively with 
Asbury, Coke, and Whiteworth. He afterward travelled through 
New England. He excelled all the whites in popularity as a 
preacher ; sharing with them in their public services, not only in 
Colored but also in white congregations. When they were sick 
or otherwise disabled they could trust the pulpit to Harry with- 
out fear of unfavorably disappointing the people. Mr. Asbury 
acknowledges that the best wa}^ to obtain a large congregation 
was to announce that Harry would preach. The multitude pre- 
ferred him to the Bishop himself. Though he withstood for 
years the temptations of extraordinary popularity, he fell, never- 
theless, by the indulgent hospitalities which were lavished upon 
him. He became temporarily the victim of wine ; but possessed 



THE METJIODIST EPISCOPAL CHUKCJI. 467 

moral strength enough to recover himself. Self-abased and con- 
trite, he started one evening down the neck below Soutlnvark, 
Philadelphia, determined to remain till his backslidings were 
healed. Under a tree he wrestled in prayer into the watches of 
the night. Before the morning God restored to him the joys of 
His salvation. Thenceforward he continued faithful. He re- 
sumed his public labors. In the year iSio he died in Philadel- 
phia. " Making a good end," he was borne to the gra\'e b>' a 
great procession of both Colored and white admirers, who 
buried him as a hero — one overcome, but finally victorious. 

It is said that on one occasion, in Wilmington, Del., where 
Methodism was long unpopular, a number of the citizens, who 
did not ordinarily attend Methodist preaching, came together to 
hear Bishop Asbury. Old Asbury Ciiapel was, at that time, so 
full that they could not get in. They stood outside to hear the 
Bishop, as they supposed ; but in reality the\' heard Marry. 
Before they left the place, they complimented the speaker by 
saying: "If all Methodist preachers could preach like the 
Bishop we should like to be constant hearers." Some one 
present replied : " That was not the Bishop, but his servant." 
This only raised the Bishop higher in their estimation, as their 
conclusion was, if such be the servant what must the master be? 
The truth was, that Harry was a more popular speaker than 
Asbury, or almost any one else in his day.' 

So we find in the very inception of Methodism in the United 
States the Colored people were conspicuously represented in its 
membership, contributing both money, labor, and eloquence to 
its grand success. 

The great founder of Methodism was an inveterate foe of 
human slavery, which he pronounced "the sum of all \illainies," 
and in this particular the Methodist societies in their earliest 
times reflected his sentiments. The early preachers were espe- 
cially hostile to slavery. In 1784 it was considered and declared 
to be contrary to the Golden Law of God, as well as every prin- 
ciple of the Revolution. They required ever\- Methodist to 
execute and record, within twelve months after notice by the 
preacher, a legal instrument emancipating all slaves in his pos- 
session at specified ages. An}' person who should not concur in 
this requirement had liberty to leave the Church within one year; 
otherwise the preacher was to exclude him. No person holding 

' Stevens's Hist, of M. E. Church, pp. 174. 175 : also Lednum. p. 282. 



468 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

slaves could be admitted to membership, or to the Lord's 
Supper, until he complied with this law. But it was to be 
applied only where the law of the State permitted.' These 
rules provoked great hostility, and were suspended within six 
months. 

The Church had, however, put the stamp of condemnation 
upon it. And ever in a more or less active but always consistent 
manner opposed it, until its final extirpation was accomplished, 
though not until the Church had been several times divided in 
favor of and against it. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church in the United .States of 
America was organized in what is historically known as the 
Christmas Conference, which convened in Baltimore at ten 
o'clock Friday morning, December 24, 1784, Bishop Thomas 
Coke, presiding. Rev. Francis Asbury was there consecrated a 
bishop. In 1786 a resolution emphatically enjoining it upon the 
preachers to leave nothing undone for the spiritual benefit and 
salvation of the Colored people was adopted. The Church is a 
limited Episcopacy. The bishops are elected by the General 
Conference. They fix the appointments of all the preachers, but 
the conference arranges their duration. The bishops hold ofifice 
during good behavior. The General Conference is the Legisla- 
tive, and the bishops, presiding elders, pastors, annual, district, 
and quarterly conferences, with the leaders' and stewards' meet- 
ings, and the general and local trustees, are the Executive Depart- 
ment. The ministerial orders are two: elder and deacon. The 
ofifices of the ministry and rank are in the order named, — bishop, 
sub-bishop, pastor, and sub-pastors. The ministry are classified 
as Effective, Supernumerary, Superannuate, and Local. The 
property of each congregation is deeded in trust for them to a 
Board of Local Trustees, who may sell, buy, or improve it for 
the use of said congregation. The stewards are officers whose 
labors are partly temporal and partly spiritual. They are en- 
trusted with the raising of supplies, benevolence, and the support 
of the ministry. Exhorters are prayer-meeting leaders and gen- 
eral helpers in the work of the circuits. 

Methodism began in a college and has been a great patron of 
education. It has been largely devoted to the educational and 
religious culture of the Colored people in the South and in 

'And there was not a single State ivhere this rule could be applied. Slavery ruled 
the land. 



THE MJITHODIST EPISCOPAL CITURCIT. 469 

Africa. There are sixteen conferences of Colored members in 
the M. E. Church — fifteen in tlie United States and one in Li- 
beria. For the Liberian Conference two Colored bishops have 
been consecrated, viz.: Francis Burns and ex-President Thomas 
Wright Roberts, both deceased. The present bishops are all 
white, one of whom annually visits Africa. The same is true of 
conferences in German\% Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Nor- 
way, India, China, and Japan. The agency by which the Church 
prosecutes this work is the Missionary, Church Fxtension, Freed- 
men's Aid, Education, and .Sunday-school Union societies. Books 
and periodicals are amply supplied by its own publishing house, 
which is the largest religious publishing house in the world. 

In the sixteen conferences there are 225,000 members, 200,000 
Sunday-school scholars, 3,500 day scholars, one medical, three 
law, and seven theological colleges, and twelve seminaries. There 
is $500,000 in school and $2,000,000 in church and parsonage 
property owned by the Colored membership ! The Colored 
members elect their own representatives to the General Confer- 
ence, and are fully represented in all the work of the Church. 

At the present time the Rev. Marshall VV. Taylor, D. D., and 
the Rev. Wni. M. Butler are the most prominent men in the 
Church. Marshall William Boyd (alias) Taylor was born July i, 
1846, at Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, of poor, unedu- 
cated, but respectable parents. He was the fourth in a family of 
five children, three of whom were boys, viz.: George .Summers, 
Francis Asbury, and himself ; and two girls, Mary Ellen and 
Mary Cathrine. He is of Scotch-Irish and Indian descent on his 
father's side. Hon. Samuel Boyd, of Ne\v York; Joseph Boyd, 
of Virginia; and Lieut. -Gov. Boyd, of Kentucky, were blood-rela- 
tions of his, and all descended from the " Clan Boyd " of Scotland. 
His mother was of African and Arabian stock. His grandmother, 
on his mother's side, Phillis Ann, was brought from Madagascar 
when a little girl, and became the slave of IMr. Alexander Black, 
a Kentucky farmer, who at his death willed his slaves free. His 
mother, Nancy Ann, thus obtained her freedom, and by the 
terms of the will she was put to the millinery trade, which she 
fully mastered, and meantime obtained an elementary knowl- 
edge of reading, writing, and arithmetic. .She married Albert 
Summers, and bore to him two children, viz., George Summers 
and Mary Catharine. He ran away to prevent being sold, and 
she afterward married Samuel Boyd, to whom she bore three 



470 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

children, viz., Francis Asbury, Marshall William, and Mary Ellen. 
His father, Samuel, was the son of Hon. Samuel Boyd, of New 
York. He was noted for his independence of character ; was a 
valuable but unruly slave. He was allowed an opportunity to 
purchase his freedom, and this he began to do, and had paid 
$250, three fourths of the price, when his master sold liim to 
Tennessee. He promptly ran away from his new master, but 
unwilling to forsake his family, went back to Kentucky. His 
master pursued and overtook him at Lexington, where he had 
stopped. He refused to go back to Tennessee, and once more 
was permitted to select a master, and finally to again contract for 
his freedom, which he this time succeeded in obtaining. In con- 
sequence of his mother's emancipation, Marshall was free when 
he first saw .the light of day. By occupation his father was a 
hemp-breaker, rope-maker, and farmer. The last he elected to 
follow after he was free. He employed his boys as farmers, but 
his mother strenuously opposed it, wishing better opportunities 
than could be thus afforded for their education. She at length 
succeeded in carrying her point. 

In religion his father at first inclined to the Baptists, of which 
Church he became a deacon in the congregation of Rev. Mr. Fer- 
rill, of Pleasant Green Church, Lexington. Later he became 
dissatisfied with the Baptists, and united with the African 
Methodists at Frankfort, Ky. He finally went back to the Bap- 
tist Church and died in that faith. 

Marshall's mother, and all her people, so far as known, were 
Methodists. His early training and first and only religious im- 
pressions were Methodistic, which Church, after his conversion, 
he joined. His father had no knowledge of letters, so that all 
his home instruction came from his mother. Her te.xt-books 
were the Bible, Methodist Catechism, and 'Webster's Elementary 
Spelling Book. And in these young Marshall became very pro- 
ficient. He afterward attended school daily to Rev. John Tibbs, 
an African Methodist preacher, who came from Cincinnati to Lex- 
ington to teach free children and such of the slaves as would be 
permitted to attend. Some masters granted this permission, but 
the greater number refused it. Finally, some "poor white" fel- 
lows, unable to own slaves themselves, mobbed the teacher, rode 
him on a rail, tarred, feathered, and drove him from town. They 
were called black Indians. It was impossible to secure another 
teacher in Lexington for a day school, but Mr. George Perry, an 



I 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 471 

intelligent free Colored man, had the courage to teach Sunday- 
school, in the Branch Methodist Church. It is now called As- 
bury M. E. Church. Marshall attended, as did his mother and 
brothers. In 1854 the family moved to Louisville, looking for a 
school. Finding none there, they continued their journey about 
fifty. miles above there on the Ohio River, and landed at Ghent, 
a little village in Carroll County, Ky., opposite Vevey, Indiana. 
They indulged a hope that the children would be allowed to 
attend the public schools at Vevey, but they were doomed in 
this expectation. They spent two years at Ghent. Marshall 
and his brother obtained instruction during tliis period from the 
little white children who attended school, after hours, using " an 
old hay loft back of a Mr. Sanders's Taxern " for a recitation- 
room, and paying their teachers with cakes and candies bought 
with odd pennies gathered here and there. 

On the 1st of August, 1S56. there was an Emancipation cele- 
bration at Uayton, Ohio. Frederick Douglass was advertised to 
speak, and other eminent Abolitionists were expected to partici- 
pate. Marshall's mother attended it. Soon after her return 
several slaves mysteriously disappeared from the vicinity of 
Ghent. Among them was a very valuable family belonging to 
Esquire Craig, of the village. Sus[)icion fastened on the old 
lady who had been of? among the " Abolitionists." She w'as in- 
dicted by the Grand Jur\', and thirty-six men filed into her cabin, 
and while she lay sick in bed, read the indictment to her. They 
ordered her to leave the place. She refused to go, claimed her 
innocence, but to no purpose. "They chased Francis with guns 
and dogs on the public streets in daylight; shaddowed the cabin 
and gave unmistakable evidence of a diabolical purpose." She 
soon after returned to Louisville. 

Young Marshall became a messenger in the law firm of J. B. 
Kincaid and John W". Barr. Here his cliances were good, both 
of these gentlemen aiding him in his studies. He did his work 
after school hours at the office, and attended a school which was 
kept in the "Centre Street Colored Methodist Church," until it 
closed. 

Rev. Henry Henderson, a Colored Methodist preacher, now 
opened a school in Centre Street, and Marshall was duly enrolled 
among his pupils. On his retirement, Mrs. Elizabeth Cumings, 
a highly cultured and pious lad)', taught a private school on 
Grayson, between Si.xth and Seventh streets. He now went to 



4/2 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

her. She died soon after, when he was sent to a Mr. William 
H. Gibson, who had already opened a school on Seventh, between 
Jefferson and Green streets, in an old carpenter shop. Here he 
continued until 1861. 

In 1 866 Mr. Taylor opened a Freedmen's School at Hardins- 
burg, Breckenridge Co., Ky. This was in an old church, the 
property of the M. E. Church South. It had been donated for 
church purposes by George Blanford. If used otherwise it was 
to revert to the donor. A Negro school was obnoxious to the 
community. His was the first there had ever been in the village, 
and notwithstanding the white people had long since abandoned 
the property to the Colored people this question was now raised 
in order to break up the school. It did not succeed, as they 
easily proved that the original intent of the donor was not vio- 
lated, since Colored people still used the property as a church. 
Failing in this the school was tormented by ruffians. Pepper 
was rolled up in cotton, set on fire, and hurled into the room to 
set every one coughing. Finally threats of personal violence 
were made if he did not leave, but Mr. Taylor armed himself, 
defied the enemies of freedom, and stayed. At last, on Christmas 
evening, Dec. 25, 1867, the house was blown up with powder. 
The arrangement was to set off the blast with a slow match so as 
to catch the house full of people, there being a school exhibition 
that night. The explosion took place at 1 1:30 P.M., but owing 
to the excitement occasioned by the novelty of such a thing as a 
" Negro .School Exhibition," the crowd had gathered much ear- 
lier than announced. The programme was completed before II 
P.M., and by this accident the school and teacher were saved. 
The old wreck still remains a monument to color prejudice. 

By the aid of the Freedmen's Bureau another school-house 
was soon built, and the school proceeded. This was followed by 
a meeting-house. The white people, whose sentiments were now 
rapidly turning, subscribed liberally toward it. 

In 186S an educational convention was held at Ovvensboro, 
in Davies Co., Ky., of which Mr. Taylor was elected president. 
He soon after wrote a manual for Colored schools, which was 
generally used in that section. In 1869 he attended the first 
Colored political convention ever held in Kentucky, at Major 
Hall in Frankfort. He was one of the Educational Committee, 
and submitted a report. This year he was also a member of a 
convention at Jackson Street Church, Louisville, which inaugu- 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CJIURCH. 473 

rated the mo\'ement for the Lexinsjton M. I'.. Conference. He was 
licensed as a local preacher this year by Rev. Hanson Tolbert at 
Hardinsburg, and was assisted in the study of theology by Rev. 
R. G. Gardiner, J. H. Lennin, and Dr. R. S. Rust. He went to 
Arkansas as a missionary teacher and preacher at the call of Rev. 
W. J. Gladwin, and remained there one year. He organized 
several societies of the Church, taught school at Midwa_\", Forrest 
City, and Wittsburg; took part in the political campaign of that 
year; and was nominated, but declined to run, for Representative 
from Saint Frances County. 

He preached in le.xas, Indian Territory, and Missouri ; was 
put in peril by the Ku Klux at Hot Springs ; took the chills and 
returned to Ky., in 1871. He was then appointed to the Litch- 
field Circuit, Southwestern Kentuck)'. In 1872 he united with 
the Lexington Conference of M. F. Church on trial. He was 

o 

ordained a deacon by Bishop Levi Scott at Maysville, Ky., and 
sent to Coke Chapel, Louisville, Ky., and Wesley Chapel, Jeffer- 
sonville, Indiana. He remained in this charge three years, dur- 
ing which time he published the monthly " Kentucky Methodist," 
and wrote extensively for the press. He was elected assistant 
secretary, editor of the printed minutes of the conference!, and 
finally secretary. In 1875 ^"^^ ^^"^^ sent as pastor to Indianapolis, 
Ind. He was ordained elder by Bishop Wiley at Lexington in 
1876, and returned to Indianapolis. He took an active part in 
the political campaign of 1876, and was sent to Union Chapel, 
Cincinnati, 1877-8. In 1879 the faculty of Central Tennessee 
College, at Nashville, Tennessee, conferred upon him the title 
and credentials of a Doctor of Divinity. He wrote the life of 
Rev. Geo. W. Downing. 

In 1879 Dr. Taylor was appointed Presiding Elder of the Ohio 
District, Lexington Conference. In 1880 he was sent as frater- 
nal delegate from the M. E. to the A. M. E. General Conference at 
St. Louis; he having been previously elected lay delegate to the 
General Conference of the M. E. Church in Brooklyn, New York, 
in 1879. He was the youngest member of that body. Upon his 
motion fraternal representatives were sent to the various Colored 
denominations of Methodists. He was appointed in 188 1 as a dele- 
gate from the M. E. Church to the Ecumenical Conference at 
London, England. He was the caucus nominee of the Colored 
delegates to the General Conference in Cincinnati in 18S0 for 
bishop. He was always opposed to caste discriminations in 



474 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Clmrch. State, or society. He has opposed Colored conferences 
and a Colored bishop as tending to perpetuate discriminations. 
He does not oppose the election of Colored men, but wishes that 
every honor may fall upon them because of merit and not on ac- 
count of their color. He has become famous as an eloquent 
preacher, safe teacher, ready speaker, and earnest worker ; always 
aiming to do the greatest good to the greatest number. Certainly 
the Methodist Episcopal Church has reason to be proud of 
Marshall W. Taylor. 

In thi.s Church there are man\' other worthy and able Colored 
preachers. The relations they sustain to the eloquent, scholarly, 
and pious white clergymen of the denomination are pleasant and 
beneficial. It is an education. And the fact that the best pul- 
pits of white men are opened to the Colored preachers is a 
prophecy that race antagonisms in the Christian Church, so 
tenacious and harmful, are to perish speedily. 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 475 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE COLORED BAI'TISTS OF AMERICA. 

The CoLORRn Baptists an Intklligent and UsEFtfi, Pkople. — Their Leading Minis^T-rs ra 
M1S.SOUKI, Ohio, and in New England. — The Hikih, ICakly Life, and Eih cation ok Dukr 
William Andekson. — As Farmek, Teacher, Preacher, and Missionakv. — His Ikfluencs 
in Tin; West. — Goes Soiitii at the Close of the War. — Teaches in a Theological 
Institute at Nashville, Tennessee. — Called to M'ashington. — Pastor of lyin Street 
Baptist Church. — He occupies Various Positions of Trust. — Btii.Ds a Xf.w Church. — 
"His Last Revival. — His Sickness and Death. — His Funeral and the General Sorrow 
at his Loss. — Leonard Andrew Grimes, of Ho.ston, Massachisrtts. — His Pietv, Faith- 
fulness and Public Influence for Good, — The Co.mpletion of his Ciurch. — His Last 
Davs and Sudden Death. — General Sorrow. — Resolutions by the Baptist Ministers of 
liosrON. — A Great and Good Man Gone. 

THE Baptist Church has always been a purely democratic 
institution. With no bishops or head-men, except such as 
derive their authority from the consent of the governed, 
this Church has been truly independent and self-governing in its 
spirit. Its only Head is Christ, and its teachers such as are will- 
ing to take " the Word of God as the Man of their Counsel." 
From the time oi the introduction of the Baptist Church into 
North America down to the present time, the Colored people 
have formed a considerable part of its member.ship. The gen- 
erous, impartial, and genuine Christian spirit of Roger Williams 
had a tendency, at the beginning, to keep out of the Church the 
spirit of race prejudice. But the growth of slavery carried with 
it, as a logical result, the idea that the slave's presence in the 
Christian Church was a rebuke to the system. For conscience' 
sake the slave was excluded, and to oblige the feelings of those 
who transferred the spirit of social caste from gilded drawing- 
rooms to cushioned pews, even the free Negro was conducted to 
the organ-loft. 

The simplicity of the Negro led him to the faith of the Bap- 
tist Church; but being denied fellowship in the white congrega- 
tions, he was compelled to provide churches for himself. In 
Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi the 



476 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Colored Baptists were numerous. In the other States the Meth- 
odists and CathoHcs were numerous. There were few ministers 
of note at the South; but New England, tlie Middle States, and 
the West produced some very able Baptist preachers. The Rev. 
Richard Anderson, of St. Louis, Missouri, was a man of e.xalted 
piety, consummate ability, and of almost boundless influence in 
the West. He was the pastor of a large church, and did much 
to mould and direct the interests of his people throughout Mis- 
souri. He was deeply revered by his own people, and highly re- 
spected by the whites. When he died, the entire city of St. 
Louis was plunged into profound mourning, and over thi'ee hun- 
dred carriages — many belonging to the wealthiest families in the 
city — followed his body to the place of interment. 

In Ohio the Rev. Charles Satchell, the Rev. David Nickens, 
the Rev. W. P. Newman, the Rev. James Poindexter, and the 
Rev. H. L. Simpson were the leading clergymen in the Colored 
Baptist churches. Cincinnati has had for the last half century 
excellent. Baptist churches, and an intelligent and able ministry. 
There are several associations embracing many live churches. 

In Kentucky the Colored Baptists are very numerous, and 
own much valuable property ; but Virginia seems to have more 
Baptists among its great population of Colored people than any 
other State in the South. There are a dozen or more in Rich- 
mond, including the one presided over by the famous John Jas- 
per. One of them has, it is said, three thousand members (?). 
But the District of Columbia has more Colored churches for its 
area and population than any other place in the United States. 
There are at least twenty-five Baptist churches in the Dis- 
trict, and some of them have interesting histories. The 
Nineteenth Street Baptist Church is as an intelligent a society of 
Christian people of color as there is to be found in any city in 
the country. Its pulpit has always been occupied by the ablest 
ministers in the country. The Revs. Sampson White, Samuel 
W. Madden, and Duke W. Anderson were men of education and 
marked ability. And there is little doubt but what Duke VV. 
Anderson was the ablest, most distinguished clergyman of color 
in the United States. And for his work's sake he deserves well 
of histor\'. 

Duke William Anderson was born April lo, 1812, in the vicinity 
of Lawrenceville, Lawrence County, in the State of Illinois, of a 
Negro mother by a white father. His father, lately from North 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OE AMERICA. A77 

Carolina, fell under Gen. Harrison fighting the Indians. Like so 
many other great men he was born in an obscure place — a wigwam. 
At the time of his father's deatli he was quite a young baby. He 
was now left to the care of a mother who, in many respects, was 
like her husband, bold and courageous for the truth, and yet as 
gentle as a child. It is peculiarly trying and difficult for a mother 
who has all the comforts of modern city life, to train and edu- 
cate her boys for the duties of life ; and if so, how much more 
trying and difficult must it have been for a mother on the North- 
western frontiers, seventy years ago, to train her boys? 

Destitute of home and its comforts, without friends or 
money; no farm, school, or church, Mrs. Anderson began to train 
her two boys, John Anderson and D. W. Anderson. Of the 
former, little or nothing is known, save that he was the only 
brother of D. W. Anderson. 

True to the instincts of her motherly heart, Mrs. Anderson 
was determined to remain upon the spot purchased and conse- 
crated by the blood of her lamented husband. She could not 
divorce herself from the approximate idea and object of her hus- 
band's life and death. He had turned from the comforts of a 
happy home; had chosen hardships rather than ease that he 
might realize the dream of his youth, and the object of his 
manly endeavors— the right of suffrage to all. Her children 
could not build their pla\--house of Shakespeare, Milton, Drxden, 
or Southey. All the instruction Duke William obtained came 
from his mother. She was very large and healthy. Her com- 
plexion was of perfect black. She was possessed of excellent 
judgment, patience, and industry. She stored the young mind 
of her boy with useful agricultural knowledge, of which she pos- 
sessed a large amount. 

An education does not consist in acquiring lessons, obtaining 
a simple, abstract, objective knowledge of certain .sciences. It is 
more than this. It consists, also, in being able to apply and use 
rightly a given amount of knowledge. And though D. W. 
Anderson was never permitted to enter college, yet, what he 
got he got thoroughly, and used at the proper time to the best 
advantage. 

Nature was his best teacher. While yet a very young boy he 
was awed by her splendors, and attracted by the complicated 
workings of her manifold laws. He began to study the innu- 
merable mysteries which met him in every direction. He heard 



4/8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

God in the rippling water, in the angry tempest, in the sighing 
wind, and in the troops of stars which God marshals upon the 
plains of heaven. In the study of nature he exulted. He sat 
in her velvet lap, sported by her limpid waters, acquainted him- 
self perfectly with her seasons, and knew the coming and going 
of every star. 

God was training this man for the great mission which he 
afterward so faithful!}- performed. No soul that was ever filled 
with such grand and humane ideas as was that cf Duke William 
Anderson can be crushed. He knew no boundaries for his sou! 
— except God on one side and the whole universe on the other. 
He was as free in thought and feeling as the air he inhaled, or 
the birds in the bright sky over his head. His soul had for 
many years communed with the God of nature; had been taught 
by the mighty workings of truth, feeling, and genius within, and 
b,v the world without, that he was not to be confined to earth 
forever, but that beyond the deep blue sky, into which he so 
much longed to peer, there dwelt the Creator of all things, and 
there the home of the good ! Like the " wise men of the East," 
— knowing no other God but the God of nature, — his primitive 
ideas of religion were natural!}' based upon nature. In that wild 
and barren territory nature was impressive, desolate, and awful. 
The earth, air, and sky incited him to thought and stimulated 
his imagination. Every appearance, every phenomenon — the 
storm, tlie thunder, — speal-: the prophecies of God. He was 
filled with great thoughts and driven by grand ideas. 

It is difficult to compute tlie value of the mother to the child. 
It is the mother who loves, because she has suffered. And this 
seems to be the great law of love. Not a triumph in art, litera- 
ture, or jurisprudence — from the story of Homer to the odes of 
Horace, from the times of Bacon and Leibnitz to the days of 
Tyndall and Morse — that has not been obtained by toil and 
suffering ! Tlie mother of Anderson, having suffered so much 
in her loneliness and want, knew how to train her boy, — the joy 
of her life. And he in return knew how to appreciate a mother's 
love. He remembered that to her he owed every thing, — his life, 
his health, and his early training. He remembered that in 
childhood she had often, around their little camp-fire, enchanted 
his youthful mind by the romance of the sufferings and trials of 
herself and husband. And now finding himself a young man he 
was determined to change the course of their life. 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 479 

No work so thorou<;liI\- cU-vclops the body ami mind, and is 
so conducive to health, as fanning; and, perhaps, none so inde- 
pendent. Anderson was naturally healthy and strong, so that 
farming agreed with him. By this he made a comfortable living, 
and soon demonstrated to his aged mother that she had not la. 
bored in vain, nor s[)ent her .strength for naught. 

For a number of j'ears he farmed. His motto was " excel- 
sior " in whatever he engaged, and in farming he realized success. 

As the father of Uuke William Anderson had fallen under 
the U. S. flag, it became the duty of the Government to care for 
liis widow and orphans. According!}-, Duke William was sent to 
an Illinois school where he received the rudiments of a Western 
education. A Western education did not consist in reading poe- 
try, or in examining Hebrew roots, but in reading, writing, spell- 
ing, arithmetic, geography, and history. There were no soft seats, 
no beautifully frescoed walls.dotted with costly maps, or .studded 
with beautiful pictures; not a school with a dozen beautiful 
rooms, heated by hot air. In those days a Western school-house 
was erected by the side of some public highway, remote from the 
town. It was constructed of logs, — not of the logs that have 
lost their roughness by going through the saw-mill, but logs cut 
by the axe of the hardv frontiersman. The axe was the only tool 
needed to fit the timber for the building. The building was 
about twelve feet in height, an J about sixteen by twenty. The 
cracks were often left open, and sometimes closed by chips and 
mud. The floor was made of split logs with the flat side up. At 
one end of the building was a fireplace and chimney occupying 
the whole end of the hou.se. At each end of the fireplace were 
laid two large stones upon which to rest the ends of the logs of 
wood, under all of which were laid closely large pieces of flat 
stones covered with an inch or two of mud. At the other end of 
the building was a door. It was constructed of thinly split 
pieces of logs held together by pieces of hickory withes which 
crossed each end of the door. This door was hung upon wooden 
hinges, one part of which, instead of being fastened to the door 
by screws, was fastened by little wooden pegs. The step at the 
door was a short piece of log flattened a little on the top and 
braced on the under side by small stones and pieces of chips. The 
roof was made of long pieces of split timber, the flat side out 
and the edges smoothed by the axe in order to make them lie 
.snugly. 



4So HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE AV AMERICA. 

Such was the scliool-house in whicli D. \V. Anderson was edu- 
cated. And it may be tliat the plain school in which he was edu- 
cated loaned him that modest)-, plainness, and unostentatious 
air, which were among the many remarkable traits in his charac- 
ter. The circumstances and society by which boys are sur- 
rounded help to mould their character and determine their fut- 
ure. To a healthy and vigorous body was coupled a clear and 
active mind. He loved knowledge, and was willing to buy it at 
any price — willing to make any sacrifice. He was an industrious 
student, and possessed great power of penetration and acquisi- 
tion. And every thing he read he remembered. The greatest 
difficulty with students is that they fail to apply themselves. A 
man may have the ability to accomplish a given amount of work 
and yet that work can never be accomplished except by the se- 
verest effort. It is one thing to possess a negative power, but it 
is quite another thing to possess a positive power. In this world 
we are set over against all e.xternal laws and forces. We are to 
assume the offensive. We are to climb up to the stars by micro- 
scopes. We are to measure this earth by our mathematics. We 
are to penetrate its depths and lift to the sun its costly treasures. 
We are to acquaint ourselves with the workings of the manifold 
laws which lie about us. If we would know ourselves, under- 
stand our relation to God, we must see after the requisite knowl- 
edge. Suppose that Duke William Anderson had despaired of 
ever receiving an education ; sat down by the way in life and 
said : " There is no use of troubling myself, I cannot get what I 
desire. I am destined to be ignorant and weak all the days of 
my life ; and if there is any good thing for me it will come to me. 
I will sit here and wait." Would the world ever have known of 
Anderson? His life would have shed no perfume; his name 
would have been unknown and his grave would have been for- 
gotten. 

But it was that courage which never knows defeat, it was that 
devotion that never wavers, it was that assiduity, and it was that 
patience that is certain to triumph, v;hich bore him on to a glori. 
ous end, as a summer wind bears up a silver cloud. At the age 
of seventeen he began to teach school. What Colored man would 
have essayed to teach school on the frontiers fifty years ago? 
But D. W. Anderson was born to rule. He was of commanding 
presence, full of confidence and earnestness. He entered upon 
his new duties full of hope and joy. This was something new. 



THE COLORED BAP TESTS OE AMERICA. 481 

There was a great deal of difference between handling the hoe 
and the pen. He found that there was a great difference be- 
tween the farm and the school-house. ]>ut he was one of those 
boys who do every thing with all their might, and he was at once 
at home, and soon became master of his new situation. 

Three laborious years were occupied in teaching. And they 
were years of profit to teacher as well as to pupil. He labored 
hard to be thorough ; and he greatly improved and finished his 
own education during his teaching. 

About this time young Anderson met, courted, and married 
Miss Ruth Ann Lucas. 

Anderson soon made all necessary arrangements, and the 
nuptial ceremony was solemnized by the village parson on the 
30th of September, 1830. With his bride he now settled down 
at home. For some years he lived the life of a farmer. His 
mother was riveted to the s[iot where her devoted husband fell at 
the hands of a besotted Indian. But her son was of a progressive 
spirit. He longed to leave the old home for one more comfort- 
able. How strange that the old should sit by the grave of the 
past, while the young never weary of chasing some vague fancy ! 

He bought a tract of land, cleared it, and opened up a farm. 
He planted a large orchard ; became the owner of seven horses 
and all the implements necessary to farming. 

By his own industry and perseverance he had now acquired a 
neat little home; on his farm he raised enough produce for the 
consumption of his family, and still there was a large quantity 
left for the market. Apples, potatoes, wheat, corn, and other 
commodities brought him handsome returns. 

On this farm were born five children, four of whom lived to 
adult age. The oldest child, Luther Morgan, was born October 
10, 1831. The second child, Mary Catharine, was born in 1833. 
The third, George Washington, was born in 1835. The fourth, 
Elizabeth, was born in 1837. And the fifth and last child was 
born on the night of September 4, 1839, when, also, the mother 
and child died. 

This sad event filled a hitherto hap[iy home with gloom, and 
bowed a strong heart with grief. Anderson was a man possessed 
of a very tender nature, though he was manly and resolute. His 
heart was fixed upon his wife, and this sad providence smote hi-n 
heavily. 

During all these years, from his youth up, he had been very 



482 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

profane. He knew no Sabbath, worshipped no God, and was him- 
self the highest law. He was filled with a grand religious senti- 
ment, anil only needed the grace of God to bring it out, and the 
lOve of God to show him where he stood. 

The object of his youthful affection was gone. The faitliful 
woman who had walked for nineteen years by his side was no 
more; her eyes were closed to mortal things, and she had ceased 
to be. He followed her body to the grave, and there dropped a 
silent tear for her to whom he had given his heart. It was the 
first funeral of any one related to liim, and its lessons were 
sharply cut into his heart. 

He returned to a desolate home, where the sad faces of 
motherless children told that one whom they loved, and who 
had made home happy, was gone. 

His mind now turned to religious matters. He began to 
think of the home beyond, of Jesus, who died for sinners, and 
wondered if he would ever be able to see the loved one beyond 
the tiflc- of death. As he dreamed of immortality, longed for 
heaven, and wondered if Jesus were his Saviour, he was filled with 
a deep sense of sin. He felt more deeply a sense of sin. He 
felt more and more tliat he was unworthy of the Saviour's love ; 
and if he had his just dues, he would be " assigned a portion 
among 'the lost." 

For a long time he was bowed down under the weight of his 
sins, and at length he found peace through the blood of Christ. 
He was renewed. The avaricious man became liberal, the im- 
placable enemy became the forgiving friend, and the man of 
cursing a man of pra_\'er. But it was impossible for liim to cease 
to grieve ; so he thought he would sell the farm and seek another 
iiome. The farm was sold, the horses and tools, and every thing 
converted into money. The children were bound out, and all 
arrangements were perfected to seek another home. 

He paid a visit to Alton, Illinois, where he spent two or three 
years. In those days Alton was the city par excellence of Illi- 
nois, antl toward it flowed the tide of emigration. So favorabh' 
was he impressed with Alton, that he was determined to make it 
his home. Accordingly, he began to make preparations for moving 
the children. In the meanwhile he formed the acquaintance of 
a widow lady in Alton with whom lie became very much pleased. 
.She was a tall, handsome-looking yellow woman, of cultivated 
manners, and of pleasing address. Anderson's wife had been 
dead three or four years. 



rilE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 4S3 

It was now August 17, 1842, and tlic hand and heart of An- 
derson were offered Mrs. Mary Jane Rayjens and accepted. With 
his new companion he now returned to the scenes of his early 
days and to the four children who joyfully awaited his return. 
He had made up his mind to settle in Alton. He and his new 
companion began to prepare for the journey. The family now 
consisted of the four children of Anderson and two children of 
his wife, making a family of six besides the two lieads. 

During the time that intervened between the ucath of his 
first wife and his engagement to the second, he taught school in 
Vincennes, Indiana, Alton and Hrookton, Illinois. The old 
home stood upon the Wabash River, and was (|uite up<-)n the line 
that divided the two States, — Indiana and Illinois. His own 
children went to his school, and were carried across the river on 
his back. On the other bank stood the log school-house of 
which he was principal. 

In those days it was a matter of some comment to see a 
Colored man who dared write his name or tell his age, but to see 
one who was actually a schoolmaster was the marvel of the 
times. His tcacliing was a matter of comment in Vincennes, but 
Vincennes was only a little country town. But to go to -Vlton, — 
that city of great fame, then, — and teach school, was an under- 
taking that required strong nerves. D. \\'. Anderson had them. 
He never allowed himself to think' that he was any person other 
than a man and citizen clothed with all civil rights and armed 
with God-given prerogatives. And so commanding was he, that 
a man who stood in his presence instantly felt him a superior. 
Moreover, the heated feeling and public sentiment which, on the 
night of November 7, 1837, wrested from the hand of God, — to 
whom alone vengeance belongeth, — a life, were not yet abated. 
Lovejo\% a peaceable citizen, had been deprived of free speech 
and struck down by the knife of the assassin ; and could it be 
expected that a Negro would be spared ? The times were excit- 
ing and dangerous, and yet Antlerson was determined to take his 
place and work on in the path of duty, never wincing, but leaving 
the results with God. 

Before in his t[uiet home and farm life, nature was his peculiar 
study. He had studied man in studying himself, but in the city 
of Alton he could study men. He loved to walk through its long 
streets, watch its luirr\ing pedestrians, and learn the manifold 
manifestations of city life. 



484 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Having been converted just after the death of his first wife, but 
never having connected himself witli any church, he now joined 
the A. M. E. Church of Alton. His views from the first were 
Baptistic, but circumstances placed him among the Methodists. 
The elder in charge was tlie powerful preacher, the successful 
revivalist, and the eminently pious man. Rev. Shadrack Stewart. 
Some misunderstanding arose between tlie minister in charge 
and some of the members, which resulted in the withdrawal of 
the pastor, Rev. S. Stewart, Anderson and family, and quite a 
number of the leading members. Minister and all connected 
themselves with the Baptists. Anderson used often to say to 
his family: " That move placed me at home." He was indeed at 
home, and stayed there until he was called to his heavenly rest! 
He loved very much to study the Bible, and to meditate upon its 
great truths. The more he studied it the clearer duty seemed 
and the deeper and purer his love grew for that beneficent Being 
whom he owned as Lord and King. 

It was now 1843. He felt that it was his duty to enter the 
Gospel ministry. Naturally a modest man, he slirank somewhat 
from this voice of God ; but finally, in 1844, submitted to ordina- 
tion. He was ordained by the Rev. John Anderson, father of 
the late Richard Anderson, of St. Louis, or by the Rev. John 
Livingston, of lUinois, though it is a matter of some doubt as to 
who was present at his ordination. 

He now moved to Upper Alton, and pitched his tent under 
the shadow of Shurtleff College. His aim was always to excel. 
He had absorbed every thing that had come within his reach, and 
now he had placed himself where he could rub against " College 
■nil II." 

Some men have to study a great deal to get a very little ; 
they lack the power of mental absorption, and, consequently, 
have to wade far out into the river of knowledge in order to feel 
the benefits of the invigorating waters. Not so with Anderson ; 
he was an indefatigable student. He was always willing to be 
taught by any person who was able to impart knowledge. 
Every new word that saluted his ear was forced into his service; 
never mechanically, but always in its proper place. If he learned 
a word to-day, to-morrow he would use it in its grammatical re- 
lation to a sentence. He had no time for vacation; no mental 
cessation, but it was one unceasing struggle for knowledge. And 
no doubt his approximate relation to Shurtleff College helped to 



THE COLORKl) JiAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 4S3 

impait a certain healtliy tone and solidity to liis stj'lo as a writer 
and prcaclicr which were ever strikingly manifest. 

In a short time he moved out from Alton about twelve miles 
to the town of Woodburn, Madison County, where he remained 
for a year, during which time he taught school and preached 
occasionally. In 1845 he bought an eighty-acre farm on Wood 
River, about five miles from Alton. He moved his family on 
the farm, and began to make improvements. After the farm 
had been put in good working condition, it was not hard for 
Luther, the eldest chihl, to manage it. It might seem strange to 
the boys of to-day, who are dwarfed by cities and cramped by a 
false civilization, to know that Luther, a boy of fourteen, could 
follow the plow and swing the cradle. But, neverthelOss, his 
father could trust most of the work of the farm to these young 
hands. 

Duke W'iUiam Anderson was a civilizer and a reformer. 
Wherever he placed his foot there were thrift and improvement. 
He never was satisfied with him.sclf, or that which he did. He 
always felt when he had done a thing that he could have done it 
bcttir. He never preached a sermon but what he felt that he 
ought to preach the next one bctlcr. In his great brain were the 
insatiable powers of civilization. He was prompt, rapid, de- 
cisive, and sagacious, working ui) to his ideal standard. It was not 
his object to simply improve and help himself; he was far from 
such selfishness. The basis of his reformatory and benevolent 
operations was as broad as humanity and as solid as granite. 
He never entered a community without the deep feeling that it 
should be made better, and never lived in one except his warm 
heart and willing hand went forth to minister to and sympathize 
with all who were in need. 

He felt keenly the bitter prejudice which pervaded the com- 
munit)- from which he had just moved, and was sensible of the 
weakness of the few free Colored citizens who lived in that por- 
tion of the State. Wood River was a healthy place to live ; and 
the land was cheap and ricii. 1 le was not shut up to any selfish 
motives, but was planning for the good of his people. He 
knew that "in union there is strength," and if he could get a 
number of families to move on Wood River he could form a 
settlement, and thus bring the people together in religion and 
politics, in feeling and sentiment. 

This plan was no idle dream. In due time he gave notice, 



486 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. , 

and offered inducements, to the ];eople to come. And they came 
from every section ; and in a few years it had grown to be a large 
and prosperous settlement. 

Duke William Anderson was the central figure in this com- 
munity. His colossal form, his clear mind, and excellent judg- 
ment, placed him at the head of educational and religious 
matters. He was parson, schoolmaster, and justice. All ques- 
tions of theology were submitted to his judgment, from which 
there was no appeal. All social and political feuds were placed 
before him, and his advice would heal the severest schisms and 
restore the most perfect harmony. 

He now threw his great soul into the work of organization. 
He was filled with a grand idea. He felt that the purity and 
intelligence of the community depended upon their knowledge 
of the Bible and the preaching of the Gospel. It was a grand 
idea, though he had to work upon a small scale. It was this 
idea that made the Israelites victorious ; and Anderson was de- 
termined to impress upon this community this primal truth. He 
knew that in knowledge only is there safety, and in science alone 
can certainty be found. Before this idea every thing must bow, 
and around it were to cluster, not only the hopes of that little 
community, but the prayers of four million bondmen. He was 
confident that in God he would triumph, and in Him was his trust. 

The work was begun in the family circle. One evening it 
would be at brother Anderson's house, and the next evening at 
another brother's house, and so on until the meetings had gone 
around the whole community. A deep work of grace was in 
progress. The whole community felt the pervading influence of 
the Spirit, and large results followed. Anderson was wrought 
upon powerfully. He felt to reconsecrate himself to the Master, 
and live a more faithful life. This feeling manifested itself in 
the lives of those who were professors of religion, and the un- 
godly were anxious about their salvation. 

From a very few believers the company of the redeemed had 
largely increased. One house would not accommodate them, 
and it became necessary for them to hold their meetings out- 
doors. It became very evident that this company of believers 
ought to be organized into a church, and a pastor placed over 
them. Duke William Anderson was the man to do this work, 
and, seeing the necessity of it, he immediately organized a Bap- 
tist church. 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OE AMERICA. 4.S7 

He was a man wlio never desired to escape difficult duties — 
rather, he always was on hand when haril burdens were to be 
borne. He approached duty as something that, though at the 
time hard, brought peace in the end. He loved the approba- 
tion of conscience, and never sought to turn away from her 
teachings. 

It is a task seldom, if ever, coveted by the ministers of to-day, 
to attempt the building of a church edifice, though wealth, art, 
and all modern facilities await their beck. 

And one can easily imagine what a formidable task it must 
have been to attempt the building of a church thirty years ago. 
He organized a church out of those who had accepted the Gos- 
pel. And the next work was the building of a house of worship. 
He put his great hand to this work, and in a short time the house 
was comisletcd and his people worshipping under their own vine 
and fig-tree. 

The house was unique, spacious, and comfortable, all in 
keeping with the plain people and their unpretentious pastor. 

There is a great deal in discipline, and Anderson knew it. 
Before the organization of his church the people had been placed 
under no discipline or charged with any special work. But now 
their leader began the work of church discipline and practical 
preaching. The feeling that every person was his own man, in- 
dependent and free, under the preaching of Anderson, gave 
way to the feeling that they were members of one body, and 
Christ the head of that body. The unity of the church was 
preached with great earnestness, and followed by large results. 
It soon became evident that Duke William Anderson was no 
ordinary man, and his fame began to spread. He had sought 
no publicity, but in secret had toiled on in the path of duty. 

During his labors in building a meeting-house and organizing 
a church he had relinquished his hold upon the school ; but now 
as the church was erected and he had more time, he was 
against his will urged into the school-room again. In the school- 
room he was as faithful as he was in tlie pulpit. He sought, 
with marvellous earnestness, to do with all his might that which 
was committed to his hands ; and all his labors were performed 
as if they were being performed for himself. 

He was at this time pastor of a ciiurch, teacher of a school, 
and owner of an eighty acre farm. If he were going to slight 
any work, it would not be that of another, but his own. He 



488 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

watched the growth of his httle church with an apostoHcal eye, 
and nipped every false doctrine in the bud. His excellent 
knowledge of human nature facilitated his work in the church. 
He knew every man woman, and child. He made himself 
familiar with their circumstances and wants, and always placed 
himself in complete sympathy with any and all of their circum- 
stances. He consequently won the confidence, love, and esteem 
of his people. In his school he was watchful and patient. He 
studied character, and classified his pupils ; and was thereby 
enabled to deal with each pupil as he knew tiieir temperament 
demanded. Some children are tender, affectionate, and obe- 
dient ; while others are coarse, ugly, and insubordinate. Some 
need only to have the wrong pointed out, while others need the 
rod to convince them of bad conduct. And happy is that teacher 
who does not attempt to open every child's heart with the same 
key, or punish each with the same rod. 

If there is one quality more than another that the minister 
needs, it is downright earnestness — perfect sympathy with those 
to whom he preaches. What does it amount to if a man preach 
unless he feels what he preaches? Certainly no one can be 
moved or edified. But Anderson was not a cold, lifeless man. 
He loved to preach, though he felt a deep sense of unfitness. 
And it can be truly said of his little church, as was said of the 
early church : " .And believers were the more added to the Lord, 
multitudes both of men and women." 

It was seen by the prophetic eye of Anderson that an associ- 
ation would be the means of bringing the people together. 
Accordingly he went to work to organize an association that 
would take into its arms all the feeble communities or churches 
that had no pastor. In due time all arrangements were perfected, 
and a call issued for the neighboring churches to send their 
pastor and two delegates to sit in council with the Salem Baptist 
Church on Wood River, to consider the propriety of calling into 
existence such an organization. After the usual preliminary 
services, Rev. D. W. Anderson stated the object of the meeting, 
and urged the immediate action of the council in the matter. 
After the usual amount of debate incident to such an occasion, 
the proper steps were taken for the organization of an association 
to be called the " IVood River Baptist Association," with Rev. 
Duke W. Anderson as its first Moderator, to meet on Wood 
River annually. What a triumph ! that day was the proudest of 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 4S9 

his life ! He had spoken to the poor disheartened Baptists for 
fifty miles around, who were cold and indifferent to the Master's 
cause: "Awake! and stand upon your feet ! Come with me to 
help the Lord against the mighty ! Let us organize for the con- 
flict. There is much to do; so, let us be about our Master's work." 
The call sent forth breathed new life into the people, and was 
the signal for united effort in the cause of the Lord. 

It was not enough that an association was formed, it was not 
enough that a few churches were represented in that association ; 
but it must do definite work. It must organize where organiza- 
tion was needed ; it must send out missionaries into the destitute 
places, and give the Gospel to the poor. Thus Anderson rea- 
soned ; and the association heard him. Ciradually the Wood 
River Association grew and extended its workings throughout 
the entire State of Illinois. 

It was evident that the associational gatherings were gro\^•ing 
so large that it was impossible to accommodate them. He ad- 
vised the people to build quarters sufficient to accommodate all. 
Accordingly two or three rows of small houses were erected for 
the people to live in each year during the time the association 
was in session. People now came yearly from every part of the 
State. The great distances did not detain them. Like 
the Jews who returned to Jerusalem every year to attend the 
feast, they were glad when the time came to rest from their ac- 
customed duties and journey toward Wood River. It was a de- 
lightful gathering. Brother ministers met and compared notes; 
while young men and maidens gently ministered at the tables, 
and led the prayer-meetings. 

They enjoyed those meetings. There were no conventionali- 
ties or forms to check the spirit of Christian love. There was 
perfect liberty. There were ^no strangers; for they were the 
children of one common father. They were as one family, and 
had all things in common. The utmost order and harmony 
characterized their gatherings. Not a cross word escaped a sin- 
gle lip. Not a rude act, on the part of the boys, could be seen. 
Boys, in those days, had the profoundest respect for their seniors, 
and held a minister of the Gospel in all the simplicity of a boy's 
esteem. 

In the morning of the first day of their meeting the asso- 
ciation was called to order by the "Moderator" and opened with 
prayer and a hymn. Then, after the usual business, a sermon 



490 HISTORY OF THE KEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

was preached. In the afternoon a doctrinal sermon was preached 
and discussed ; and in the evening a missionary sermon was de- 
livered. 

■ Like the Apostle Paid he could say to the ministers of his day, 
that he had labored more abundantly tlian they all. He worked 
with his hands and preached the Gospel, esteeming it an honor. 
The church over which he presided had grown to one hundred 
and fifty active members, besides a lar^e and attentive con^rega- 
tion. This church had been gathered through his incomparable 
assiduity. He had come into their midst with a heart glow- 
ing with the love of God. He had shown himself an excellent 
farmer, faithful teacher, and consistent Christian. He had led 
one hundred and fifty souls to Christ. That was not all. In the 
pulpit he had taught them the fundamental principles of Chris- 
tianity, and demonstrated those principles in his daily life. His 
royal manhood towered high over the community, until he be- 
came to the whole people a perfect measure of every thing that 
is lovely and of good report. 

He had every thing just as he could wish. He was proprietor 
of an eighty-acre farm, pastor of a flourishing church, school- 
master of the community, enthroned in the affections of the peo- 
ple for whose well-being he had worked for seven years, — he 
might have remained the unrivalled and undisputeil king of 
Woodburn community. But considerations rising high above his 
mere personal interests, led him to make a great sacrifice in sell- 
ing his farm, severing his relation as pastor and teacher with a 
people whom he loved dearly, and who regarded him with a sort 
of superstitious reverence. The object of the change was that 
he might move to Quincy, III., where he might give his children 
a thorough' education. He secured a scholarship in Knox Col- 
lege for his eldest son, Luther Morgan Anderson, antl permission 
for him to attend. He put his son George W., and daughter, 
Elizabeth Anderson, to study in the Missionary Institute near 
Quincy. He now gave his time to farming, preaching, mission- 
ary service, and underground railroad work. His son, George W., 
says, concerning Missionary Institute: "At Missionary Institute 
the atmosphere was more mild, but such was the continued pres- 
sure by the slave-holding border of Mo., offering large rewards 
for the heads of the Institution, as well for those who were known 
to be connected with the underground railroad, that tlie Institu- 
tion after having done much good went down." 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 491 

The j'cars of his residence at Ouincy were full of public ex- 
citement, peril, and strife. lie was a spirited, progressive, and 
representative man. This was the time of the Illinois Prohibition 
Law, making it a criminal offence to aid or encourage a runaway 
slave. The slavery question was being sharply discussed in all 
quarters, and began to color and modify the politics of the day. 
Anderson was a sharp, ready, and formidable debater, and was 
the most prominent Colored man in that section of the country. 
He was gifted in the use of good Knglish, had an easy flow of 
language, was master of the most galling satire, quick in repartee, 
prompt to see a weak point and use it to the best advantage. 
He was a pungent and racy writer, and for a number of years 
contributed many able articles to the "Ouincy W'hig." He never 
spared slavery. In the pidpit, in the public prints, and in private, 
he fought manfully against the nefarious traffic in human flesh. 

Dangerous as was the position he took he felt himself on the 
side of tiuth, humanitj', and (lod, and consequently felt that no 
harm could reach him. At this time, to the duties of farmer, 
pastor, and contributor he added the severe and perilous duty of 
a missionary. \\c canvassed the State, preaching and lecturing 
against slavery. Often he was confronted by a mob who defied 
him, bantered him, but he always spoke. He was in every sense 
the child of nature, endowed with herculean strength, very tall, 
with a face beaming with benevolence and intelligence. He ap- 
peared at his best when opposed, and was enabled by his com- 
manding presence, his phenomenal voice, and burning eloquence 
to quiet and win the most obstreperous mob. 

It was quite easy for a man to be carried away by the irresisti- 
ble enthusiasm of the e.xcited multitude, and think the rising of 
the animal spirits the impulses of his better nature. But, for a 
man to be moved from within, to feel the irresistible power of 
truth, to feel that except he obeys the voice of his better nature 
he is arraigned by conscience — though the whole world without 
is against him, such a man is a hero, deserving of the gratitude 
and praise of the world. 

There were heroes in the days of Anderson, and he was 
worthy of the high place he held among them, lie was possessed 
of genius of the highest order. He api)reciated the times in which 
he lived. He was equal to the work of his generation, and did 
not shrink from any work howsoever perilous. He worked 
between the sluggish conservatism of the anti-slaver_\- element on 



492 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the one hand, and the violent, mobocratic slave element on the 
other. Hence, the school of religious and political sentiment to 
which he belonged had few disciples and encountered many hard- 
ships. It was a desperate struggle between an ignorant, self- 
seeking majority and an intelligent, self-sacrificing minority. It 
often appears that vice has more votaries than virtue, that might 
is greater than right, and that wrong has the right of way. But 
in the light of reason, history, and philosophy, we see the divin- 
ity of truth and the mortality of error. We look down upon the 
great spiritual conflict going on in this world — in society and 
government, — and seeing the mutations of fortune we thinlc we 
see truth worsted, and sound the funeral requiem of our fondest 
hopes, our most cherished ideals. 

But the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceed- 
ingly fine. Time rewards the virtuous and patient. It was faith 
in God, united with a superior hope, that gave him strength in the 
darkest hours of the " irrepressible conflict." 

He was a faithful and indefatigable worker ; and the State 
Missionary Society honored him by thrice choosing him as State 
Missionary. About this time he became an active member of 
the " Underground Railroad." His presence, bearing, and high 
character carried conviction. He made men feel his superiority. 
He was, consequently, a safe counsellor and a successful manager. 
He was soon elevated to an ofificial position, which he filled with 
honor and satisfaction. Many slaves were helped to their free- 
dom by his efforts and advice. He was bold, yet discreet; wise 
without pedantry; humble without religious affectation; firm 
without harshness; kind without weakness. 

The conflict between slavery and freedom grew hotter and 
hotter; and the spirit of intolerance became more general. An- 
derson had proven himself an able defender of human freedom 
and a formidable enemy to slavery. But it seemed as if his efforts 
in the great aggregate of good were unavailing. His high hopes 
of educating his children were blasted in the burning of Mission- 
ary Institute by a mob from Missouri. It was evident that the 
slave power would leave no stone unturned in order to accom. 
plish their cowardly and inhuman designs. It was not enough 
to destroy the only school where all races could be educated to 
gether, to disturb the meetings of the few anti-slavery men who 
dared to discuss a question that they believed involved the 
golden rule and hence the well-being of the oppressed, — they put 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 493 

a price on his head. He was to be hung to the first tree if 
caught upon the sacred soil of Missouri. He \\as secretl)', though 
closely watched. One of his sons writes: " He took a deep in- 
terest in the Underground Railroad in connection with a Mr. 
Turner and Vandorn of Quincy, and a Mr. Hunter and Payne 
of Missionary Institute. These gentlemen, I believe, with the 
e.xception of Mr. Payne, are alive and extensively known in the 
North." 

He was not lacking in the qualities of moral or physical 
bravery. He could not be bought or bullied. He was unmov- 
able when he felt he was right. The bitterest assaults of his 
enemies only drove him nearer his ideas, not from them. He 
might have lived and died in Quincy if he had not greatly desired 
the education of his children, who were denied such privileges in 
the destruction of the institute. 

At this time intelligent, to say nothing of educated, ministers 
were few and far between. St. Louis was blessed with an excel- 
lent minister in the person of the Rev. Richard Anderson. He 
was a man of some education, fine manners, good judgment, and 
deep piety; beloved and respected by all classes both in and 
out of the church, white and black. The Rev. Galusha Anderson, 
U.D., who pronounced the funeral sermon over the remains of 
Richard Anderson, says he had the largest funeral St. Louis ever 
witnessed. His servant, who had been an attendant upon the 
ministrations of Richard Anderson, said mournfully, when asked 
by the doctor if they missed him : " Ah, sir, he led us as by a 
spider web I " Richard Anderson saw Duke William Anderson 
and loved him. He saw in the young man high traits of charac- 
ter, and in his rare gifts auguries of a splendid career. He saw 
the danger he lived in, the hopeless condition of public senti- 
ment, and advised him to accept the pastoral charge of the Bap- 
tist church in Buffalo, X. Y., where also he could educate his 
children. 

Bulfalo was an anti-slavery stronghold. The late Gerrit 
Smith was chief of the party in that section of New York. By his 
vast wealth, his high personal character, his deeply-rooted con- 
victions, his wide-spread and consistent opposition to slavery, he 
was the most conspicuous character in the State, and made many 
converts to the anti-slavery cause. Buffalo was the centre of 
anti-slavery operations. Many conventions and conferences were 
held there. It was only twenty-four miles to the Canadian bound- 



494 niSJ-ORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

aries, hence it was the last and most convenient station of the U. 
G. R. R. 

It was now about 1854-1855. The anti-slavery sentiment 
was a recognized and felt power in the politics of the Nation. 
Anderson appeared in Buffalo just in time to participate in the 
debates that were rendering that city important. He took the 
pastoral charge of the Baptist church and high standing as a 
leader. He remained here quite two years or more, during which 
time he used the pulpit and the press as the vehicles of his invec- 
tives against slavery. He did not have to go to men, they went 
to him. He was a great moral magnet, and attracted the best 
men of th-e city. The white clergy recognized in him the quali- 
ties of a preacher and leader worthy of their admiration and 
recognition. The Rev. Charles Dennison and other white breth- 
ren invited him to their pulpits, where he displayed preaching 
ability worthy of the intelligent audiences that listened to his 
eloquent discourses. 

His stay in Buffalo was salutary. By his industry and useful- 
ness he became widely known and highly respected. And 
when he accepted a call from the Groghan Street Baptist 
Church, of Detroit, Michigan, his Buffalo friends were conscious 
that in his departure from them they sustained a very great 
loss. 

It was now the latter pkrt of 1857. The anti-slavery conflict 
was at its zenith. This controversy, as do all moral controver- 
sies, had brought forth many able men ; had furnished abundant 
material for satire and rhetoric. This era presented a large and 
brilliant galaxy of Colored orators. There were Frederick Doug- 
lass — confessedly the historic Negro of America, — Charles L. 
Remond, Charles L. Reason, William Wells Brown, Henrj- High- 
land Garnett, Martin R. Delany, James W. C. Pennington, Robert 
Purvis, Phillip A. Bell, Charles B. Ray, George T. Downing, 
George B. Vashon, William C. Nell, Samuel A. Neale, William 
Whipper, Ebenezer D. Bassett, William Howard Day, William 
Still, Jermain W.Loguen, Leonard A. Grimes, John Sella Martin, 
and many others. Duke William Anderson belonged to the same 
school of orators. 

The church at Detroit had been under the pastoral charge of 
the Rev. William Troy, who had accepted the pulpit of the 
Baptist church in Windsor, Canada West, and started to England 
to solicit funds to complete a beautiful edifice already in process 



THE COLORJiD BAP77STS OF AMEK/CA. 495 

of erection. At this time John ScUa Martin liad obtained con- 
siderable notoriety as an orator. He had canvassed the Western 
States in the interest of the anti-shivery cause, and was now re- 
siding; in Detroit. He was baptized and ordained by Brethren 
Anderson and Troy, and took char<je of the church at ]5uffaIo. 

Detroit lies in a salubrious atmosphere, ujion Detroit River, 
not far from Lake Erie; and at tliis time was not lackini; in a 
high social and moral atmosphere. The field was the most con- 
genial he had yet labored in. He found an e.\cellent church- 
membership, an intelligent and progressive people. He was 
heartily welcomed and highly apjireciated. He entered into the 
work with zeal, and imparted an enthusiasm to the people. He 
developed new elements of strength in the church. He attracted 
a large, cultivated audience, and held them to tiie last day he re- 
mained in tlie city. His audience was not exclusively Colored : 
some of the best white families were regular attendants upon his 
preaching; and they contributed liberally to his support. De- 
troit had never seen the peer of Duke William Anderson in the 
])uli)it. He did not simply attract large congregations on the 
Sabbath, but had a warm place in the affections of all classes, and 
a personal moral influence, which added much to the spirituality 
of the church. In every church, thus far, he had been blessed 
with a revival of religion, and souls had been added as "seals to 
his ministry." Detroit was no exception to the rule. Under 
his leadership, through his preaching and pastoral visitations the 
church was aroused, and the icsult a revival. Many were added 
to the church. 

It was now the spring of 1858. John Brown., the proto- 
martyr of freedom, by his heroism, daring, inlre[)id perseverance, 
inspired, — swallowed with one great idea, had stirred all Kansas 
and Missouri to fear, and carried off eleven slaves to Canada and 
set them free. He had established his headquarters at Chatham, 
Canada West, and begun the work of organization preparatory to 
striking the blow at Harper's Ferry. ]5rown held his first con- 
vention at Chatham — only a few hours" ride from Detroit — on 
May 8, 1858, at 10 o'clock .\.y\. The convention was composed 
of some very able men. The following-named gentlemen com- 
posed the convention : Wm. Charles Monroe, President of the 
Convention ; G. J. Reynolds, J. C. Grant, A. J. Smith, James M. 
Jones, Geo. B. Gill, M. Y. Bailey, Wm. Lambert, C. W. Moffitt, 
John J. Jackson, J. Anderson, Alfred Whipple, James M. Bue, 



496 JIISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Wm. H. Leeman, Alfred M. Ellsworth, John E. Cook, Stewart 
Taylor, James W. Purnell, Geo. Akin, Stephen Detlin, Thomas 
Hickinson, John Cannet, Robinson Alexander, Richard Realf, 
Thomas F. Gary, Thomas W. Stringer, Richard Richardson, J. 
T. Parsons, Thos. M. Kinnard, Martin R. Delany, Robert Van- 
rankin, Charles H. Tidd, John A. Thomas, C. Whipple, J. D. 
Shad, Robert Newman, Owen Brown, John Brown, J. H. Harris, 
Charles Smith, Simon Fislin, Isaac Hotley, James Smith. Signed, 
J. H. Kagi. The following is the list of officers elected : 

Commander-in-chief, John Brown ; Secretary of War, J. H. 
Kagi ; Members of Congress, Alfred M. Ellsworth, Osborn 
Anderson ; Treasurer, Owen Brown ; Secretary of Treasury, 
Geo. B. Gill ; Secretary of State, Richard Realf. 

The reader will see that two Andersons are mentioned, J. 
Anderson and Osborn Anderson. [Who these gentlemen are, 
the author does not know, nor has he any means of knowing.] 

Rev. D. W. Anderson's ministry in Detroit was a success both 
in and out of the pulpit, both among his parishioners and among 
those of the world. 

His wife was in every sense a pastor's wife. She bore for him 
the largest sympathy in his work; and cheered him with her 
prayers and presence in every good cause. She was intelligent 
and pious, loved by the church, honored by society. She found 
pleasure in visiting the sick, helping the poor, comforting the 
sorrowiul, and in instructing the erring in ways of peace. 

It is almost impossible to compute the value of a pastor's wife 
who appreciates the work of saving souls. If she is a good 
woman her- influence is unbounded. Every person loves her, 
every person looks up to her. There are so many little things 
that she can do, if not beyond the province of the pastor, often 
out of range of his influence. Mrs. Anderson was all that could 
be hoped as a pastor's wife. She was of medium size, in com- 
plexion light, rather reserved in her manners, affable in address, 
very sensitive in her physical and mental constitution. Much of 
Anderson's service in Detroit must go to the account of his 
sainted wife. And it may woX. be irrelevant to remark that every 
minister of Christ's influence and success is perceptibly modi- 
fied by his wife — much depends upon her! 

Eighteen years of happy wedded life had passed. It was the 
autumn of i860. Mrs. Anderson's health was failing. Her 
presence was missed from the church, from society, and at last 
on the 23d of October, 1S60, she died. 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 497 

On the iStli of March, iS6i, he married again. Mrs. Eliza 
Julia Shad, of Chatham, Canada. He turned his attention to 
(arming for a while, in order to regain his health. 

At the close of the war he went Soutli and taught in a theo- 
logical institution at Nashville. Soon after he began his work 
here he received and accepted a call from the igth Street Baptist 
Church of Washington, D. C. Washington was in a vile condi- 
tion at the close of the war. Its streets were mud holes; its 
inhabitants crowded and jammed by the troops and curious 
Negroes from the plantations. Society was in a critical condi- 
tion. There was great need of a leader for the Colored people. 
D. W. Anderson was that man. He entered upon his work with 
zeal and intelligence. He carried into the pulpit rare abilities, 
and into the parish work a genial, kindly nature which early 
gave him a place in the affections and confidence of his flock. 

As a preacher he was a marvel. He generally selected his 
text early in the week. He studied its exegesi.s, made the plan 
of the sermon, and then began to choose his illustrations and fill 
in. On Sunday he would rise in his pulpit, a man si,\ feet two 
and a half inches, and in a rich, clear, deliberate voice commence 
an extemporaneous discourse. His presence was majestic. 
With a massive head, much like that of John Adams, a strong 
brown eye that flashed as he moved on in his discourse, a voice 
sweet and well modulated, but at times rising to tones of thun- 
der, graceful, ornate, forcible, and dramatic, he was the peer of 
any clergyman in Washington, and of Negroes there were none 
his equal. 

He shov.-ed himself a power in the social life of his people by 
being himself a living epistle. He encouraged the young, and 
set every one who knew him an example of fidelity and effi- 
ciency in the smaller matters of life. 

His early experiences were now in demand. The entire 
community recognized in him the elements of magnificent 
leadership. He was in great demand in every direction. He 
was elected a Trustee of the Howard University, of the Freed- 
man's Saving Bank and Trust Company, Commissioner of Wash- 
ington Asylum, Sept. 3d, 1871, and Justice of the Peace. 8lh of 
April, 1869, and 9th of April, 1872. The vast amount of work 
he did on the outside did not impair his usefulness as a pastor or 
his faithfulness as a minister of the Gospel. On the contrary he 
gathered ammunition and experience from every direction. He 



500 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

The news of his deatli cast gloom into tliousands of hearts, 
and evoked eulogies and letters of condolence never before be- 
stowed upon a Negro. His death was to the members of his 
church in the nature of a personal bereavement. The various 
interests to which he had loaned the enlightening influence of his 
judgment and the beneficence of his presence mourned his loss, 
and expressed their grief in appropriate resolutions. His life 
and character formed a fitting theme for the leading pulpits ; and 
the Baptist denomination, the Negro race, and the nation sin- 
cerely mourned the loss of a great preacher, an able leader, and 
a pure patriot. 

At the request of many people of both races and political 
parties, his body was placed in state in the church for twenty- 
four hours, and thousands of people, rich and poor, black and 
white, sorrowfully gazed upon the face of the illustrious dead. 
The funeral services were held on the 20th of February, and his 
obsequies were the largest Washington had ever seen, except 
those of the late Abraham Lincoln. The church was crowded 
to suffocation, and the streets for many squares were filled with 
solemn mourners. Thus a great man had fallen. The officers of 
the Freedman's Bank passed the following resolutions, which 
were forwarded with the accompanying letter from the president : 

"Office of the Freedman's Savings and Trust ) 
"Co.MPANY, Washington, D. C, Feb. 20th, 1873. ) 

",\t a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Freedman's Savings 
and Trust Company, held this date, the following resolutions were 
adopted : 

"ist. Resoivfil That in the death of the Rev. D.W.Anderson, 
Trustee and Vice-President of this Company, we sustain the loss of a 
most excellent Christian man, and an officer of highest integrity. In 
all his relations to us he was an endeared associate, and an honored, in- 
telligent, co-worker : ever firm in purpose and faithful to those for 
whom he labored. Our long intercourse with him impressed us with 
the increasing value of his services to the church of which he was pas- 
tor, and to this iiistituiion. 

'' We also hereby express our sincere sympathy with his immediate 
friends, and especially his afflicted family. 

" 2d. RciolvfJ, That, as an added expression of our esteem, this 
Board will attend and take part in his funeral services, as a body. 

" 3d. Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon our Records, 
and that a copy of the same be transmitted to his family." 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OE A. AT ERICA. 501 

" Principal Office, ) 

'■ Fricedman's Savings and Trust Comi-anv, .- 

"Washington, D. C, Feb. 21, '73. ) 

"To Mrs. D. \V. Andkrson. 

'^ Afy Dear SisU-r : Allow ine to transmit to you tlie enclosed copy 
of resolutions passed by the Board of Trustees of the F. S. and T. 
Comp., toi/h the sincerest assurances of my /f/-j-(7/W sympathy. 
" Very respectfully, yours, etc., 

" I. W. Al.voRi), President." 

The Hoard of the Commissioners of the Washington Asylum 
passed the following resolutions of condolence : 

" Whereas, it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this 
life the Rev. D. W. Anderson, late President of this Board : therefore, 

'■ Be it resolved. That in his death we have lost an lionorable and 
faithful associate, a genial and kind-hearted friend, whom we delighted 
to honor and respect for his many virtues and sterling worth. In him 
the poor have lost a sympathizing friend ; the criminal an even dis- 
penser of Justice, and the Government one of its most etlicient ofiicers. 

'^ Resolned. That we tender our most sincere sympathy to his be- 
reaved family, and condole with them in this sad dispensation of Divine 
I'rovidence. 

'^Resolved, That the resolutions be entered upon the Journal of 

proceedings of this Board, and a co))y sent to the family of the lamented 

deceased. 

"A. B. BOIIRER, 

" Sec. B. C. jr. Asylum. 
" Mrs. D. W. Anderson, 
" Present." 

The Young People's Christian Association, wliicli he had 
founded, have spread the following resolutions of respect upon 
their minutes : 

" U'/iereas, It has pleased the Supreme Ruler and Architect of 
the Universe to remove from our Association our beloved and esti- 
mable brtnher and Corresponding Secretary D. W. Anderson, whose 
Christian life was a beacon light, for all associated with him to follow, 
being humble, patient, forbearing, and forgiving. Therefore, 

" Resolved, That in his death we have lost an humble and true 
Christian, possessing the same prominent characteristics which distin- 
guished the Saviour of Mankind, doing good whenever he believed he 
was serving his Heavenly Master, administering to the poor, feeding 
the hungry, clothing the naked, binding up the wounds of those of- 



502 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IK AMERICA. 

fended, and laboring zealously for the salvation of souls, but while we 
feel the severe stroke of death that has stricken down one of our best 
members, we bow humbly to the will of Divine Providence, ' who doeth 
all things well,' believing that He has summoned our brother to dwell 
with Him in i)eace and happiness and to join the Army that is continu- 
ally singing praises to Him who rules both the Heavens and the earth, 
so we cheerfully bow and acknowledge that our loss is his eternal gain, 

" Rc'sa/i'cJ, That we tender to his bereaved family our sincere and 
Christian sympathy in this their hour of bereavement, and pray that He 
who has promised to be a Husband to the Widow, and a Father to the 
Fatherless, may keep and jjrotect them. 

'^Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be engrossed and sent 
to the family of our deceased brother, and that the same be entered 
upon the records of the Association." 

And the church testified their love and sorrow in the following 
beautiful resolves: 

" Baptist Church, 

" Corner of 19TH &: I Streets, 

"Washington, D. C, Feb. 28, 1873. 

" JI7/6-/r,7s, It has pleased the Almighty God, the Supreme Ruler of 
the universe to remove from us our much esteemed and beloved Pastor, 
" Reverend 1). W. Anderson, 
" therefore, be it, 

" Resolved, That we deeply deplore and lament the loss of so great 
and noble a pioneer in the cause of Christ, one who, like Christ, al- 
though scorned, traduced and ill-treated by enemies, went forward and 
labored in and out of his church for the [iromotion of the work of his 
Father in Heaven. 

" R,-so/-(Yd, that as a Church we feel the severe stroke that has sum- 
moned from us our dearly beloved Pastor ; but knowing that our loss is 
his eternal gain, we cheerfully submit to the will and order of that God 
who does all things well, that God who controls the destinies of nations, 
kingdoms, and empires, that God who 'moves in mysterious ways his 
wonders to perform.' 

" Rfsolved, That we will endeavor by the assistance of our heavenly 
Master to live up to the teachings and exainples set by our shepherd, 
thereby believing that when we are summoned to appear at the bar of 
God we will meet our Pastor in that grand Church above where ' sick- 
ness, pain, sori'ow, or death is feared and felt no more,' 'where congre- 
gations ne'er break up, and Sabbath hath no end,' where 'we will sing 
hosannas to our heavenly King, where we will meet to part no more for- 
ever.' 



TJJK COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 503 

"■Resolved, That we, the Church, extend to the bereaved family our 
heartfelt sympathies, and that a copy of these resolutions be sent to 
them, and also entered on the Church journal. 

" LiNDSEV Musk, Moderator. 
"David \Vak.\i;r, Clerk." 

The Mite Society of his church erected a monument to his 
memory in Harvioiiy Ceiiutcry,\>Q^x\\vg the followini,' inscriptions: 

"The Christian Mite Society of the lyth Street Baptist Church ren- 
der this tribute to the memory of their beloved pastor. We shall go to 
him, but he shall not return to us. 

" Rev. IX W. Anderson, 

"Born April loth, 1812. Died Feb. 17th, 1873. 

"' I have finished the work which lliou gavest me lo do." 

"He was ordained in 1S44, and after a ministry of 21 years settled 
with the 19th Street Bai)tist Church of Washington, D. C, where he 
fell asleep in the midst of a great revival. 

" For the cause of education, the welfare of the poor, the promotion 
of humanity, liberty, and the conversion of tlie world. 

" He labored faithfully until the Master called him hence." 

This beautiful life was studded with the noblest virtues. 
From obscurity and poverty Uuke William Anderson had risen 
to fame and honors; and having spent a useful life, died in the 
midst of a great revival in the capital of the nation, holding more 
positions of trust than any other man, white or black ; died with 
harness on, and left a name whose lustre will survive the cor- 
roding touch of time. 

The Rev. James I'oindexter, of Columbus, Ohio, and the 
Rev. Wallace Shelton, of Cincinnati, are now and have been for 
years the foremost Baptist ministers of Ohio. Both men came 
to Ohio more than a generation ago, and have proven themselves 
able ministers of Christ. 

But of New England Baptist ministers Leonard Andrew 
Grimes is of most blessed memory. 

It was some time during the year 1840, when disputings arose 
— about what is not known — within the membership of what was 
known as the " h'irst Independent Baptist Church," of Boston, 
Mass., which resulted in the drawing out from the same of about 
forty members. This party was led by the Rev. Mr. Black, who 
had been, for some time, pastor of the church he now left. They 



502 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 

fended, and laboring zealously for the salvation of souls, but while we 
feel the severe stroke of death that has stricken down one of our best 
members, we bow humbly to the will of Divine Providence, 'who doeth 
all things well,' believing that He has summoned our brother to dwell 
with Him in peace and happiness and to join the Army that is continu- 
ally singing praises to Him who rules both the Heavens and tiie earth, 
so we cheerfully bow and acknowledge that our loss is his eternal gain. 

■' Resolved, That we tender to his bereaved family our sincere and 
Christian sympathy in this their hour of bereavement, and pray that He 
who has promised to be a Husband to the Widow, and a Father to the 
Fatherless, may keep and jirotect them. 

'^Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be engrossed and sent 
to the family of our deceased brother, and that the same be entered 
upon the records of the Association." 

And the church testified their love and sorrow in the following 
beautiful resolves: 

" Baptist Church, 

" Corner of 19111 iV I Streets, 

"Washington, D. C, Feb. 28, 1873. 

" Whereas, It has pleased the Almighty God, the Supreme Ruler of 
tlie universe to remove from us our much esteemed and beloved Pastor, 
" Revkkf.nd D. W. Anderson, 
" therefore, be it, 

"Resolved, That we deeply deplore and lament the loss of so great 
and noble a pioneer in the cause of Christ, one who, like Christ, al- 
though scorned, traduced and ill-treated by enemies, went forward and 
labored in and out of his churcii for the jiromotion of the work of his 
Father in Heaven. 

'' Resolved, that as a Churcli we feel the severe stroke that has sum- 
moned from us our dearly beloved Pastor ; but knowing that our loss is 
his eternal t;ain, we cheerfully submit to the will and order of that God 
who does all things well, that (iod who controls the destinies of nations, 
kingdoms, and emi)ires. that God who ' moves in mysterious ways his 
wonders to jjerform.' 

" Resolved, That we will endeavor by the assistance of our heavenly 
Master to live up to the teachings and examples set by our shepherd, 
thereby believing that when we are summoned to appear at the bar of 
God wc will meet our Pastor in that grand Church above where ' sick- 
ness, ])ain, sorrow, or death is feared and felt no more,' 'where congre- 
gations ne'er break up, and Sabbath hath no end,' where 'we will sing 
hosannas to our heavenly King, where we will meet to part no more for- 
ever.' 



77//; COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 503 

■■ AV. V,-, •, I ;,a we, ihe Church, extend to the bereaved family our 
heartfelt synii-athi.s, and that a copy of these resolutions be sent to 
them, and a'io entered on the Church journal. 

.. ,- ,,r ,., , „ " LixDSKv Musk, J/,;,/<7Ww. 

I>AVii. Waknek, CUrk." 

Tlic Mitc Si.cicty of liis church erected a monument to his 
memory in Harinony CtiniUry,hcAr\\\s^ the foUowintj inscriptions: 

"The Christian Mite Society of the 19th Street Baptist Chun h ren- 
der this tribute to the memory of their beloved pastor. We shall go to 
him, but he shall not return to us. 

" Rev. D. \V. Anderson-, 

" Horn April loth. iSi.-. Died Feb. 17th, 1873. 

"' I have finished the work which tiiou gavest me to do.' 

■' He was nrdamed in 1 S44, and after a ministry of 21 years settled 
with the 19th Street Baptist Church of Washington, I). C, where he 
fell asleep in the midst of a great revival. 

■■ For the cause of education, the welfare of the poor, the promotion 
ot humanity, liberty, and the conversion of the world. 

" He laboreil faithfully until the Master called him hence." 

This beautiful lit'c was studdetl with the noblest virtues. 
From obscurity and poverty Duke William Anderson had risen 
to fame and honors; and having spent a useful life, died in the 
midst of a great revival in the capital of the nation, holding more 
positions of trust than any other man, white or black ; died with 
harness on, and left a name whose lustre will survive the cor- 
roding touch of time. 

The Rev. James I'oinde.vtcr, of Columbus, Ohio, and the 
Rev. Wallace Shelton, of Cincinnati, are now and iiavc been for 
years the foremost Haptist ministers of Ohio. Both men came 
to C>liio more than a generation ago, and have j)roven themselves 
able ministers of Christ. 

Hut of New Mngland Baptist ministers Leonard Andrew 
Grimes is of most blessed memory. 

It was some time during the year 1S4O, when clis[Hitings arose 
— about what is not known — within tlie membership of what was 
known as the •• I-'irst Inde[)en<lent Baptist Church," of Boston, 
Mass., which resLilted in the drawing out from the same of about 
forty members. This party was led by the Rev. Mr. Black, who 
had been, for some time, pastor of the church lie now left. They 



504 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

secured a place of worship in Smith Court, off of Joy Street, 
where they continued for a considerable space of time. It was 
not long, however, after they began to worship in their new 
liome, before tlieir highly esteemed and venerable leader was 
stricken down with disease, from which he subsequently died. 

This little band was now without a leader, and was, conse- 
quently, speedily rent by a schism within its own circle. But in 
the nucleus that finally became the Twelfth Baptist Church, 
there were faithful men and women who believed in the integrity 
of their cause, and, therefore, stood firm. They believed that 
" He who was for them was greater than all they who were 
against them." Though few in number, they felt that "one shall 
chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to flight," was 
a very pertinent passage when applied to themselves. And 
those who have been blessed to see that little " company of 
believers " grow to be an exceedingly large and prosperous 
church of Christ must be persuaded that God alone gave "the 
increase." 

For a long time this little company struggled on without a 
leader. They were called upon to walk through many discour- 
aging scenes, and to humble themselves under the remorseless 
hand of poverty. Unable to secure, permanently, the services 
of a clergyman, they were driven to the necessity of obtaining 
whomsoever they could when the Sabbath came. And what a 
blessed thing it was for them that they were placed under the 
severe discipline of want ! It taught them humility and faith — 
lessons often so hard to acquire. They bore their trials hero- 
ically, and esteemed it great joy to be counted worthy to suffer 
for Christ. When one Sabbath was ended they knew not whom 
the Lord would send the next ; and yet they never suffered for 
the " Word of God." For He who careth for the lilies of the 
field, and bears up the falling sparrow, fed them w.ith the 
" bread of life," and gave them to drink of the waters of salva- 
tion. " Unto the poor the Gospel was preached." 

After a few years of pain and waiting, after the watching and 
praying, the hoping and fearing, God seemed pleased to hear the 
prayers of this lonely band, and gave them a leader. It was 
whispered in the community that a very intelligent and useful 
man, by the name of " Grimes," of New Bedford, could be re- 
tained as their leader. After some deliberation upon the matter, 
they chose one of their number to pay a visit to " Brother Leonard 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OE AMERICA. 505 

A. Grimes, of New Bedford," and on behalf of the company- 
worshipping in " an upper room," on Belknap Street^now Joy 
Street — Boston, extended him an invitation to come and spend 
a Sabbath with them. In accordance with their request he paid 
them a visit. Impressed with the dignity of his bearing, and 
the earnestness of his manner, the company was unanimous in an 
invitation, inviting "the young preacher" to return and remain 
with them for " three months." 

The invitation was accepted with alacrity, and the work be- 
gun with a zeal worthy of the subsequent life of " tlie beloved 
pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church." Brother L. A. Grimes had 
been driven North on account of his friendly and humane rela- 
tions to the oppressed. He had been incarcerated by the laws 
of slave-holding Virginia, for wresting from her hand, and pilot- 
ing into the land of freedom, those whom slavery had marked as 
her children — or, rather, her " goot/s." A soul like his was too 
grand to live in such an atmosphere. In keeping the golden 
rule, he had insulted the laws of the institution under whose 
merciless sway thousands of human beings were groaning. He 
would live no longer where his convictions of duty were to be 
subordinated to, and palliated by, the penurious and cruel teach- 
ing of the slave institution. So, after having been robbed of his 
property, he left, in company with his family, for the fair shores 
of New England. He had sought no distinction, but had settled 
down to a quiet life in New Bedford. But a man of his worth 
could not stay in the quiet walks of life ; he was born to lead, 
and heard God call him to the work his soul loved. 

His quiet, unpretentious ministry of " three months" shadowed 
forth the loving, gentle, yet vigorous and successful ministry of a 
quarter of a century; a ministry so like the Master's, not con- 
fined to sect or nationality, limited only by the wants of human- 
ity and the great heart-love that went gushing out to friend and 
foe. Those who were so happy as to sit under his ministry for 
the " three months " were quite unwilling to be .separated from 
one whose ministry had so greatly comforted and built them up. 
In the young preacher they had found a leader of excellent judg- 
ment, a pastor of tender sympathies, and a father who loved 
them with all the strength of true manly affection, How could 
they retain him? They were poor. How could they release him? 
They loved him. After much prayer and pleading. Brother Grimes 
was secured as their leader, with a salary at the rate of §100 per 



5o6 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

annum. He returned to New Bedford and moved his family to 
Boston. His salary barely paid his rent; but by working with 
his hands, as Paul did, and through the industry of his wife, he 
was enabled to get along. 

During all this time this little company of believers was with- 
out " church organization." At length a council was called and 
their prayer for organization presented. After the procedure 
common to such councils, it was voted that this company of 
Christian men and women be organized as the "Twelfth Baptist 
Church." The church consisted of twenty-three members. 

On the evening of the 24th of November, 1S48, occurred the 
services of the recognition of the church, and the ordination of 
Rev. L. A. Grimes as its pastor. The order of exercises was as 
follows : 

Reading of Scriptures and prayer, by the Rev. Edmund 
Kclley ; sermon, by the Rev. J. Banvard, subject: "The way of 
salvation," from Acts xvi, 17: "The same followed Paul and us, 
and cried, saying. These men are the servants of the most high 
God, which show imto us the way of salvation " ; hand of fellow- 
ship to the church, by the Rev. T. F. Caldicott ; praj'er of recog- 
nition and ordination, by the Rev. John Blain ; charge to the 
candidate, by the Rev. Nathaniel Colver ; address to the church, 
by the Rev. Rollin H. Neale ; concluding prayer, by the Rev. 
Sereno Howe; benediction, by the pastor. Rev. Leonard A. 
Grimes. 

The exercises were of a very pleasant nature, and of great 
interest to the humble little church that assembled to enjoy 
them. It was an occasion of no small moment that published tt> 
the world the "Twelfth Baptist Church," and sent upon a mission 
of love and mercy, Leonard Andrew Grimes! It was an occasion 
that has brought great strength to the Colored people of Boston, 
yea, of the country! It was the opening of a door; it was the 
loosening of chains, the beginning of a ministry that was to 
stretch over a period of twenty-five years, carrying peace and 
blessing to men in every station. And may we not, with pro- 
priety, halt upon the threshold of our gratitude, and thank 
that wise Being who gave him, a blessing to the church a friend 
to humanity ? 

Happy, thrice happy, was the little church that had wedded 
itself for life to one who had laid himself upon the altar of their 
common cause. These relations and manifold responsibilities 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS Of AMERICA. 507 

were not hastily or raslily assumed. The little cluirch felt keenly 
its poverty and weakness, while its new pastor knew that the 
road to prosperity lay through fields of toil and up heights of 
difficulty. Before him was no dark future, fur the light of an 
extraordinary faith scattered the darkness as he advanced to 
duty. What man of intelligence, without capital or social influ- 
ence, would have undertaken so discouraging a project as that to 
ii'hich Leonard A. Grimes unconditional!)- brought the sanctified 
7':al of a loving heart? To him it was purel\- a matter of duty, 
p.nd it was this thought that urged him on with his almost super- 
Auman burdens. 

But to return to the " upper chamber." and take one more 
look at the happy little church. It was not the pastor's object to 
begin at once to perfect plans to secure a place more desirable to 
worship in than their present little room. His heart longed for 
that enlargement of soul secured by a nearness to the divine 
Master. His heart yearned after those who were enemies to the 
"cross of Christ." His first prayer was: "O Lord, revive thy 
work!" and it was not offered in vain. A season of prayer was 
instituted for the outpouring of the Spirit. The pastor led the 
way to the throne of grace in a fervent and all-embracing prayer. 
A spirit of prayer fell upon his people. Every heart trembled in 
tenderest sympathy for those who were strangers to the " cove- 
nant of mercy " ; every eye was dampened with tears of gratitude 
and love; ever\- tongue was ready to exclaim with Watts: — 

" 'T was the same love that spread tlie feast, 
That sweetly forced us in ; 
Else wo had sull refused to taste, 
And perished in our sin." 

The church had reached that point in feeling where the bless- 
ing is sure. They heard the coming of the chariot, and felt the 
saving power of the Lord in their midst. It was a glorious re- 
vival. There were more converted than there were members in 
the church. Oh, what joy, what peace, what comfort in the 
Holy Ghost was there in that " upper chamber " ! What tongue 
or pen can describe the scene in that room when over thirty 
souls were gathered into the fold I A pastor's first revival ! 
What rejoicing ! The gathering of his first children in the Lord ! 
Ask Paul what conscious pride he took in those who were his 
" epistles," his " fruit in the Gospel," his " children " in Christ 



508 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Jesus. It lifted Brother Grimes up to the heights of Pisgah in his 
rejoicing, and hiid him low at the cross in his humility. " The 
Lord had done great things for him, whereof he was glad " ; 
And they " did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of 
heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And 
the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." 

The rooms in which they began now proved too small for 
their rapidly increasing membership. They agreed to have a 
building of their own. It was now the latter part of 1848. The 
business eye of the pastor fell upon a lot on Southac Street ; 
and in the early part of 1849 the trustees purchased it. Prepa- 
rations for building were at once begun. It seemed a large un- 
dertaking for a body of Christians so humble in circumstances, 
so weak in numbers. But faith and works were the ^('///V that 
turned the tide of prosperity in their favor. They decided that 
the ground and edifice should not exceed in cost the sum of 
$10,000. The society proposed to raise two or three thousand 
within its own membership ; three thousand by loan, and solicit 
the remainder from the Christian public. Previous to this period 
the public knew little or nothing of this society. Brother Grimes 
had come to Boston almost an entire stranger, and had now to 
undertake the severe task of presenting the interests of a society 
so obscure and of so recent date. But he believed in his cause, 
and knew that success would come. He had known Dr. Neale 
in Washington City, during his early ministry; they were boys 
together. They met. It was a pleasant meeting. The Rev. Mr. 
Neale vouched for him before the public. It was not particularly 
necessary, for Brother Grimes carried a recommendation in his 
face: it was written all over with veracity and benevolence. 

Joyfully and successfully lie hurried on his mission. He 
made friends of the enemies of evangelical religion, and gathered 
a host of admirers around him. The public saw in him not only 
the zealous pastor of an humble little church, but the true friend 
of humanity. The public ear was secured ; his prayer was an- 
swered in the munificent gifts that came in from every direction. 
Every person seemed anxious to contribute something to this 
noble object. 

It was a beautiful morning ! The sun never shone brighter, 
nor the air smelled sweeter or purer than on that memorable first 
day of August, 1850 The first persons to usher themselves into 
the street that morning were the happy members of the ^'Twelfth 



THE COLORED B.IJ'J/STS OF AMERICA. \<M} 

Baptist Church." Every face told of the inward jo)' antl peace 
of thankful hearts. Those who had toiled loii<^ throuj^h the days 
of the church's " small things," felt that their loni;-cherished 
hopes were bcginnin<^ to butl. 

Long before the appointed hoLir the members and friends of 
the cluirch began to gatiur to participate in liie " l.iying of the 
corner-stone of the Twelfth liaptist Cluirch." It was a sweet, 
solemn occasion. 

" Rev. Drs. Sharp, Neale and Colver, together wilii the pastor 
of the church, officiated on the occasion. The usual documents 
were deposited with the stone, i1nd the customar)- f)r.)Ceeilings 
gone through with, in a solemn and impressive manner." 

The occasion lent an enthusiasm for the work hitherto un- 
known. They were emboldened. The future looked bright, and 
on every hand the times wxre propitious. Ciradually the walls 
of the edifice grew heavenward, and the building began to take 
on a pleasing phase. At length the walls had reached their 
proper height, and the roof crowned all. Their sky was never 
brighter. It is true a "little speck of cloud " was seen in the 
distance ; but tliey were as unsuspicious as children. The cloud 
approached gradually, and, as it approached, took on its terrible 
characteristics. It paused a while ; it trembled. Then there was 
a death-like silence in the air, and in a moment it vomited forth its 
forked lightning, and rolled its thunder along the sky. It was 
the explosion of a Southern shell over a Northern camp, that 
was lighted by the torch of ambition in the hands of fallen 
Webster. It was the culmination of slave-holding Virginia's 
wrath. It was invading the virgin territory of liberty-loving 
Massachusetts. It was hunting the fugitive on free soil, and 
tearing him from the very embrace of sweet freedom. 

When the time came to enlist Colored soldiers, Leonard A. 
Grimes was as untiring in his vigilance as any friend of the Fifty- 
fourth Regiment of Massach\isetts volunteers, while the members 
of his church were either joining or aiding the regiment. So 
highly were the services of Ihother Grimes prized that the chap- 
laincy of the regiment was not only tendered him, but urged 
upon him; but the multifarious duties of his calling forbade his 
going with the regiment he loved and revered. 

The ladies of his congregation were busy with their needles. 
thus aiding the cause of the Union; and no church threw its 
doors open more readily to patriotic meetings than the Twelfth 



Sro HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

Baptist Church. And during those dark days oT the Union, 
when all seemed hopeless, when our armies were weak and 
small, the prayers of a faithful pastor and pious people ascended 
day and night, and did much to strengthen the doubting. 

The fugitive-slave law and civil war had done much to 
weaken the church financially and numerically. Many who fled 
from the fugitive-slave law liad not returned ; the young men 
had entered the service of the country, while many others were 
absent from the city under various circumstances. But notwith- 
standing all these facts, God blessed the church — even in war 
times, — and many were converted. 

The struggle was now ended. "The Boys in Blue" came 
home in triumph. The father separated from child, the husband 
from wile, could now meet again. Those who weredriven before 
the wrath of an impious and cruel edict could now return to the 
fold without fear. What a happy occasion it was for the whole 
church ! Tlie reunion of a family long separated ; the gathering 
of dispersed disciples. The occasion brought such an undistin- 
guishable throng of fancies — such joy, such hope, such blessed 
fellowship — as no pen can describe. 

At the commencement of the Rebellion the church numbered 
about 246; and at the close of the Rebellion it numbered about 
3C0, notwithstanding the discouraging circumstances under which 
she labored. The revivals that followed brought many into the 
church, and the heart of the pastor was greatly encouraged. 

At first it was thought that the entire cost of the land and 
building would not exceed $10,000; but the whole cost, from the 
time they began to build until the close of the war, was $14,044.09. 
In 1861 the indebtedness of the church was $2,967.62; at the 
close of the war it was about $2,000. 

During all these j'ears of financial struggle the church had 
ever paid her notes with promptness and without difficulty. 
And now that the war was over, freedom granted to the en- 
slaved, and the public again breathing easy, the little church, 
not weary of well-doing, again began the work of removing the 
remaining debt. The public was sought only in the most ex- 
treme necessity. The ladies held sewing circles, and made with 
the needle fancy articles to be sold in a festival, while the mem- 
bers of the church were contributing articles of wearing apparel, 
or offering their services at the sale tables. The proceeds were 
given to the society to pay its debts ; and it was no mean gift. 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OF AMERICA. 511 

From 1865 to 1 8" I the cliurcli grew r.ipidly. Revivals were of 
frequent occurrence ; and many from the South, learning of the 
good name of Re\'. IVIr. Grimes, sought his cluircli wlien coming 
to Boston. But it was apparent that their once commodious 
home was now too small. The pastor saw this need, and began 
to take the proper steps to meet it. It was at length decided that 
the church should undergo repairs; ami tlie pastor was armed with 
the proper p.ipers to carry forward this work. The gallery that 
was situatetl in' the cast end of the church was used chiefly by 
the choir and an instrument. In making repairs it was thought 
wise to remove the organ from the gallery, and put in seats, and 
thereby accommodate a larger number of peojjie. Then, the old 
pulpit took up a great deal of room, and by putting in a new pulpit 
of less dimensions, more room could be secured for pews. This 
was done, with the addition of a ba[nistr\-, the lack of which for 
nearly twenty-five years had driven them, in all kinds of weather, 
to Charles River. I",vcr\- thing, from the basemi-nl up, underwent 
repairs. The pews were painted and furnished with book-racks. 
The floors were repaired, and covered with beautiful carpet ; while 
the walls and ceilings were richly clothed with fresco, by the 
hands of skilful workmen. In the centre of the ceiling was an 
excellent ventilator, from which was suspended a very unique 
chandelier, with twelve beautiful globes, that were calculated to 
dispense their mellow light upon the worshippers below. But to 
crown all this expensive work and exceeding beauty thus be- 
stowed upon the house, was the beautiful organ that adorned the 
.southwest corner of the church, just to the pastor's right when 
in the pulpit. It was secured for the sum of two thousand five 
hundred dollars. All was accomplished. The old house of wor- 
ship was now entirely refitted. No heart was happier than the 
pastor's the day the church was reopened.' The new and elegant 
organ sent forth its loud peals of music in obedience to the 
masterly touch of the •• fnit/iful oiu\" who for more than twelve 
years was never absent from her post of tluty. and whom none 
knew but to love and honor. 

What supreme satisfaction there is in the accomplishment of 
a work that comprehends, not the interests of an individual, but 
the interests of the greatest number of human beings! The 



' It was our goml forlunc to be present. We remember dislinclly his h.ippy f.ncc. 
his words of gr.ititiule ami tlianks. Aiul as we looked aiouiul every face wore an ex- 
pression of complete satisfaction. 



$12 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

labors of Rev. Mr. Grimes were bestowed upon those whom he 
loved. He had toiled for his church as a father does to support 
his family. And no pastor, perhaps, was ever more paternal to 
his flock than Leonard A. Grimes. He was a man wondrously 
full of loving-kindness, — a lover of mankind. 

It has been the rule rather than the exception, for a long time, 
for churches to carry heavy debts ; and when a church is free 
from debt, it certainly furnishes a cause for great rejoicing. It 
was so with the Twelfth Baptist Church. For a long time — 
more than twenty years — the church had been before the public 
as an object of charit}'. For more than twenty }'ears the people 
had struggled heroically amid all of the storms that gathered 
around them. Sometimes they expected to see '^ the red fag" 
upon their house of worship, but the flag was never raised. 

The debts of the church had all been removed. The house 
was absolutely free from every encumbrance ; the people owned 
their church. 

But the little church of twenty-three had become the large 
church of six hundred. The once commodious house was now too 
small for the communicants of the church. The pastor began to 
look around for a [jjace to build, and considered the matter of 
enlarging the present house of worship. He had expended the 
strength of his manhood in the service of his church ; he had 
built one house, and had never denied the public his service. It 
would seem natural that a man whose life had been so stormy, 
yea, so full of toil and care, would seek in advanced age the rest 
and quiet so much desired at that stage of life. But it was not 
so with ]5rother Grimes. He was willing to begin another life- 
time work, and with all the freshness of desire and energy of 
young manhood. 

It was now the latter part of the winter of 1S73. A revival 
had been for a long time, and was still, in progress. Converts 
were coming into the church rapidly. The heart of the pastor 
was never fuller of love than during the revival. He seemed 
to be in agony for sinners to be saved. He impatiently 
paced the aisles, and held private and personal interviews with 
the impenitent. He disliked to leave the church at the close of 
the services. He remained often in the vestibule, watching for 
an opportunity to say a word for the Saviour. Brother C. G, 
Swan, who preached for him once, said: " I never beheld a more 
heavenly face : it seemed as if his soul were ripe for heaven." 



TUF. CO LOR an BAPTISTS OF A.]fT/aCA. 513 

Those who saw him in tile pulpit the last Sabbath he spent 
on earth — March 9, 1.S74 — will not soon fort^et the earnestness 
and impressivcness of his manner. On Wednesday, March I 2th, 
he left the scene of his labors to discharge a duty nearest to 
his heart. lie took Sioo from his poor ciuirch, as a gift to the 
Home mission Sofidj, that was to be used in the Fnidiimns 
Fund. 

On Friday evening, March I4tli, he reached home just in 
time to breathe his last in the arms of his faithful, though 
anxious wife. Tluis he fell asleep in the path of duty, in the 
midst of a mighty work. 

The news of his death spread rapidly, and cast a shadow of 
grief over the entire communit)-. The people mourned him. 

The morning papers gave full account and notice of his death. 
The following is one of the man\- notices that were given: 

"DICA'III OF ,\N ESTEKMEI) CI.KRGVM.\.\'. 

" The Rev. L. A. Grimes, the well-known and universally esteemed 
colored clergyman, died very suddenly last evening, at his residence on 
Everett Avenue, F^asl Somerville. lie had just returned from New 
York, where he had been to attend the meeting of the Baplist Board of 
Home Missions, of which he was a member. He had walked to his 
home from the cars, and died within fifteen minutes after his arrival. 
The physicians pronounce it a case of apojjlcxy. Mr. Grimes was 
pastor of the TweU'th Baptist Church, on Phillips Street, in this city. 
Daring the twcnly-six years of his ministry in Boston he had won the 
confidence and regard, not only of his own sect, but of the entire com- 
munity. Ilis labors for the good of his oppressed race attracted public 
attention to him more than twenty years ago, and this interest mani- 
fested itself in the generous contributions of Unitarians, Episcopalians, 
and Universalists ni aid of his church. During the thirty-four dark 
days of the infamous Fugitive-Slave Law, and the excitements occa- 
sioned by shive hunts in Boston, Mr. Grimes had a 'level head,' and 
did much to keep down riotous outbreaks from those who then were 
told that they had no rights that white men were bound to respect. 
Fortunate, indeed, will be the church of the deceased, if his successor, 
Hke him, sliall be able to keep them together, and lead them in right- 
eous wavs for a ijuarter of a century." 

On the following Monday morning, at the ministers' meeting, 
appropriate remarks were made, and resolutions drawn up. The 
following appeared in the daily papers : 



514 Jll STORY OF THE NEGRO RACE JN AMERICA. 

" ];aptist ministers' meeting. 

"The Monday morning meeting of the Baptist ministers of Boston 
and vicinity was held at ten o'clock, Monday, as is the weekly custom. 
After the dc\'otional exercises, the committee to jirepare resolutions on 
the death of the late Rev. Leonard Andrew Grimes made their report 
to the meeting. Pending the acceptance of the report remarks eulogiz- 
ing the deceased were made by Rev. R. H. Neale, I).l)., and others. 
The resolutions, which were thereii])on given a i)lace upon the records 
of the meeting, are as follows : In the death of Leonard Andrew 
Grimes, for twenty-seven years the pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church 
of Boston, the city in which he lived, the race for which he labored 
have sustained an irreparable loss. The iOiifil'rc of Daniel Sharp, 
Baron Stow, Phineas Stow, Nathaniel Colver, Rev. Mr. Graves of the 
'Reflector,' he was one whose coming might always be welcomed with 
the exclamation of our Saviour concerning Nathaniel ; ' Behold an 
Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.' His last efforts were put 
forth for his race. He carried to the Board of the American Baptist 
Home Mission Society, of which he had been for many years an hon- 
ored member, a large contribution from his church, to help on Christ's 
work among the Freedmen, and, on returning from New York, stopped 
at New Bedford to comfort a broken-hearted mother, whose little child 
was dying, and then caine to the city, and in fifteen minutes after cross- 
ing the threshold of his home [lassed on to God. 

" His death affected the ministry and churches as when ' a standard- 
bearer fainteth.' His familiar face was ever welcome. His resolute 
bearing, his unswerving fidelity to Christ, to truth, to the churcli at 
large, and his own denomination in particular, and his life-long service 
as a philanthropist, his devotion to the interests of the negro, to whom 
he was linked Ijy ties of consanguinity and of sympathy, made him a 
felt power for good in our State and in our entire country. No man 
among us was more sincerely respected or more truly loved. His de- 
parture, while it came none too soon for the tired warrior, impoverishes 
us with the withdrawal of an all-embracing love, and leaves God's poor 
to suffer to an extent it is impossible to describe. 

^^ Rrso/vfJ, That the death of this good minister of Jesus Christ im- 
poses heavy responsibilities upon his surviving brethren. The interests 
of the race of which he was an honored representative are itnperilled. 
Their noble champion has gone up higher ; but no waiting Elisha saw 
the ascent, and cried, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and 
the horsemen ther-of ' ; so wlio can hope to wear his mantle and con- 
tinue his work ? 

" Resolved, That we tender to his afflicted widow, and to the church 
he had so long and faithfully served, this poor expression of our sym- 
pathy, and tliis truthful evidence of our love. 



THE COLORED BAPTISTS OE AMERICA. 515 

" Resolved, That the good of his race, just passing from tlic morning 
of emancipation into the noonday radiance of a liberty of which they 
have dreamed, and for which iliey have prayed, demands tliat a jjer- 
manent record be made of this noble man of God." 

The ministers' meeting adjourned after tlic reading of tlie 
foregoing resolutions, to attend the funeral services, which were 
to take place in Charles Street Church. At an early hour in the 
morning the body was placed in front of the altar in the church 
of the deceased, where it lay in state all the forenoon, and where 
appropriate services were conducted b)- Drs. Chcne\', Fulton, and 
others. Thousands, of every grade and 'lue. tlironged the church 
to have a last fond look at the face so full of sunlight in life, 
and so peaceful in death. 

At one o'clock the remains were removed to Charles Street 
Church, where the funeral services were conducted with a feeling 
of solemnity and impressiveness wortiiy of the sad occasion. 
The addresses of Drs. Ncale and Fulton were full of tenderness 
and grief. Both of these gentlemen were, for many years, the 
intimate friends of the deceased. They were all associated 
together in a noble work for a number of years, and there were 
no hearts so sad as those of Brothers Neale and Fulton. Clergy- 
men of every denomination were present, and the congregation 
contained men and women from all the walks of life. The 
funeral was considered one of the largest that ever took place in 
Boston. 

On the following .Sabbath tiuite a number of the Boston 
pulpits gave appropriate discourses ujion the " Life and Char- 
acter of the late L. A. (irimes." The most noticeable were 
those delivered by Rev. R. N. Neale, D.D., Rev. Justin' D. 
Fulton, D.D., and Rev. Henry A. Cook. 

Within the last decade quite a number of educated Colored 
Baptist clergymen have come into active work in the denomina- 
tion. The old-time preaching is becoming distasteful to the 
people. The increasing intelligence of tlie congregations is an 
unmistakable warning to the preachers that a higher standard of 
preaching is demanded ; that the pew is becoming as intelligent 
as the pulpit. The outlook is very encouraging. However, the 
danger of the hour is, that too many Negro churches may be 
organized. We have the quantity ; let us have the quality now. 



uO HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IX AMERICA. 



THE DECLINE OF NEGRO GOJERNMENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

REACTION, PERIL, AND PACIFICATION. 
1875-1880. 

^HE BeGIN'^ING OF THE EnD OF THE REPUBLICAN' Go\ERNMENTS AT THE SofTH. — SOUTHERN ELEC- 
TION Methods and Northern Sv:.!Pathv. — Gen. Grant not Responsible for the Dfcline 

AND I-OSS OF the REPUBLICAN StATE GOVERNMENTS AT THE SoUTH. — A PaRTV WITHOUT A 

Live Issup. — Southern AVar Claims. — The Campaign of 1876. —Republican Lrtharcv 

AND DEMCCR.\TiC ACTIVITV.^ — DoUBTI UL RfSULTS. — ThE ELECTORAL CoUNT IN CONGKESS. — 

Gen. Garfield and Congbessmf.n Foster and Hale to the Front as Leaders. — Peace- 
ful Results. — President Hayes's Southern Policy. — Its Failure. — The Ideas of the 
Ho.N'. Charles Foster on the Tkeatment of the Southern Problem. — " Nothing but 
Lewes" from Conciliation. — A New Policy demanded by the Republican Pariv. — 
A Remarkable Speech bv the Hon. Charles Foster at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. — He 

CALLS FOR a SOLlD NoRTH AGAINST A SoLID SoUTH. — He SOUNDS THE KeY-NOTE FOR 

THE North and the N.^tion responds. — The Decay and Death of the Negro Govern- 
ments AT THE South Lnevitable. — The Negro must turn his Attention to Education, 
the Accumulation of Property and Experience, — He will return th Politics when 
he shall be Equal to the Difficult Duties of Citizenship. 

FR0:M 1868 to 1872 the Southern States had been held by 
the Republican party, with but a few exceptions, without 
much effort. The friends of the Negro began to con- 
gratulate themselves that the Southern problem had been solved. 
Every Legislature in the South had among its members quite a 
fair representation of Colored men. Among the State ofificers 
there was a good sprinkling of them ; and in some of the States 
there were Negroes as Lieut. -Governors. Congress had opened 
its doors to a dozen Negroes ; and the consular and diplo- 
matic service had employed a number of them in foreign parts. 
And so with such evidences of political prosperity before their 
ej-es the friends of the Negro at the North regarded his " calling 
and election sure." 



REACTION, rr.RIL. AXD I'ACJF/CAT/OX. 517 

In 1873 a great financial panic came to the business and 
monetary affairs of the country. It was the logic of an inflated 
currency, wild and visionary enterprises, bad investments, and 
prodigal li\'ing. Banks tottered and fell, large business houses 
suspended, and financial ruin ran riot. Northern attention was 
diverted from Southern politics to the " destruction that seemed 
to waste at noon-day." Taking advantage of this the South 
seized the shot-gun and wrote on her banners : " W'c viiist carry 
these States, peaceably if ive can ; forcibly if we must." An or- 
ganized, deliberate policy of political intimidation assumed the 
task of ridding the South of Negro government. The first step 
was in the direction of intimidating the white leaders of the Re- 
publican organizations ; and the next was to deny employment 
to all intelligent and influential Colored Republicans. Thus from 
time to time the leaders of the Republican party were reduced 
to a very small number. Without leaders \he rank and file 
of the party were harmless and lielpless in State and National 
campaigns. This state of affairs seemed to justify the presence 
of troops at the polls on election days. Under an Act of Con- 
gress " the President was empowered to use the army to suppress 
domestic violence, prevent bloodshed," and to protect the Ne- 
groes in the constitutional e.xercise of the rights conferred upon 
them by the Constitution. This movement was met b\-the most 
determined opposition from the South, aided b\' the sympathy 
of the Northern press, Democratic platforms, and a considerable 
clement in the Republican party. 

In 1874 the condition of affairs in the South was such as to 
alarm the friends of stable, constitutional government every- 
where. The city of New Orleans was in a state of siege. 
Streets were blockaded with State troops and White Line leagues, 
and an open battle was fought. The Republican State govern- 
ment fell before the insurgents, and a new government was es- 
tablished vi et arinis. Troops were sent to New Orleans by the 
President, and the lawful government was restored. The Liberal 
movement in the North, which had resulted in the defeat of the 
Republican tickets in Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, 
Connecticut, and even in Massachusetts, greatly encouraged the 
Bourbon Democrats of the South, and excited them to the verge 
of the most open and cruel conduct toward the white and black 
Republicans in their midst. 

A large number of Northern Legislatures passed resolutions 



5i8 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

condemninLj the action of the President in sending troops into 
the South, although he did it in accordance with law. Many- 
active and influential Republicans, displeased with the action of 
the Republican governments at tlie South, and the conduct of 
the Forty-third Congress, demanded the destruction of the 
Republican party. The Liberal movement had started in 1872. 
Its leaders thought the time had come for a new party, and 
counselled the country accordingly. 

The Forty-fourth Congress was organized by the Democrats^ 
The Cabinet Ministers were divided on the policy pursued 
toward the South. In the autumn of 1875 the shot-gun policy 
carried Mississippi; and from the 6th of July till the Republican 
government in that State went down into a bloody grave, there 
was an unbroken series of political murders. 

President Grant was met by a Democratic Congress ; a 
divided Cabinet :* Zachariah Chandler and Edwards Pierrepont 
were in sympathy with him ; Bristow and Jewell represented 
the Liberal sentiment. Then, the Republican party of the North, 
and many leading journals, were urging a change of policy 
toward the South. The great majority of Republicans wanted a 
change, not because they did not sympathize with the Negro 
governments, but because they saw some of the best men in the 
party withdrawing their support from the administration of 
Gen. Grant. There were other men who charged that the busi- 
ness failures in the country were occasioned by the financial 
policy of the Republican party, and in a spirit of desperation 
were ready to give their support to the Democracy. 

It was charged by the enemies of Gen. Grant that when he 
was elected President he had a solid Republican South behind 
him ; that under his administration every thing had been lost ; 
and that he was responsible for the political ruin which had 
overtaken the Republican party at the South. The charge was 
false. The errors of reconstruction under the administration of 
President Andrew Johnson, and the mistakes of the men who 
had striven to run the State governments at the South had to be 
counteracted by the administration of President Grant. This 
indeed was a difficult task. He did all he could under the 
Constitution ; and when Congress endeavored to pass the Force 
Bill, the Hon. Jaines G. Blaine, of Maine, made a speech against 
it 'n caucus. Mr. Blaine had a presidential ambition to serve, 
and esteemed his own promotion of greater moment than the 



REACTION, PERIL, AND PACIFICATION. 519 

protection of the Colored voters of the South. And ]Mr. Blaine 
never allowed an opportunity to pass in which he did not throw 
every obstacle in the way of the success of the Grant adminis- 
tration. Mr. Pilaine has never seen fit to explain his opposi- 
tion to the Force Hill, which was intended to strengthen the 
hands of the President in his efforts to protect the Nei^ro voter 
at the South. 

When the National Republican Convention met at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, in the summer of 1876, there was still lackintj a 
definite policy for the South. Presidential candidates were 
numerous, and the contest bitter. Gen. Rutherford B. Mayes, 
at that time Governor of Ohio, was nominated as a compromise 
candidate. There was no issue left the l\.ci3ublican party, as the 
"bloody shirt" had been rejected by the Liberals, and was 
generally distasteful at the North. But the initial success of the 
Democratic party South, and the loss of man\' Northern States 
to the Republicans, had emboldened the South to expect national 
success. But a too precipitous preparation for a raid upon the 
United States Treasury for the payment of rebel war claims 
threw the Republicans upon their guard, and, for the time being, 
every other question was sunk into insignificance. So the inso- 
lence of the " Rebel Brigadier Congress," and the letter of 
Samuel Jones Tilden, the Democratic candidate for the Pres- 
idency, on the question of the Southern war claims, gave the 
Republican party a fighting chance. But there were a desperate 
South and a splendid campaign organizer in Mr. Tilden to meet. 
And with a shot-gun policy, tissue ballets, and intimidation at 
the South, while a gigantic, bold, and matcldcss system of 
fraudulent voting was pushed with vigor in the North, there 
was little shov/ of success for the Republican ticket. The con- 
test on the part of the Republicans was spiritless. It was diffi- 
cult to raise funds or e.xcite enthusiasm. The Republican can- 
didate had only a local reputation. He had been to Con- 
gress, but even those who had known that had forgotten it. A 
modest, retiring man. Gov. Mayes was not widely known. The 
old and tried leaders were not enthusiastic. Mr. Blaine had no 
second choice. Me was for himself or nobody. The Democrats 
prosecuted their campaign with vigor, intelligence, and enthu- 
siasm. They went " into the school districts," and their organ- 
ization has never been equalled in America. 

The result was doubtful. One thing, however, was sure: 



520 HISTORY OF THE yEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

the Negro governments of the South were now a thing of the 
past. Not a single State was left to the Republican party. 
Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were hanging by the 
slender thread of doubt, with the provisions of a returning board 
in favor of the Republican party. The returning boards were the 
creation of local law ; their necessity having grown out of the 
peculiar methods employed by Democrats in carrying elections. 
These boards were empowered to receive and count the votes 
cast for presidential electors; and wherever it could be proven 
that intimidation and fraud had been used, the votes of such 
precincts, counties, etc., were to be thrown out. The three 
doubtful States named above were counted for the Republican 
presidential electors. Their work was carried before Congress. 
A high joint electoral commission was created by law, composed 
of the ablest men of the two parties in Congress, with the salt of 
judicial judgment thrown in. This commission examined the 
returns of the three doubtful States, and decided not to go be- 
hind the returns ; and, according to a previous agreement, one 
branch of Congress ratifying, the candidate having the more 
votes was to be declared duly elected. 

The country was in an unprecedented state of excitement; 
and even European governments felt the shock. The enemies 
of Republican government laughed their little laugh, and said that 
the end of the republic had come. British bankers brought out 
into the light Confederate bonds; while stocks in the United 
States went through an experience as variable as the weather in 
the Mississippi valley. The public press was intemperate in its 
utterances, and the political passions of the people were inflamed 
every hour. The national House of Representatives was a vast 
whirlpool of excitement, — or, rather it was an angry sea stirred 
to its depths, and lashing itself into aimless fury by day and by 
night. When the vote of a State was called, some Democrat 
would object, and the Senate, which was always present, would 
retire, and the House would then open a war of words running 
through hours and sometimes days. When the debate ended, or 
rather when the House had reached the end of its parliamentary 
halter, the Senate would again enter, the vote of the State would 
be counted, and the next one called. Thus the count proceeded 
through anxious days and weary nights. Business was sus- 
pended ; and the bulletin boards of commercial 'changes were 
valueless so long as the bulletin boards of the newspapers con- 
tained " the latest news from Washington." 



REACTIOX, PERIL, AXD PACIFICATION. 521 

In this state of affairs tiierc was need of statesmen at tlic 
head of tlie Republican minority in Congress. There were 
orators; but the demand was for men of judgment, energy, execu- 
tive ability, — men in whom the Democrats had confidence, who 
could put a stop to filibustering, and secure a peaceful solution 
of a unique and dangerous problem. 

These were forthcoming ; the late President Garfield and 
Gov. Foster, then a member of Congress, with Kasson, Hale, and 
other members of Congress, were among those most active and 
effective in securing a peaceful result. 

When the electoral fight was on, and the end seemed uncer- 
tain, these gentlemen stepped to the front and fairly won the repu- 
tation of statesmen. They saw that if the filibustering of the 
Democrats were brought to a close, it would have to be accom- 
plished by the leaders in that party and on that side of the 
House. Accordingly they secured Fernando Wood, of New 
York, as the leader in opposition to filibustering, and John 
Young Brown, of Kentuck}', as his lieutenant. The Republican 
policy was to allow the Democrats to leatl and do the talking, 
while the}' should fall into line and vote when the proper time 
came. But Fernando Wood at the head of the Republicans as a 
leader, was a spectacle as strange and startling as Satan leading 
a prayer-meeting. It was too much for an orthock).x, close-com- 
munion, hard-siiell Republican like Martin I. Tounsend ! 

On Thursday afternoon, the last day of the alarming scenes 
in Congress, nearly everybody had lost hope. There was no 
telling at what moment tiie government would be in anarch)'. 
In the midst of the confusion, excitement, and threatening 
danger, the Hon. Charles P'oster was the most imperturbable man 
in Congress. On Thursday afternoon Senator Hoar, a member 
of Congress from Massachusetts, saw Mr. Foster seated at his 
desk writing as quietly and composedly as if in his private of- 
fice ; he seemed perfectly oblivious to the angry storm whicii 
was raging about him. The cold-blooded, conservative New 
England Senator was as greatly amazed at the serenity of the 
clear-headed Western Congressman as he was distressed at the 
impending disaster. He went to Air. Foster and talked very 
discouragingly respecting the situation. He said that the Senate 
was growing impatient at the dilator)- coiuiuct of the House, 
and would probably, at the earliest convenience, send a message 
to the House demanding that the latter open their doors and 



522 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

admit the Senate to complete the count. Congressman Foster 
stated to the Senator that the House was not in a temper to be 
driven ; that a resolution of the character of the one proposed 
would hinder rather than help a peaceful solution of the vexa- 
tious count ; ami that if he would only possess his soul in pa- 
tience, before the rising of another sun R. B. Hayes would be 
peaceably and constitutionally declared the President of the 
United States. i\nd it was even as he said ; for before four 
o'clock the next morning the count was completed, and Hayes 
declared the President of the United States for the Constitu- 
tional term of four years. This is given as one of the many 
unwritten incidents that occurred during this angry, and, proba- 
bly, most perilous controversy that ever threatened the life of 
the American Republic. 

A new policy for the South was now inevitable. From Octo- 
ber 1876 till March 1S77, President Grant had refused to recog- 
nize Chamberlain as Governor of South Carolina, or Packard as 
Governor of Louisiana. He had simply preserved those govern- 
ments /// statu quo. He had heard all that could be said in favor 
of the Republican side of the question, and seemed to believe 
that it was now be}'ond his power to Imkl up the last of the 
Negro governments with bayonets. He was right. It would 
have been as vain to have attempted to galvanize those gov- 
ernments into existence as to have attempted the resuscitation 
of a dead man by applying a galvanic battery. Governments 
must have, not only the subjective elements ■ of life, but the 
powers of self-preservation. The Negro governments at the 
South died for the want of these elements. It was a pity, too, 
after the noble fight the Republican party of Louisiana and 
South Carolina had made, and after the)' had secured their 
electoral votes for Hayes, that their State officers who had been 
chosen at the same time should have been abandoned to their 
own frail governmental resources. But this was unavoidable. 
Their governments could not have existed twent)'-four hours 
without the presence and aid of the United States army. And 
this could not have been done in the face of the sentiment 
against such use of the army which had grown to be nearly 
unanimous throughout the country. If the Republicans could 
have inaugurated their officers and administered their govern- 
ments they would have received the applause of the adminis- 
tration at Washington and the God-speed of the Republican 



REACT/OX. PERIL, AXD PACIEJCATIOX. 



J- J 



party of the Xortli ; but the moment the United States troops 
were withdrawn the Xegro governments melted into notliing- 
ness. 

Every thing had been tried but pacification. The men wiio 
best understood the temper of that section knew it was incapa- 
ble, as a whole, of receiving the olive branch in the spirit in 
which the North would tender it. liut a policy of conciliation 
was demanded; the Northern journals asked it. An ex-Major- 
General of the Confederate Army was called to the Cabinet of 
President Mayes, and was given a portfolio where he could do 
more for the South than in any other place. Gen. Longstreet, 
a gallant Confederate soldier during the late war, was made 
Postmaster at Gainesville, Georgia, and afterward sent as Min- 
ister to Turkc)-. Col. Mosby, another Confederate soldier, or 
guerilla, was sent to China, and Col. Fitzsimmons was made 
Marshal of Georgia. It was the policy of the Hon. Charles 
Foster to have the President recognize young men at the South 
who had the pluck and ability to divide the Bourbon Democratic 
party of that section, and hasten the day of better feeling be- 
tween the sections. Hut the President, either incapable of com- 
prehending this idea, or jealous of the credit that the country 
had already bestowed upon him, blundered on in selecting men 
to represent his policy in the South who had no following, and 
were, therefore, valueless to his cause. His heart was right, but 
he put too much confidence in Southern statesmen. 

The South showed no signs of improvement. White Repub- 
licans were intimidated, persecuted, and driven out. The black 
Republicans were allowed to vote, but the Democrats counted the 
votes and secured all the offices. The President was under the 
influence of Ale.x. II. Stephens, of Georgia, and Wade Hampton, 
of South Carolina. He expected much ; but he received noth- 
ing. Instead'of gratitude he received arrogance. The Southern 
leaders in Congress sought to deprive the Executive of his con- 
stitutional veto ; to starve the army ; and to protract the session 
of Congress. The North had invited its " erring brethren " back, 
and had killed the fatted calf, but were unwilling to allow the 
fellow to eat all the veal ! The conduct of the South was gro'v- 
ing more intolerable every day ; and the President's barren 
policy was losing him supporters. He had not tied to any safe 
advisers. Hon. Charles Foster. Senator Stanley Matthews, and 
Gen. James A. Garfield could have piloted him through many 



524 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

dangerous places. But he shut himself up in his own abilities, 
and left his friends on the outside. The South had gulped down 
every thing that had been given it, and was asking for more. 
ILvery thing had been given except the honor of the cause that 
the Union army had fought for. To complete the task of con- 
ciliation it was only required that the nation destroy the monu- 
ments to its hero dead, and open the treasury to the payment 
of rebel war claims, and pension the men who were maimed in an 
attempt to shoot the government to death. To the credit of 
President Hayes let history record that he did not surrender his 
veto power to arrogant and disloyal Southern Congressmen. 
He became convinced at last that the South was incapable of 
appreciating his kindness, and was willing to change front. His 
policy was inevitable. It did great good. It united the Repub- 
lican party against the South ; and a splendid cabinet, a clean 
administration, and the resumption of specie payments wrought 
wonders for the Republican party. 

There was a ripe sentiment in the North in favor of " a 
change " of policy. The very men who had advocated pacifica- 
tion ; who had " flowers and tears for the Gray, and tears and 
flowers for the Blue " ; who wanted the grave of Judas equally 
honored with the grave of Jesus — the destroyer and the Saviour 
of the country placed in the same calendar,— were the first men 
to grow sick of the policy of pacification. But what policy to 
inaugurate was not clear to them. 

In the summer of 1S7S the Hon. Charles Foster returned to 
Ohio from Washington City. He had seen State governments 
in the Noith slip from the control of Republicans, because of the 
folly of the Hayes' policy of pacification toward the South. He 
had the good-sense to take in the situation. He saw that it was 
madness to attempt any longer to conciliate the South. He saw 
that the lamb and lion had lain down together; but that the 
lamb was on the inside of the lion. Brave, intelligent, and far- 
seeing, on the 1st of August, 1 878, he gave the Republican party 
of the North a battle-cr\' that died away only amid the shouts of 
Republican State and National victories in 1880. This was all 
the North needed. A leader was demanded, and the Hon. 
Charles Foster sounded the key-note that met with a response in 
every loyal heart in the country. His idea was that as the 
Soutli had not kept the faith ; had not accorded protection to 
the Negro voter ; had not broken up old Bourbon Democratic 



REACTION, PERIL, AND FAC/f /CATION. 525 

organizations, it was the imperative duty of tlie North to meet 
that section with a solid front. Hence his battle-cry: ".•/ So/id 
North against a Solid South." The following is his famous 
speech — pure gold : 

" I happened to be one who thought and believed that the President's 
Southern policy, as far as it related to the use of troops for the support 
of State governments, was right. I sustained it upon the ground of 
high principle, nevertheless it could have been sustained on the ground 
of necessity. The President has extended to the people of the South 
the hand of conciliation and friendship. He has shown a desire, jirob- 
ably contrary to the wishes of the great mass of his party, to bring 
about, by the means of conciliation, better relations between the North 
and South. In doing this he has alienated from him the great mass of 
the leading and influential Republicans of the country. He had lost 
their sympathy, and to a great degree their support. What has he re- 
ceived in return for these measures of conciliation and kindness ? How 
have these measures been received by the South ? What advance can 
we discover in them, of the recognition of the guarantees of the rights 
of the Colored men under the Constitutional Amendments ? We see 
Jeff. Davis making speeches as treasonable as those of i86i,and these 
speeches endorsed and applauded by a great jiortion of their press and 
people. We see also the declaration of Mr. Singleton, of Mississippi, 
in answer to a question of mine on the floor of the House, declaring 
that his paramount allegiance in peace and war was due to his State. 

" No gentleman from the South, or even of the Democratic party, has 
taken issue with him. We see also, all over the South, a disposition 'to 
resist the execution of the United States laws, especially in the matter 
of the collection of internal revenue. To-day there are four I'. S. 
officers under arrest by the authorities of the State of South Carolina, 
in jail and bail refused, for an alleged crime in their State, while in fact 
these officers were discharging their duty in executing the laws of the 
United States in that State. Their State courts and their officers re- 
fused to obey the writs of the United States courts in the surrender of 
these men to the United States authorities. No former act of this 
treasonable State shows a more defiant attitude toward the U. S. Gov- 
ernment, or a greater dis[)osition to trample upon its authority. I trust 
the Administration will, in this case, assert in the most vigorous manner 
posisible the authority of the United States Government for the rescue 
and protection of these officers. I have no bloody shirt to wave. If 
there is one man in this country, more than another, who desires peace 
and quiet between the sections. I believe I am that man. Gentlemen 
may philosoiihize over this ijuestion until they are gray, but you cannot 



526 HlSrORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

escape the discussion of this question so long as a Solid South menaces 
the peace of the country. A Solid Democratic South means the control 
of the country by the spirit and the men who sought its destruction. 

" My own opinion is that there can be no peace — this tjuestion will 
not down, until the menace of the Solid South is withdrawn. I had 
ho])ed that the policy of President Hayes would lead to the assertion, 
by a very considerable portion of the South, of their antagonism to 
Bourbon Democracy. 

"I confess to a degree of disappointment in this, though I think I 
see signs of a breaking up of the Solid South in the independent move- 
ment that seemed to be gaining a foothold in all sections of that 
country. But the effective way to aid these independent movements, 
this breaking up of the Solid South, is for the North to present itself 
united against the Solid South. A Solid South under the control of 
the Democratic party means the control of the party by this element. 
It means the repeal of the Constitutional Amendments, if not in form, 
in spirit. It means the payment of hundreds of rebel claims. It 
means the payment of pensions to rebel soldiers. It means the payment 
for slaves lost in the Rebellion. It means the abrogation of that pro- 
vision of the Constitution whicli declares, that the citizens of one State 
shall have all the rights, privileges, and immunities of the citizens of 
other States. 

" If my Democratic friends who seem to be anxious to bring about 
peace and quiet between the sections are sincere and desire to make 
their expressions effective, they should act with that party that presents 
a solid front, a United North, so long as we are menaced with the 
Solid South. 

" If it could be understood in the South that they are to be met 
with a Solid North, I do not believe that the Solid South would exist 
in that condition a single year. They retain this position because they 
believe that they can have the support of a fragment of the North ; and 
thus with this fragment rule and control the country. I would have no 
fear of the control of the country by the Democratic party if it were 
made up of something like equal proportion from all sections of the 
country. I discuss this question, first, because I believe it the most 
important question at issue in the pending canvass. I repeat that it is 
the imperative duty of the North to meet the Solid South with a united 
front." ' 

This speech was delivered at Upper Sandusky, W\-andotte 
Co., Ohio. It thrilled the North, and put new life into the Re- 
publican party. It gave him the nomination for governor, and 



' Cincinnati Commercial, Aug. i, 1878. 



REACTION, PERIL, AXD PAC/E/CAT/OiV. 5:7 

from 23,000 Democratic majority he redeemed the State by a Re- 
publican majority of 17,000. A wave of enthusiasm swept tlic 
country. His battle-cry became the editorial of a thousand jour- 
nals, and hundreds of orators found ammunition enougli in his 
little speech of a hundred lines to keep up a campaign of two 
years' duration. It is a fact that history should not omit to re- 
cord, that from the 1st of August, 1878, until the election of 
James A. Garfield to the presidency, there was no cessation to 
the campaign in the North. 

But the securing of a Solid North did not restore the Negro 
governments at the South. The North had rallied to rebuke an 
insolent South ; to show the Democrats of that section tliat the 
United States Treasury should be protected, and that the honor 
of the nation 'cvoiild be maintained unsullied. If the South 
would not pay its honest debts there was every reason for 
believing that it would not pay the national debt. It was to be 
regretted that the Negro had been so unceremoniously removed 
from Southern politics. But such a result was inevitable. The 
Government gave him the statute-book when he ought to have 
had the spelling-book ; placed him in the Legislature when he 
ought to have been in the school-house. In the great re\'olution 
that followed the war, the heels were put where the brains ought 
to have been. An ignorant majority, without competent leaders, 
could not rule an intelligent Caucasian minority. Ignorance, 
vice, poverty, and superstition could not rule intelligence, experi- 
ence, wealth, and organization. It was here t^iat the "one could 
chase a thousand, and the two could put ten thousand to flight." 
The Negro governments were built on the shifting sands of the 
opinions of the men who reconstructed the South, and when the 
storm and rains of political contest came they fell because they 
were not built upon the granite foundation of intelligence and 
statesmanship. 

It was an immutable and inexorable law which demanded the 
destruction of tiiose governments. It was a law that knows no 
country, no nationality. Spain, Mexico, France, Turkey, Russia, 
and Egypt have felt its cruel touch to a greater or less degree. 
But a lesson was taught the Colored people that is invaluable. 
Let them rejoice that they are out of politics. Let white men 
rule. Let them enjoy a political life to the exclusion of business 
and education, and they too will sooner or later be driven out of 
their places by the same law that sent the Negro to the planta- 



528 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tions and to the schools. And if the Negro is industrious, 
frugal, saving, diligent in labor, and laborious in study, there 
is another law that will quietly and peaceably, without a 
social or political shock, restore him to his normal relations in 
politics. He will be able to build his governments on a solid 
foundation, with the tempered mortar of experience and knowl- 
edge. This is inevitable. The Negro will return to politics in 
the South when he is qualified to govern ; will return to stay. 
He will be respected, courted and protected then. Then as a 
ta.K-payer, as well as a tax-gatherer, reading his own ballot, and 
choosing his own candidates, he will be equal to all the exigen- 
cies of American citizenship. 



THE EXODUS—CAUSE AA'D EEEECT. 529 



CHAPTER XXVIir. 

THE EXODUS— CAUSE AND EFFECT. 

The Nkoroes of the South dki.ight in XMcrK Home so Long as it is Possibie for tmf.m to 
RFMAiN. — The PoLrcv of abkidcing tmkir Rights Demructivb to their UsEPULNUi^ as 
MF.MnRRS OF Societv. — Political Intimidation-, Mirdfr, and Outragk distc'RO the 
Negroes. — Thf. Plantation Credit Svstem the Crime of tub Centikv. — The Excnis 
not insi'Ired bv Politicians, but the Natural Outcome of the Barbarous Treatment 

BF.STOWED UPON THE NeCROES BV THE WhITES. — ThE I.'niRECEDENTEO SuIFEKINGS OF 

6o,oc» Negroes fleeing from Southern Democratic Oiikession. — Their Patibnt, 
Christian Endurance. —Their Industry, Morals, and Frugalii v. — The Corresiondent 
of the "Chicago Inter-Ocean" sends Information to Senator Vooriiees resi-ecting 
the Refugees in Kansas. —The Position of Gov. St. John and the P'aithkul Labors 
OF Mrs. Co.mstock. — The Results of the E.xodus IJeneficbnt. — The South must 

TREAT THE NegRO BETTER OR LOSE HIS LaBOR. 

THE e.xodus of the Negroes from Soutlicrn States forms 
one of the most interesting pages of the almost romantic 
liistory of tlie race. It required more tlian ordinary causes 
to drive the Negro from his liome in tlic sunny South to a dif- 
ferent cUmate and strange country. It was no caprice of his 
nature, nor even a nomadic fceUng. During the entire period of 
the existence of the Republican governments at the South the 
Negroes remained there in a state of blissful contentment. And 
even after the fall of those governments they continued in a 
state of quiet industry. But there followed the decline of those 
governments a policy as hurtful to the South as it was cruel to 
the Negroes. 

During the early years of reconstruction quite a number of 
Negroes began to invest in real estate and secure for themselves 
pleasant homes. Their possessions increased year!)', as can be 
seen by a reference to statistical reports. Some of the estates 
and homesteads of the oldest and most reputable white families, 
who had put every thing into the scales of Confederate rebellion, 
fell into the possession of ex-slaves. Such a spectacle was not 
only unpleasant, it was exasperating, to the whites. But so long 
as the Republican governments gave promise of success there was 
but little or no manifestation of displeasure on the part of the 



530 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

whites. Just as soon, however, as they became the masters of the 
situation, the property of many Negroes was seized, and sold 
upon the specious plea — " for delinquent taxes "; and the Negroes 
were driven from eligible places to the outskirts of the larger 
towns and cities. No Negro was allowed to live in the vicinity 
of white persons as tenants ; and it became a social crime to sell 
property to Negroes in close pro.ximity to the whites. In the 
rural districts, where Negroes had begun to secure small farms, 
this same cruel spirit was " the lion in their way." The spirit 
that sought to keep the Negro ignorant as a slave, now that he 
was at least nominally free, endeavored to deprive him of one of 
the necessary conditions of happy and useful citi7,enship : the 
possession of property, the aggregations of the results of honest 
labor. Nothing could have been more fatal to the growth of the 
Negro toward the perfect stature of free, intelligent, independent, 
and self-sustaining manhood and citizenship. The object and 
result of such a system can easily be judged. It was intended 
to keep the Negroes the laboring element after as well as before 
the war. The accomplishment of such a result would have been 
an argument in favor of the assertion of the South that the nor- 
mal condition of the Negro was that of a serf; and that he did 
not possess the elements necessary to the life of a freeman. 
Thus would have perished the hopes, prayers, arguments and 
claims of the friends of the cause of universal, manhood suffrage. 
Among the masses of laboring men the iniquitous, outra- 
geous, thieving " Plantation Credit System " was a plague and a 
crime. Deprived of homes and property the Negroes were com- 
pelled to '• work the crops on the shares." A plantation store 
was kept where the Negroes' credit was good for any article it 
contained. He got salt meat, corn meal, sugar, coffee, molasses, 
vinegar, tobacco, and coarse clothing for himself and family. An 
account was kept by " a young white man," and at the end of 
the season " a reckoning " was had. Unable to read or cipher, 
the poor, credulous, unsuspecting Negroes always found them- 
selves in debt from $50 to $200 ! This necessitated another 
year's engagement ; and so on for an indefinite period. There 
was nothing to encourage the Negroes ; nothing to inspire them 
with hope for the future ; nothing for their families but a lan- 
guid, dead-eyed expectation that somehow a change might come. 
But the crime went on unrebuked by the men who were growing 
rich from this system of petty robberx' of the poor. For the 



THE EXODUS— CAUSE AND EEEECT. 531 

cheapest qunlitics of I)ro\vn su<:jar, for whicli tlic laboring classes 
of the North pay 8 cents, the Negroes on the plantations were 
charged 11 and 13 cents a pound. Corn meal ])urchased at the 
North for 4 cents a quart, brought 9 and 10 cents at the planta- 
tion store. Anil thus for every article the Negroes purchased 
they were charged the nnost exorbitant prices. 

There were two results which flowed from this system, viz. : 
robbing the families of these Negroes of the barest, comforts of 
life, and destroying the confidence of the Negro in the blessings 
and benefits of freedom. No man — no race of men — could en- 
dure such bligliting influences for any length of time. 

Moreover the experiences of the Negroes in voting had not 
been extensive, and a sudden curtailing and abridgment of 
their rights was a shock to their confidence in the government 
under which they lived, and in the people by which they were 
surrounded. It was thought expedient to intimidate or destroy 
the more intelligent and determined Negroes ; while the farm 
laborers were directed to refrain from voting the Republican 
ticket, or commanded to vote the Democratic ticket, or starve. 
There never was a more cruel system of slavery than this. 

Writing under date of January 10, 1875, General P. II. 
Sheridan, then in command at New Orleans, says : 

" Since the year :866 nearly tliirty-five hundred persons, a great 
majority of whom were colored men, have been killed and wounded in 
this State. In 1S6S the official record shows that eighteen hundred and 
eighty-four were killed and wounded. From 1868 to the present time 
no official investigation had been made, and the civil authorities in all 
but a inw cases have been unable to arrest, convict, or punisli the per- 
petrators. Consetiuently there are no correct records to bo consulted 
for information. There is ample evidence, however, to show tiiat more 
than twelve hundred persons have been killed and wounded during tiiis 
time on account of their political sentiments. Frightful massacres have 
occurred in the parishes of Bossier, Caddo, Catahoula, Saint Bernard, 
Grant, and Orleans." 

He then proceeded to enumerate the political murders of 
Colored men in various parishes, and says : 

" Ilviman life in this State is held so cheaply that when men are 
killed on account of political opinions, the murderers are regarded 
rather as heroes than as criminals in the localities where they reside." 



532 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

This brief summary' is not by a politician, but by a distin- 
guished soldier, \\\\o recounts the events which had occurred 
within his own military jurisdiction. Volumes of testimony 
have since been taken confirming in all respects General Sheri- 
dan's statement, and giving in detail the facts relating to such 
murders, and the times and circumstances of their occurrence. 
The results of the elections which immediately followed them 
disclose the-motives and purposes of their perpetrators. These 
reports show that in the year 1867 a reign of terror prevailed 
over almost the entire State. In the parisli of St. Landry there 
was a massacre of Colored people which began on the 28th of 
September, 186S, and lasted from three to si.x days, during which 
time between three and four hundred of them were killed. 
" Thirteen captives were taken from the jail and shot, and a pile 
of twenty-five dead bodies were found burned in the woods." 
The result of this Democratic campaign in the parish was that 
the registered Republican majority of 1,071 was wholly obliter- 
ated, and at the election which followed a few weeks later, not a 
vote was cast for General Grant, while Seymour and Blair 
received 4,787. 

In the parish of Bossier a similar massacre occurred between 
the 20ti: and 30th of September, 1868, which lasted from three to 
four days, during which time two hundred Negroes were killed. 
By the official registry ot that year the Republican voters in Bos- 
sier Parish numbered 1,938, but at the ensuing election only one 
Republican vote was cast. 

In the parish of Caddo, during the month of October, 1868, 
over forty Negroes were killed. The result of that massacre was 
that out of a Republican registered vote of 2,894 only one was 
cast for General Grant. Similar scenes were enacted throughout 
the State, var\'ing in e.xtent and atrocity according to the mag- 
nitude of the Republican majority to be overcome. 

The total summing up of murders, maimings, and whippings 
which took place for political reasons in the months of Septem- 
ber, October, and November, 1868, as shown by official sources, 
is over one thousand. The net political results achieved thereby 
may be succinctly stated as follows : The official registration for 
that year in twenty-eight parishes contained 47,933 names of Re- 
publican voters, but at the presidential election held a few weeks 
after the occurrence of these events but 5,360 Republican votes 
were cast, making the net Democratic gain from said transac- 
tions 42,563. 



THE EXODUS— CAUSE AND EEEECT 533 

In nine of these parishes where tiie reign of terror w;is most 
prevalent, out of 11,604 registered Republican votes only nine- 
teen were cast for (iencral Grant. In seven of said parishes 
there were 7,253 registered Republican votes, but not one was 
cast at the ensuing election for the Republican ticket. 

In the years succeeding 1868, when some restraint was im- 
posed upon political lawlessness and a comparatively peaceful 
election was held, these same Republican parishes cast from 
33,000 to 37,000 Republican votes, thus demonstrating the pur- 
pose and the effects of the reign of murder in 1868. 

In 1876 the spirit of violence and persecution which, in parts 
of the State, had l)een i)artiall\' restrained for a time, broke forth 
again with renewed fury. It was deemed necessary to carrj' that 
State for Tilden and Hendricks, and the policy which had proved 
so successful in 1868 was again invoked, and with like results. 
On the day of general election in 1876 there were in the State of 
Louisiana 92.996 registered white voters, and 115,310 Colored, 
making a Republican majority of the latter of 22,314. The num- 
ber of white Republicays was far in excess of the number of Col- 
ored Democrats. It was, therefore, well known that if a fair 
election should be held the State would go Republican by from 
twenty-five to forty thousand majority. The policy adopted this 
time was to select a few of the largest Republican parishes and 
by terrorism and violence not only obliterate their Republican 
majorities, but also intimidate the Negroes in the other parishes. 
The sworn testimony found in our public documents and rec- 
ords at Washington shows that the same system of assassina- 
tions, whippings, burnings, and other acts of political persecu- 
tion of Colored citizens, which had occurred in 1868, was again 
repeated in 1876, and with like results. 

In fifteen parishes where 17,726 Republicans were registered 
in 1876 only 5,758 votes were cast for Hayes and Wheeler, and 
in one of them (East Feliciana) where there were 2,127 Republi- 
cans registered, but one Republican vote was cast. B\- some 
methods the Republican majority of the State was supposed to 
have been effectually suppressed and a Democratic victory as- 
sured. And because the legally constituted authorities of Lou- 
isiana, acting in conformity with law and justice, declined to 
count some of the parishes thus carried by violence and blood, 
the Democratic party, both North and South, has ever since com- 
plained that it was fraudulently deprived of the fruits of the vie- 



534 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

tory thus achieved, and it now proposes to make this grievance 
the principal plank in the party platform' for the future. 

The worm trampled upon so persistently at length turned 
over. There was nothing left to the Negro but to go out from 
the land of his oppression and task-masters. 

The Exodus was not a political movement. It was not in- 
spired from without. It was but the natural operation of a divine 
law that moved whole communities of Negroes to turn their faces 
toward the setting sun. When the Israelites went out of Egypt 
God commanded their women to borrow the finger-rings and 
ear-rings of the Egyptians. All had sandals on their feet, staves 
in their hand, and headed by a matchless leader. God went be- 
fore them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 
But when the Negroes began their exodus from the Egypt of 
their bondage they went out empty ; without clothing, money, 
or leaders. They were willing to endure any hardships short of 
death to reach a land where, under their own vine and fig-tree, 
they could enjoy free speech, free schools, the privilege of an 
honest vote, and receive honest pay for lipnest work. And how 
forcibly they told why they left the South. 

" Now, old Uncle Joe, what did you come for ? " 

" Oh, law ! Missus, I follers my two boys an' the ole woman an' then 
'pears like I wants a taste of votin' afore I dies, an' the ole man done 
wants no swamps to wade in afore he votes, 'kase he must be Repub- 
lican, ye see." 

" Well, old Aunty, give us the sympathetic side of the story; or, 
tell us what you think of leaving your old home." 

" I done have no home nohow, if they shoots my ole man an' the 
boys, an' gives me no money for de washin."' 

A bright woman of twent)--five years is asked her condition, 
when she answers : " I had n't much real trouble yet, like some 
of my neighbors who lost every thing. We had a lot an' a little 
house, an' some stock on the place. We sold all out 'kase we 
did n't dare to stay when votin' time came again. Some neigh- 
bors better off than we had been all broken up by a pack of 
" nigJtt-riders" — all in white, — who scared everybody to death, run 
the men off to the swamps before elections, run the stock off, an' 

' See Senator Windom"s speech on the Exodus, Monday, June 14, 1880 ; also the 
report of the Senate Committee liaving under consideration the investigation of Ihe 
causes of the migration of the Colored people from the Southern to the Northern States. 



THE EXODUy— CAUSE AXD EEFECT. 535 

set fire to their places. A poor woman might as well be killed 
and done with it." 

In the early spring of 1879, the "o^^' f'lmous Exodus of the 
Negroes from the South set in toward the Northern States. 

" Many already have fled to the forest and lurk on its outskirts, 
Waiting with anxious hearts the dubious fate of the morrow. 
Arms have been taken from us, and warlike weapons of all kinds ; 
Nothing is left l)>it the blacksmith's sledge and the scythe of the mower." 

The story of the emigration of a people has been often re- 
peated since the world began. The Israelites of old, with their 
wanderings of forty years, furnish the theme of an inspired poem 
as old as history itself. The dreadful tale of the Kalmuck Tartars, 
in 1770, fleeing from their enemies, the Russians, over the deso- 
late steppes of Asia in mid-winter; starting out six hundred 
thousand strong, men, women, and children, with their flocks and 
herds, and reaching the confines of China with only two hundred 
thousand left, formed an era in oriental annals, and made a com- 
bination from which new races of men have sprung. But still 
more appropriate to this occasion is the history of the Hugue- 
nots of France, driven by religious persecution to England and 
Ireland, where, under their influence, industries sprang up as the 
flowers of the field, and what was England's gain was irreparable 
loss to France.' The expulsion of the Acadians, a harmless and 
inoffensive people, from Nova Scotia, is another instance of the 
revenge that natural laws inflict upon tyranny and injustice. 
Next to the persecuted Pilgrims crossing a dreary ocean in mid- 
winter to the sterile coasts of a land of savages for freedom's 
sake, history hardly furnishes a inore touching picture than that 
of forty thousand homeless, friendless, starving Negroes going 
to a land already consecrated with the blood of the martyrs to 
the cause of free soil and unrestricted liberty. It was grandly 
strange that these poor people, persecuted, beaten with many 
stripes, hungry, friendless, and without clothing or shelter, should 
instinctively seek a home in Kansas where John Brown had 
fought the first battle for liberty and the restriction of slavery! 
Some journeyed all the waj- from Texas to Kansas in teams, with 
sreat horned oxen, and little steers in front no larger than calves, 
bowing eagerly to the weary load. Worn and weary with a nine 
weeks' journey, the travellers stra'.ied their eyes toward the land 

' Pamphlet on Exodus. — Anonymous. 



536 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of hope, blindly yet beautifully " trustin' de good Lord." Often 
they buried their dead as soon as they arrived, many dying on 
tiie hard floor of the hastily-built wooden barracks before beds 
could be provided, but praying all night long and saying touch- 
ingly : " Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Come with dyin' 
grace in one hand and savin' love in the other."' 

A relief association was organized at once. A dear, good, old 
Quaker lady, in her sixty-fourth year, a quarter of a century of 
which had been spent in relieving suffering humanit)', came for- 
ward and offered her services free of charge. The association 
was organized as TIw Kansas Freednien s Relief Association. Mrs. 
Comstock was just the person to manage the matter of raising 
funds and securing clothing. In Gov. J. P. St. John, Mrs. Com- 
stock and the association found a warm-hearted Christian friend. 

Notwithstanding the plain, world-known causes, the Hon. D. 
W. Voorhees, United States Senator from Indiana, introduced a 
resolution providing for the investigation of " the causes of t lie 
migration of the Colored people from the Southern to the Northern 
States." It cost the Government thousands of dollars, but de- 
veloped nothing save what the country had known for years, that 
the political cruelties and systematic robbery practised upon the 
Colored people in the South had forced them into a free country. 

In one year those who had taken up a residence in Kansas 
had become self-sustaining. They took hold of the work with 
enthusiasm ; they proved themselves industrious and frugal. 

The Relief Association at first supplied them with stoves, 
teams, and seed. In round numbers, in a little more than a year, 
$40,000 was used, and 500,000 pounds of clothing, bedding, etc. 
England contributed 50,000 pounds of goods and $8,000 in 
money; the chief givers being Mrs. Comstock's friends who 
knew her in her good work abroad. Much of the remainder had 
come in small sums, and from the Christian women of America. 
One third was furnished by the Society of Friends. Ohio gave 
more than any other State. The State and municipal funds of 
Kansas were not drawn upon at all, though much had come from 
private sources. 

During the first \'ear in Kansas the freedmen entered upon 
20,000 acres of land, and plowed and fitted for grain-growing 
3,000 acres. They built 300 cabins and dugouts, and accumu- 
lated $30,000. In 1878 Henry Carter, of Tennessee, set out 

' The Congregationalist, Aug. 11, 1880. 



THE EXODUS—CAUSE AND EEEECT. 537 

from Topeka on foot for Dunlap, sixty-five miles away; he carry- 
ing his tools, and his wife their bedclothes. In 18S0 he had 
forty acres of land cleared and the first payment made, having 
earned his money on sheep ranches and elsewhere by daily labor. 
He has built a good stone cottage sixteen feet by ten, owns two 
cows, a horse, etc. In Topeka, where there were about 3,000 refu- 
gees, nearly all paupers when they came, all have found means 
in some way to make a living. These people have shown tliem- 
selves worth)' of aid. Mrs. Comstock has he.ird of onh' five or 
six cases of intoxication in nine months, and of no arrests for 
stealing. They do not want to settle where there is no church, 
and are all eager to have a Bible and to learn. Schools have 
been opened for the adults — the public schools of Kansas wisely 
making no distinction on account of color, — and also industrial 
schools, especially for women, who arc quite ignorant of the or- 
dinary duties of home life. 

In the month of I'ebruary, 1880, John M. Brown, Esq., Gen- 
eral Superintendent of the P'reedmcn's Relief Association read an 
interesting report before the Association, from which the follow- 
ing extract is taken : 

"The great exodus of Colored people from the South began about 
the 1st of February, 1S79. By the ist of April 1.300 refugees iiad 
gatherctl around Wyandotte, Ks. Many of them were in a suffering 
condition. It was then that tiie Kansas Relief Association came 
into existence for the purpose of heli)ing the most needy among 
the refugees from the Southern States. Up to date about 60,000 refu- 
gees have come to the State of Kansas to live. Nearly 40,000 of 
them were in a destitute condition when they arrived, and have been 
helped by our association. We have received to dale $68,000 for the 
relief of the refugees. About 5,000 of those who have come to Kansas 
have gone to other States to live, leaving about 55,000 yet in Kansas. 
About 30,000 of that number have settled in the country, some of them 
on lands of their own or rented lands ; others have hired out to the 
farmers, leaving about 25,000 in and around the different cities and towns 
of Kansas. There has been great suffering among those remaining in 
and near the cities and towns this winter. It has been so cold tiiat 
they could not find employment, and, if they did, they had to work for 
very low wages, because so many of them are looking for work tliat they 
are in each other's way. 

"Most of those about the cities and towns are men with large 
families, widows, and very old people. The farmers want only able- 
bodied men and women for their work, and it is very hard for men 



53S HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

with large families to get homes among the farmers. Kansas is a new 
State, and most farmers have small houses, and they cannot take large 
families to live with them. So, when the farmers call for help, they 
usually call for a man and his wife only, or for a single man or woman. 

" Now, in order that men with large families may become owners of 
land, and be able to support their families, the K. F. R. Association, if 
they can secure the means, will purchase cheap lands, which can be 
bought at from $3 to $5 per acre, on long time, by making a small pay- 
ment in cash. They will settle the refugees on those lands, letting each 
family have from twenty to forty acres, and not settling more than six- 
teen families in any one neighborhood, so that they can easily obtain 
work from the farmers in that section or near by. I do not think it 
best to settle too many of them in any one place, because it will make 
it hard for them to find employment. 

" If our association can help them to build a small house, and have 
five acres of their land broken, the women and children can cultivate 
the five acres, and make enough to support their families, while the 
men are out at work by the day to earn money to meet the payments 
on their land as they come due. In this way many families can be 
heljied to homes of their own, where they can become self-sustaining, 
educite their children, and be useful citizens to the State of Kansas. 

'■ Money spent in this way will be much more profitable to them than 
so much old clothing and provisions. Then they will no longer be ob- 
jects of charity or a burden to benevolent people." 

The .sad stories of this persecuted people had touched the 
hearts of the friends of humanity everyvvhe're. Money and cloth- 
ing came on every train, and as fast as the association could se- 
cure homes for the refugees they were distributed throughout 
the State.' 

A special correspondent of the '' Chicago Inter-Ocean " was 
despatched to Topeka to report the condition of things there, 
and to throw some light upon the great intellect of Senator 
Voorhees. He reported as follows: 

" TopEKA, K.^N., April 9. — During the last few days I have, in obe- 
dience to your request, been taking notice of the e-xodus, as it may be 



'We visited Kansas twice in 1880, and again in iSSi. We conversed with Gov. St. 
John, Mr. John M. Brown, and other gentlemen related to and familiar with the 
matter of the Exodus, and found that those who at the first so violently opposed the com- 
ing of the Negroes had been ]ileased with their simplicity, patience, industry, and 
character. They were all doing well. The association had discontinued its work, and 
the people were settled in quiet homes. 



THE EXODUS— CAUSE AND EFFECT. 539 

studied here at the licadiniartcrs for relief among tlie refugees in Kan- 
sas. This is the third visit your correspondent lias made to the ' prom- 
ised land' of the dusky hosts who, fleeing from ])ersecution and wrongs, 
have swarmed within its borders to the number of 25,000. In a letter 
written while here in December last the number then within the State 
was estimated at about 15.000, and since that date at least 12,000 more 
have come. In the 'barracks' to-day I found what seemed to be the 
same one hundied * * * who crowded about the stove that cold De- 
cember day ; but they were not the same, of course, for their ])laces have 
been filled many times with other hundreds, who have found their first 
welcome to Kansas in the rest, food, and warmth which the charity of 
the North has prosided here. So efticient have tiie plan of relief and the 
machinery of distribulion been made, that of the thousands who have 
passed through here, none have remained as a burden of expense to the 
association more than four or five days before places were found where 
their own labor could furnish them su])port. 

" If that pure statesman of Indiana whose great heart was so filled 
with solicitude for the welfare of his colored brethren, that he asked 
Congress to appropriate thousands of dollars to ascertain why they 
mo\ed from one State to another, will come here he will be rewarded 
by such a flood of light on the question as can never ])enetrate the re- 
cesses of his committee room in Washington. Me need hardly pro- 
pound an inciulry ; he had, indeed, best not let his great presence be 
known, for in tiie presence of Democracy the negro has learned to keep 
silence. But'in search of the truth let him go to the file of over 3,000 
letters in the (iovernor's office from negroes in the South, and read in 
them the homely but truthful tales of suffering, oppression, and wrongs. 
Let him note how real is their complaint, but how modest the boon they 
seek ; for in different words, sometimes in (piaint and often in 
awkward phrases, the questions are always the same : Can we be 
free? Can we have work, and can we have our rights in Kansas? 
Let him go ne.xt to the barracks and watch the tired, ragged, hungry, 
scared-looking negroes as they come by the dozens on every train. If 
he is not prompted by shame, then from caution necessary to tiie success 
of his errand, let him here conceal the fact that he is a Democrat, for 
these half-famished and terrified negroes have been fleeing from Demo- 
crats in the South, and in their ignorance they may not be able to com- 
prehend the nice distinction between a Northern and Southern Demo- 
crat. If he will be content simply to listen as they talk among themselves, 
he will soon learn much that the laborious cross-examination of wit- 
nesses has failed to teach him. He may take note of the fact that fleeing 
from robbcrv, oppression, and murder, they come only with the plea for 
work and justice while they work. He may see reason to criticise what 
generally has been deemed by Southern Democrats at least, the un- 



540 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

reasonable folly in a negro which prompts husband and wife to go only 
where they can go together, but he will find nothing to cause him to 
doubt the sincerity and good faith with which the negro grapples with 
the problem of his new life here. If he would learn more of this, 
strength of resolution and the patience which they have brought to the 
search for a home in a free land, let him inquire concerning the lives of 
these refugees in Kansas. It may seem of significance and worthy of 
approving note to him, that as laborers tliey have been faithful and in- 
dustrious ; that in no single case have they come back asking aid of the 
relief association nor become burdens in any way n])on corporate or 
public charities ; that as citizens they are sober and law-abiding to such 
a degree that he would hardly be able to discover a single case of crime 
so far among them ; and, finally, that in those instances where they were 
able to iHirchase a little land and stock, they have made as good prog- 
ress toward the ac(iuirement of homes and property as have the aver- 
age jjoor white immigrants to the State. He will first learn, then, 
from the refugees themselves something of the desperate nature of 
the causes that drove them from the South, and secondly, from their 
lives here, with what thrift, patience, and determination they have met 
the difficulties which they have encountered in their efforts to gain a 
foothold, and as men among men, in the land of equal rights. Froin 
the Hon. Milton Reynolds, President of the Au.xiliary Relief Associ- 
ation at Parsons, I learn that the negroes who have come into the southern 
part of the State, mostly from Te.xas, are all either settled on small 
tracts of land or employed as laborers at from $8 toigi^ per month, and 
are all doing well. Mr. Reynolds's testimony to this effect was positive 
and unqualified. To assist these refugees in Southern Kansas — over 
3,000 in all — only $575 has been expended. From Judge R. W. Daw- 
son, who was the Secretary of the association under the old management 
and during the early months of the movement, one year ago, when 
6,000 refugees were distributed throughout the State and provided with 
homes at a cost of $5,000, I learned much of interest concerning the 
welfare and progress of this advance guard of the great exodus. Judge 
Dawson, although not connected now with the relief work, feels of 
course a great interest in the welfare of those to whose assistance he 
contributed much, and loses no opportunity for observation of their 
condition while travelling over the State. He says he knows of no case 
where one has come back to the association for aid, and that, as labor- 
ers and citizens, their conduct has been such as to win the approval of 
all classes. Four colonies have been established. State lands were 
bought by the association and given to the colonies with the under- 
standnig that, to secure their title, they must make the second and third 
payments on the land purchased on the one-third cash and two-thirds 
time payment plan. Two of the newest of these colonies are still re- 



THE EXODUS— CAUSE AND EFFECT. 541 

ceiving aid from the association, hut liie others are self-sustaining and 
will be able, it is thought, to make the small purchase payments on the 
land as they become due. 

" If our inquiring Statesman is interested in observing in what spirit 
these refugees receive the aid which has made existence possible here 
during the cold winter months, he may be profited i>y spending a few 
days in looking about the city of Topeka. There are in Topeka 
alone over 3,000 refugees, and nearly all of them, paupers when 
they came, have found means in some way to make a living. In many 
cases it is a j^recarious subsistence that is gained, and in not a few 
cases among late arrivals he would find evidences of want and des- 
titution, but, compared with this, he cannot but be struck with the 
small number of applicants to the Relief Association for aid. Unly 
213 rations were issued outside the barracks last week to the 3,000 
refugees who came here only a few months since without money, 
and frequently without clothing, to undertake what seemed under the 
circumstances the desperate purjjose of making a living. 

" The dangers and difficulties which beset the refugees' departure 
from a land where even the right to emigrate is denied him are great. 
* * * He may learn (Mr. Voorliees), however, from copies of 
over 1,000 letters in the Governor's office, that Gov. St. John has 
never, in reply to their appeals, failed to warn them of the difficulties 
that would beset their way here, and has never extended them promise 
of other assistance than that implied in the eipial rights which are 
guaranteed to every citizen of Kansas. Further than this, however 
surprising it may be to Mr. Voorliees' theory of the causes of the exo- 
dus, it is nevertheless a fact that this very association, which is charged 
with encouraging the exodus, has sent the Rev. W. O. Lynch, a colored 
man, to the South to warn the colored ])eople that they must not come 
here expecting to be fed or to find homes already prepared, and to do 
all in his power to dissuade them from coming at all. Still they come, 
and why they come the country has determined long in advance of Mr. 
Voorhees' re[)ort. * * * 

" While we have Mr. Voorhees here we would be glad to have him 
glance at a State document to be found upon Governor St. John's table, 
which bears the Gre.it Seal and signature of Gov. O. M. Roberts, of the 
State of Texas. It is a requisition by the Governor of Texas upon the 
Governor of Kansas for the body of one Peter ^\■omack, a colored man, 
who was indicted by the Grand Jury of Grimes County at the last 
November term for the felony of fraudulently disposing of ten bushels 
of corn. From further particulars we learn that this Peter Womack 
gave a mortgage early in the spring of 1S79 upon his crop just ])lanted 
to cover a debt of twenty dollars due the firm of Wilson and Howel. 
When Womack came to gather his crop, he yields to the importunities 



S^2 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

of another white creditor ten bushels of corn to be applied upon the debt. 
About this time this Peter Womack becomes influential in inducing a 
number of his colored neighbors in Grimes County to emigrate to Kan- 
sas. Undeterred by threats and despite the bull-dozing methods em- 
ployed to cause liim to remain a ' citizen ' of Texas, Womack, with 
others, sick of a condition of citizenship which is nothing less than 
hopeless peonage, leaves stock and crops behind to seek a home in 
Kansas. His acts in inciting the movement of these black serfs are not 
forgotten, however, by the white chivalry of Grimes County. The evi- 
dence of this surrender on a debt of ten bushels of corn, mortgaged for 
another debt, is hunted up, presented to the Grand Jury of Grimes 
County, he is promptly indicted for a felony, and the great State of 
Texas rises in her majesty and demands a surrender of his body. The 
demand is in accordance with law, undoubtedly, — Texas law, — but if 
Texas would occasionally punish one of the white murderers who do 
not think it necessary to leave her borders, this pursuit of a negro for 
selling ten bushels of corn from a mortgaged crop would seem a more 
imposing exhibition of the power of the commonwealth to enforce its 
laws." ' 

The effect, or rather the results of the Exodus have been two- 
fold. It taught the Southern people that there was need of some 
effort to regain the confidence of the Negroes; that the Negro is 
the only laborer who can cultivate that section of the country; 
that the Negro can get on without the Southern people a great 
deal better than they can get on without Negro labor; that the 
severe political treatment and systematic robbery of the Negroes 
had not only driven them out, but had discouraged white people 
from settling or investing money at the South ; that dissatisfied 
labor was against their interests; that it was the duty of business 
men in tlie South to take a firm stand for the protection of the 
Negroes, because every stroke of violence administered to the 
Negroes shocked and injured the business of that section; and 
that kind treatment of and protection for the Negroes would 
insure better work and greater financial prosperity. On the other 
hand, the Exodus benefited the Negroes who sought and found 
new homes in a new country ; and it secured better treatment 
for those who remained behind. The Exodus was in line with a 
great law that governs nations. The Negro race must win by 
contact with the white race ; by absorbing all that is good ; by 
the inspiration of example. He must come in contact now not 



' Chicago Iiilcr-Ocean, April 15, 1S80. 



THE EXODUS— CAUSE AND EFFECT. 543 

with a people who hate him, but with a people of industrious, 
sober, and honest habits; a people willing to encourage and in- 
struct him in the duties of life. Race lines must be obliterated 
at the South, and the old theory of the natural inferiority of the 
Negro must give way to the demonstrations of Negro capacity. 
A new doctrine must supplant the old theories of pro-slavery 
days, and every man in the Republic must enjoy a citizenship as 
wide as the continent, and, like the coin of the Government, pass 
for his intrinsic value, and no more. 



544 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

RETROSPECTION AND PROSPECTION. 

1*UE Three Grand Divisions of the Tribes of Africa. — Sla\f Markets of Amf.:?ica supw 
PLiED from the Diseased and Criminal Classes of African Society. — America robs 
Africa of 15,000,000 Souls in 360 Years. — Negico Power of Endurance. — His Wonderful 
Achievements as a Lauorer, Soldier, and Student. — First in War, and First in 
Devotion to the Countrv. — His Idiosyncrasies. — Mrs.Stowe's Errors. — His Growing 
Love for Schools and Churches. — His General Improvement. — The Negro will endure 
TO THE End. — He is Capable for All the Dlitihs of Citizenship. — Amalga.mation will 
not obliterate the Race. — The American Negro will civilize Africa. — A.mekica will 
ESTABLISH Steamship Co.mmunication with the Dark Continent. ^Afric.\ will vet bb 
composed of States, and ''Ethioi'i.\ shall soon stretch out her Hands unto God." 

IT has been shown that the tribes of Africa are divisible into 
three classes: The tribes of the mountain districts, the 
tribes of the sandstone districts, and the tribes of the al- 
luvial districts ; those of the mountain districts most powerful, 
those of the sandstone districts less powerful, and those of the 
alluvial districts least powerful. The slave markets of America 
were supplied,' very largely, from two classes of Africans, viz. : 

* From tlie year 1500 to 1S60 the number of slaves imported from Africa were as 

foUovvb : 

Number of Negroes inioorled Total. 

iuLo America per annum. 

From 1500101525 .... 500 12,500 

From 1525 to 1550 .... 5,000 125,000 

From 1550 to 1600 . . . , 15,000 750,000 

From 1600 to 1650 .... 20,000 1,000,000 

From 1650 to 1700 . . . . 35,000 1,750,000 

From 1700 to 1750 . . . , 60,000 3,000,000 

From 1750 to iSoo .... So.ooo 4,000,000 

From iSoo to 1850 . . . 65,000 3,250,000 

Total, 350 years ..... 13,887,500 

From 185010 1S60, increase for decade . . 749,931 



Total importation of Negro slaves into America during 

a period of 360 years ..... 14,637,431 

or aljout 15,000,000 in round numbers. 

The above figures are taken from Mr. Dunbar's Mexican Papers. The process by 
«vhich he reaches his conclusions and secures his figures is rather remarkable. 



RETROSPECTIOX A.XJ) PliOSP ECTION. 545 

the criminal class, and the refuse of African society, whicli has 
been preyed upon by local disease, decimated by wars waged by 
the more powerful tribes which have pushed down from the 
abundant supply that has poured over the terraces of the moun- 
tains for centuries. Nevertheless, some of the better class have 
found their way to this country. About 137 Negro tribes are 
represented in the United States. 

For every slave landed safely in North America, there was 
one lost in procuring and bringing down to the coast, and in 
transportation. Thus in the period of 360 years, Africa was 
robbed of about 30,000.000 of souls ! When it is remembered 
that the Negroes in America sprang from the criminal, diseased, 
and inferior classes of Africa, it is nothing short of a phenom- 
enon that they were able to endure such a rigorous state of 
bondage. Under-fed and over-worked ; poorh- clad and miser- 
ably housed ; with the family altar cast down, and intelligent men 
allowed to run over it as swine; and with the fountains of 
knowledge sealed by law against the thirstings of human souls 
for knowledge, the Negroes of America, nevertheless, have shown 
the most wonderful signs of recuperation, and the ability to rise, 
against every cruel act of man and the very forces of nature, to a 
manhood and intelligent citizenship that converts the cautious, 
impartial, and conservative spirit of history into eulogy ! Tliey 
have overcome the obstacles in the path of the physical civiliza- 
tion of North America ; they have earned billions of dollars for 
a profligate people ; they have made good laborers, efficient 
sailors, and peerless soldiers. In three wars tliey won the crown 
of heroes by steady, intrepid valor; and in peace have shown 
themselves the friends of stable government. During the war 
for the Union, 186,017' Colored men enlisted in the service of the 
nation, and participated in 249 battles. From 1866 to 1873, be- 
sides the money saved in other banking houses, they deposited 
in the Freedmen's Banks at the South §53,000,000! From 1866 
to 1875 there were seven Negroes as Lieutenant-Governors of 
Southern States; two served in the United States Senate, and 
thirteen in the United States Il.ouse of Representatives. There have 
been five Negroes appointed as Foreign Ministers. There have 
been ten Negro members of Northern Legislatures ; and in the 
Government Departments at WashiniUon there are 620 Negroes 



* This includes tlie officers, moal ut wliom were wliiie men. 



546 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

employed. Starting without schools this remarkable people 
have now 14,889 schools, with an attendance of 720,853 pupils! 
And this does not include the children of color who attend the 
white schools of the Northern States ; and as far as it is possi- 
ble to get the statistics, there are at present 169 Colored students 
attending white colleges in the Northern States. 

The first blood shed in the Revolution was that of a Ne- 
gro, Crispus Attucks, on the 5th of March, 1770. The first 
blood shed in the war for the Union was that of a Negro, 
Nicholas Biddle, a member of the very first companj' that passed 
through Baltimore in April, 1861 ; while the first Negro killed 
in the war was named Jolin Brown ! The first Union regiment 
of Negro troops raised during the Rebellion, was raised in the 
State that was first to secede from the Union, South Carolina. 
Its colonel was a Massachusetts man, and a graduate of Harvard 
College. The first action in which Negro troops participated was 
in South Carolina. The first regiment of Northern Negro troops 
fought its first battle in South Carolina, at Fort Wagner, where 
it immortalized itself. The first Negro troops recruited in the 
Mississippi Valley were recruited by a Massachusetts officer, 
Gen. B. F. Butler; while their first fighting here was directed by 
another Massachusetts officer, Gen. N. P. Banks. The first recog- 
nition of Negro troops by the Confederate army was in December, 
1863, when Major Jolin C. Calhoun, a grandson of the South Caro- 
lina statesman of that name, bore a flag of truce, which was re- 
ceived by Major Trowbridge of the First South Carolina Colored 
Regiment. The first regiment to enter Petersburg was com- 
posed of Negroes; while the first troops to enter the Confederate 
capital at Richmond were Gen. Godfry Weitzel's two divisions 
of Negroes. The last guns fired at Lee's army at Appomattox 
were in the hands of Negro soldiers. And when the last expiring 
effort of treason had, through foul conspiracy, laid our beloved 
President low in death, a Negro regiment guarded his remains, 
and marched in the stately procession which bore the illustrious 
dead from the White House. And on the 15th of May, 1865, 
at Palmetto Ranch, Texas, the 62d Regiment of Colored Troops 
fired the last volley of the war! 

Several attempts have been made to define the racial char- 
acteristics of the Negro, but they have not been attended with 
success. 

Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe has written more and written 



RETROSPECTION AND PROSPECTJOX. 547 

better about the American Negro than any other person during 
the present century. She has given laboriously and minutely 
wrought pictures of plantation life. She has held up to the gaze 
of the world portraitures comic and serio-comic, which for the 
gorgeousness and awfulness of their drapery will perish only with 
the language in which they are painted. 

But Mrs. Stowe's great characters are marred by some glaring 
imperfections. " Uncle Tom " is too goodish, too lamb-like, too 
obsequious. He is a child of full growth, yet lacks the elements 
of an enlarged manhood. His mind is feeble, body strong — too 
strong for the conspicuous absence of spirit and passion. 

" Dred " is the divinest character of the times — is prophet, 
preacher, and saint. He is so grand. He is eloquent beyond 
compare, and as familiar with the Bible as if he were its author. 
And every hero Mrs. Stowe takes in charge must make up his 
mind to get religion, lots of it too, and then prepare to die. There 
is a terrible fatality among her leading characters. 

Mrs. Stowe has given but one side of Negro character, and 
that side is terribly exaggerated. But all strong natures like hers 
are given to exaggeration. Wendell Phillips never tells the truth, 
and yet he always tells the truth. He is a man of strong convic- 
tions, and always pronounces his conviction strongly. He has a 
poetical nature, is a word-painter, and, therefore, indulges in the 
license of the poet and painter. Mrs. Stowe belongs to this 
school of writers. The lamb and lion are united in the Negro 
character. Mrs. Stowe's mistake consists in ascribing to the Ne- 
gro a peculiarly religious character and disposition. Here is 
detected the mistake. The Negro is not, as she supposes, the 
most religious being in the world. He has more religion and has 
less religion than any other of the races, in one sense. And yet, 
divorced from the circumstances by which he has been sur- 
rounded in this country, he is not so very religious. Mrs. Stowe 
seizes upon a characteristic that belongs to mankind wherever 
mankind is enslaved, and gently binds it about the neck of the 
Negro. All races of men become religious when oppressed. 
Frederick the Great was an infidel when with liis friend Voltaire, 
but when suffering the reverses of war in Silesia he could write 
very pious letters to his " favorite sister." This is true in 
national character when traced to its last analysis. Men pray 
while they are down in life, but curse when up. And of neces- 
sity the religion of a bond people is not always health)-. There 



548 HISTOR Y OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

is an involuntary turning to a divine helper; a sort of religious 
superstition, that believes all things, hopes all things, and is pa- 
tient. The soul of such a people is surcharged with an almost 
incredulous amount of poetry, song, and rude but grand elo- 
quence. And when the songs that cheered and lighted many a 
heavy heart in the starless night of bondage shall have been res- 
cued and purified by the art of music, the hymnology of this 
century will be greatly indebted to this much-abused people. So, 
under this religious garb, woven by the cruel experiences conse- 
quent upon slavery, the lion slumbers in the Negro. 

Every year since the close of the Rebellion the Negro has 
been taking on better and purer traits of character. Possessed 
of an impressible nature, a discriminating sense of the beautiful, 
and a deep, puie taste for music, his progress has been phenome- 
nal. Strong in his attachments, gentle in manners, confiding, 
hopeful, enduring in affection, and benevolent to a fault, there is 
no limit to the outcome of his character. 

Like the oscillations of the pendulum of a clock the Negro is 
swinging from an extreme religious fanaticism to an e.xtreme 
rationalism. But he will finally take his position upon a s'olid 
religious basis ; and to his " faith " will add virtue, knowledge, and 
good works. Everywhere under good influences he has made a 
good citizen. No issue in the State has been foreign to him. 
He has proven his patriotism and his fondness for this land to 
which he was dragged in chains, and in his obedience to its laws 
and devotion to its principles has stood second to none. His 
home promises much good. His whole life seems to have under- 
gone a radical change. He has shown a disposition and delight 
in the education of his children ; and the constantly growing de- 
mand for competent teachers and educated preachers shows that 
he has outgrown his old ideas concerning education and religion. 
From an insatiable desire for gewgaws he has turned to a practice 
of the precepts of economy. From the state of semi-civilization 
in which he cared only for the comforts of the present, his desires 
and wants have swept outward and upward into the years to 
come and toward the Mysterious Future. He has learned the 
dif^cult lesson that " man shall not live by bread alone," and has 
shown himself delighted with a keen sense of intellectual hunger. 
One hundred weekly newspapers, conducted by Negroes, are 
feeding the mind of the race, binding communities together by 
the cords of common interests and racial sympathy ; while the 



RETROSPECTION AXD PROSPECTIOX. 549 

works of twenty Nci^ro authors- lend inspiration and purpose to 
every honest effort at self-improvement. 

The fiery trials of the younij Colored men who gained admis- 
sion to West Point, and the noble conduct of the four regiments 
of black troops in the severe service of the frontiers have 
strengthened the hopes of a nation in the final outcome of the 
American Ncsro. 



But what of the future ? Can the Negro endure the sharp 
competition of American civilization? Can he keep his position 
against the tendencies to amalgamation ? Since it has been 
proven that the Negro is not dying out, but on the contrary pos- 
sesses the powers of reproduction to a remarkable degree, a new 
source of danger has been discovered. It is said that the Negro 
will perish, will be absorbed by the dominant race ere long; that 
where races are crossed the inferior race suffers; and that mixed 
races lack the power to reproduce their species ; and that hence 
the disappearance of the Negro is but a question of time. Mr. 
Joseph C. G. Kennedy, superintendent of the Federal Census dur- 
ing the war, took the following view of this question: 

That an unfavorable moral condition has existed and continues 
among the free Colored, be the cause wiiat it may, notwithstanding the 
great number of exLcllent people included in that popuhition, no one 
can for a nK)ment doubt who will consider that with tliem an element 
exists which is to some extent [)Ositive, and that is the fact of there be- 
ing more than half as many mulattoes as blacks, forming, as they do, 
36|- per cent, of the whole Colored po[>ulation, and tliey are 
maternally descendants of the Colored race, as it is well known 
that no appreciable amount of this admixture is the result of marriage 
between white and black, or the progeny of white mothers — a fact 
showing that whatever deterioration may be the consequence of this 
alloyage, is incurred by the Colored race. Where such a proportion of 
the mixed race exists, it may reasonably be inferred that the barriers to 
license are not more insuperable among those of the same color. 'l"hat 
corruption of morals progresses with greater admixture of races, and 
that the product of vice stimulates the propensity to immorality, is as 
evident to observation as it is natural to circmnstances. These develop- 
ments of the census, to a good degree, explain the slow progress of the 
free Colored population in the Northern States, and indicate, with unerr- 
ing certainty, the gradual extinction of that people the more rapidly as, 

' Thus far the Negro h.iv not gone, .is nn .mthor, beyond mere narr.ilion. But we 
may soon expect a puct, a iiuvcli^l, a compusei, and a phiiobophical writer. 



550 HISTORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

whether free or slave, they become diffused among the dominant race. 
There are, however, other causes, although in themselves not sufficient 
to account for the great excess of deaths over births, as is found to oc- 
cur in some Northern cities, and these are such as are incident to incon- 
genial climate and a condition involving all the exposures and hardships 
which accompany a people of lower caste. As but two censuses have 
been taken which discriminate between the blacks and mulattoes, it is 
not yet so easy to determine how far the admixture of the races affects 
their vital power ; but the developments already made would indicate 
that the mingling of the races is more unfavorable to vitality, than a 
condition of slavery, which practically ignores marriage to the exclusion 
of the admixture of races, has proved, for among the slaves the natural 
increase has been as high as three per cent, per annum, and ever more 
than two per cent., while the proportion of mulattoes at the present 
period reaches but 10.41 per cent, in the slave population. Among the 
free Colored in the Southern States, the admixture of races appears to 
have progressed at a somewhat less ratio than at the North, and we can 
only account for the greater proportionate number of mulattoes in the 
North by the longer ])eriod of their freedom in the midst of the domi- 
nant and more numerous race, and the supposition of more mulattoes 
than blacks having escaped or been manumitted from slavery." 

Whatever merit this view possessed before the war of the Re- 
bellion, it is obsolete under the present organization of society. 
The environments of the Negro, the downward tendencies of his 
social life, and the exposed state in which slave laws left him, 
have all perished. In addition to his aptitude for study and ca- 
pacity for improvement, he is now under the protecting and re- 
straining influences of congenial climate; and pure sociological 
laws will impart to his offspring the power of reproduction and 
the ability to maintain an excellent social footing with the other 
races of the world. The learned M. A. DeOuatrefages says, con- 
cerning this question : 

None of the eminent men with whom I regret to differ take any 
account. of the influence of the action of the surroundings. I believe 
that the conditions of the surroundings play as important a part in the 
crossing of races as they do in other matters. They may sometimes 
favor, sometimes restrict, sometimes prevent, the establishment of a 
mixed race. This simple consideration accounts for many apparently 
contradictory facts. Etwick and Long have affirmed that in Jamaica 
the mulattoes hold out only because they are constantly recruited by 
the marriage of whites with negresses. But in San Domingo, in the 



RETROSPECTION AND PROSPECT/ON. 551 

Dominican Republic, there are, we may say, no wliites, and the popula- 
tion consists of two thirds mulattoes and one third negroes. The num- 
bers of the mulattoes are there well kept up l)y themselves without the 
introduction of fresh blood. In respect to fertility, different instances 
of crossing between individuals of the two same races may give different 
results, according to the place where they are effected. I believe it is 
unnecessary to insist and show that the jihysical and physiological 
faculties of children born of mixed unions ought to present analogous 
facts. 

" In my view the aggregation of physical conditions does not in 
itself alone constitute the environment. Social and moral conditions 
have an equal part in it. Here, again, it is easy to establish, in the re- 
sults of crossings, differences which have no other cause than differences 
in these conditions. It is true that mongrels, born and grown up in the 
midst of the hatred of the inferior race and the contempt of the supe- 
rior race, are liable to merit the reproaches which are commonly at- 
tached to them.' On the other hand, if real marriages take place 
between the races, and their offspring are placed upon a footmg of 
equality with the mass of the ])opulation, they are (piite able to reach 
the general level, and sometimes to display superior qualities. 

" .All of my studies on this ([ueslion have brought me to the conclu- 
sion that the mixture of races has in the past had a great part in the 
constitution of a large number of actual populations. It is also clear 
to me that its part in the future will not be less considerable. The 
movement of expansion, to which I have just called attention, has not 
slackened since the days of Cortez and I'izarro, but has become more 
extended and general. The perfection of the means of commimication 
has given it new activity. The people of mixed blood already consti- 
tute a considerable part of the population of certain states, and their 
number is large enough to entitle them to be taken notice of in the 
population of the whole world. 

'■ These facts show that man is everywhere the same, and that his 
passions and instincts are independent of the differences that distin- 
guish the human groups. The reason of it is that these differences, 
however accentuated they may seem to us, are essentially morphological, 
but do not in any way touch the wholly [ihysiological power of repro- 
duction." ' 

Race prejudice is bound to give way before tiie potent influ- 
ences of character, education, and wealth. And these arc neces- 
sary to the growth of the race. Without wealth there can be no 

' Revue Sciemifique, Paris, 



553 HI S: TORY OF THE NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA. 

leisure, without leisure there can be no thought, and without 
thought there can be no progress. The future work of the Ne- 
gro is twofold : subjective and objective. Years will be devoted 
to his own education and improvement here in America. He 
will sound the depths of education, accumulate wealth, and then 
turn his attention to the civilization of Africa. The United 
States will yet establish a line of steamships between this coun- 
try and the Dark Continent. Touching at the Grain Coast, the 
Ivory Coast, and the Gold Coast, America will carry the Afri- 
can missionaries, Bibles, papers, improved machinery, instead of 
rum and chains. And Africa, in return, will send America indigo, 
palm-oil, ivory, gold, diamonds, costly wood, and her richest 
treasures, instead of slaves. Tribes will be converted to Chris- 
tianity; cities will rise, states will be founded; geography and 
science will enrich and enlarge their discoveries ; and a telegraph 
cable binding the heart of Africa to the ear of the civilized world, 
every throb of joy or sorrow will pulsate again in millions of souls. 
In the interpretation of History the plans of God must be dis- 
cerned, "/i>r a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday 
when it is passed, a7id as a ivatch in the night." 



APPENDIX. 



ANTI-SLA VER Y AGITA TION. 



CHAPTER VI. 
walker's appeal. 

One of the most remark.ibic papers written by a Negro during the Anti-Slavery 
Agitation Movement was the Appeal of David Walker, of Boston, Massachusetts. He 
was a shopkeeper and dealer in second-hand clothes. He was born in Wilmington, 
North Carolina, September 28, 17S5, of a free mother by a slave father. When 
quite young he said : "HI remain in this bloody land. I will not live long. As 
true as Goii rei!;ns, I will be avenged for the sorrow which my people have sutTered. 
This is not the place for me — no, no. I must leave this part of the country. It will 
be a great trial for me to live on the same soil where so many men are in slavery ; cer- 
tainly I cannot remain where I must hear their chains continually, and where I must 
encounter the in.iults of their hypocritical enslavers. Go, I must 1 " 

He went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he look up his residence. He applied 
himself to study, and in 1S27, capable of reading and writing, he began business in 
Brattle Street. He was possessed of a rather rcdeclive and penetrating mind. And 
before Mr. W'illiam Lloyd Garrison unfurled his flag for the .Xgitation Movement, 
David Walker wrote and published his Appeal in iSsy. It was circulated widely, and 
touched and stirred the South as no other pamphlet had ever done. Three editions 
were published. The feeling at the South was intense. The following correspond- 
ence shows how deeply agitated the South was by Walker's Appeal. The editor of 
the Boston Couritr observed : " It will be recollected that some time in December 
last [1S29] Gov. Giles sent a message to the Legislature of Virginia complaining of an 
attempt to circulate in the city of Richmond a seditious pamphlet, said to have been 
sent there from Boston. We find in the Richmond Enquirer ai the iSth inst. [Febru- 
ary, 1830] the follow ing Message from the Governor, enclosing a correspondence which 
unravels all the mystery which has hitherto enveloped the transaction." 

Executive Depakt-ment, Kt-b. i6l!i, iS^o. 
Sir: In compliance with the advice of tlic Rxetutive Council. I do mvself the honor of 
transiniltini; herewith the copy of a letter fron) the Honorable Harrison Gra\- Oiis. Mayor of Bos- 
ton, conveyins; the copy of a letter from him addressed to tiie Mayor of Savannah, in answer to 
one received t>y hiiu from that fjentleman respecting a seditious pamphlet written by a person of 
color in Boston, and circulated by him in other parts of the L'nited States, 

Very respectfully, your obd't serv't. 

W.M. B. GILES. 
The Hon. Linn Banks, S/'cakcr 0/ tfu House 0/ DcU^iet. 

To his Excellency^ the CoTcrnor o/ Vir^nia : 

Sir: Perceiving that a pamphlet published in this city has been a subject of animadversion 
and uneasiness in X'lrginia as well as in (ieorgia. 1 have presumed that it mi^ht not be amiss to 
apprize you of the sentuiients and feelings 01 the city authorities in this place respecting it. and for 
that purpose I beg leave to send vou a copy of my answer to a letter from the Sla\or of Savan- 
nali. addressed to me on that subject. \'ou may be assured that your good people cannot hold in 
more absolvite detestation the sentimen.s of the writer than do the people of tliis citv. and. as 1 
verily believe, the mass of the New England population. The only difference is, that the insiirnifi- 
cance of the writer, the extravagance of his sanituinarv fanaticism tending to disgust all oersons 
of common humanity with his object, and the very piirlial circulation of this book, prevent the af- 
fair from being a subject of excitement and hardly of serious attention. 

553 



554 APPENDIX. 

I have reason to believe that the briolc is disapproved of by the decent portion even of the free 
colored population in tins plaue, and it would be a cause of deep regret to me. and I believe to all 
my well-disposed fellow-cnizeiis. if a publication of this character, and emanating from such a 
source, should be thought to be countenanced by any of their nunitier. 

I have the honor to be respectfully, vour obedient servant, 
Boston, Feb. lo, 1830. H. G. OTIS, Mayor 0/ the City a/ Boston. 

To the Mayor 0/ Sa-vatinah : 

SiK : Intlisposilion has prevented an earlier reply to your favor of the 12th December. A few 
days before the receipt of it. the paittpliU-t had been put into my hands by one of the Hoard of 
Aldermen of this city, who received it from an individual, it not having been circulated here. I 
perused it caretully. in order to ascertain whether the writer had made himself amenable to our 
laws; but notwithstanding the extremely bad and inflammatory tendency of the publication, he 
does not seem to have violated any of these laws. It is written by a free black man. whose true 
name it bears. He is a shopkeeper and dealer in old clothes, and in a conversation which ) 
authorized a young friend of mine to hold with him, he openly avows the sentiments of the book 
and authorship. I also hear that he declares his intention to be, to circulate his pamphlets by 
mail, at his own e.\pense. if he cannot otherwise effect his object. 

You may be assured, sir, that a disposition would not be wanting on the part nf the city 
authorities here, to avail themselves of any lawful means for preventing this attempt to throw 
firebrands into your country. ^\'e regard it with deep disapprobation and abhorrence. Hut. we 
have no power to control the purpose of the author, and without it we flunk that any public notice 
of him or his book, would make matters worse. 

AVe have been determined, however, to publish a general caution to Captains and others, 
against exposing themselves to the consequences of transporting incendiary writings into your and 
the other Southern Stales. 

I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 

H. G. OTIS. 



:^'iirt IS. 

THE PERIOD OF PREP. IK A TION. 



CHAPTER XI. 

LIST OF WORKS BY NEGRO AUTHORS. 

' Olaudah Eqtiiano or Gustavtis Vassa." Autobiography. Boston, 1837. 

" Light and Truth." Lewis (R. B.). Boston, 1S44. 

" Volume of Poems." Whitfield, (James M.). 1846. 
' Volume of Poems." Payne, (Daniel A., D.D.). 1850. 

"The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of 
the United States, Politically Considered." Delaney (Martin R.J. Phihadelphia, 1852. 

" Principia of Ethnology : The Origin of Races and Color." Delaney (Martin R.). 

" Narrative of the Life of an American .Slave." London, 1847. " My Bondage 
and My Freedom." New York, 1855. " Life and Times." Hartford, Conn., 1882. 
Douglass (Frederick). 

" Autobiogiaphy of a Fugitive Negro," etc. Ward (Rev. Samuel Ringgold). 
London, 1855, 

" The Colored Patiiots of the American Revolution." Nell (Wm. C). Boston, 
1855. 

"Narrative of Solomon Northup." New York, 1859. "Twenty-two Years a 
Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman." Rochester, i86i. Stewart (Rev. Austin). 

"The Black Man." Boston. Mass., 1S63. "The Negro in the Rebellion." 
Boslon, 1867. " Clotelle." Boston, 1867. "The Rising Sun." Boston, 1S74. 
" Sketches of Places and ]'eopIe Abroad." 1854. Brown (Wm. Wells, M.D.). 

" An Apology for African Methodism." T.anner (Benj. T.). Baltimore, 1867. 

" The Underground Railroad." Still (William). Philadelphia, 1S72. 

"The Colored Cadet at West Point." Flipper (H. O.), U. S. A. New York, 
1S77. 

" Music and Some Highly Musical People." Trotter (James M.). Boston, 1878. 
" My Recollections of Africjin Methodism." Wayman (Bishop A. W.). Phila- 
delphia, Pa., iSSl. 

" First Lessons in Greek." Scarborough (W. S.. A.M.). New York, 1S82. 
" History of the Black Brigade." Clark (Peter H.) 



APPENDIX, 555 

" Uncle Tom's Story of Ilis I.ifc." From 17.S9 to 1S79. Ucnson (Rov. Josiah). 
Boston. 

" The Futmc of Africa.'* New York, 1S62, Charles Scribncr & Co. 

" The Greatness of Christ," and other Sermons. Crummell (Kev. Alexander, 
D.D.)- '^- Whiltaker. 2 and 3 liible House, New Vork, 1SS2. 

" Not a Man and Vet a Man." Whitman (.\. A.). 

" Mixed Races." Sampson (John P.). Hampton, Va., 18S1. 

"Poems." Wheatley (Phillis). London, ICngland, 1773. 

•* As a Slave and as a Frcen^an." Loj^uen (Bisliop, J. W.). 



CHAPTER XHI. 
THE JOHN BROWN MEN. 
The subjoined correspondence was publislied in tiie RepubUcatt, J. K. Rukcnbrod, 
editor, at Salem, Ohio, Wednesday, December 2S, 1859. The beaiitifnl spirit of self- 
sacrifice, the lofty devotion to the sublime principles of universal liberty, and the 
heroic welcome to the hour of martyrdom, invest these letters with intrinsic historic 
value. 

LF.rTER FROM EDWIN COPPOCK TO HIS UNCLE JOSHUA COPPOCK. 

Charleston, \'a., December 13. 1859. 

Mv Df.ar Uncle : I seal myself by the stand to write for ihc last time, to thee and thy family. 
Though far from home, and overtaken by misfortune. I have not forgotten you. Your ucncrous 
hospitalitv towaril mc durinp my short slay with >ou hist Spring is stamped indelibly upon my 
heart ; and also the generosilv bestowed upon my poor brother, at the san^e time, who now 
wanders an outcast from his native land. But thank God he is tree, and 1 uut thankful it is I who 
have to suffer instead of him. 

The time mav come when he will remember mc. And the time may come when he will still 
further remember the <(i«jr /■« rc/f/iA /<('/<■. Thank God the principles of ihe cause in which we 
were engaged tc/// not die -with mf and viy brave comrade. They will spread wider and w idcr, 
and gather strength with each hour that passes. 

The voice of truth will echo through our land, bringing conviction to the erring, and adding 
numbers to that ^loripus A nny -.vho ii'i/i fn/i.it under its h.inncr. The cause of everlasting truth 
and Justice will go on "conquering and to conquer." until onr broad and beauiitui land shall 
rest beneiith the banner of Irecdom. I had hoped to live to see the dawn of that glorious day. I 
had hoped to live to see the princi[>les of the Declaration of our Independence fully realized. I 
had hoped to see the dark slain of slavery blotied tiom our land, anti the iil-el of our boistcd 
frecfiom erased ; when we can say in truth that our beloved country is *' the laivd of the free, and 
the home of the brave."— But this cannot be. 1 have heard my sentence passed, my doom is 
sealed, lUii two brief davs between me and eternity. .At the expir.Uion of those two days, I 
shall stand upon the scaffold to take my last look at earthly scenes. Hut that scaffold has hut 
little dread for me ; for I honestly believe I am irmocent of any crime justif\iiig such punishment. 

Rut by the taking of mv life, and the lives of my ciimradcs. \'irginia is but hastening on that 
glorious day. when the slave will rejoice in his freedom ; when he can say thnt i too am n man, 
and am groaning no more under the yoke of oppression, liui 1 must now close. Accept this 
short scrawl as a remembrance of me. Remember me to nty relatives and friends. And now 
Farewell. Krom thy nephew, 

EDWIN* COPPOCK. 

P. S. I will say for T know it will be a satisfaction to all of you. that we arc all kindly treated, 
and I hope the North will not fail to give Sheriff Campbell and Captain Avis due acknowledg- 
ment for their kind and noble actions. E. 

LF.TTER FRONt EDWIN COPPOCK TO THOMAS WINN. 
Mv Dkak Kkii-:so Thomas Winn: For thy love and sympathy, and for thy un\%earicd ex- 
ertion in my behalf, accept my warmest thanks. I have no words to tell the cr.ituudc and love 
I have tor thee- .And mav God bless thee and thy family, for the luvc and kimtncss thee ha-s 
always shown towards my family and me. And when life with thee is oyer, may we meet on that 
shore where there is no parting, is the farewcU prayer of thy true Friend. 

liDWlN COPPOCK. 



THAT LETTER. 
The following is the letter from Edwin Coppock, seized upon by the Virginia 
authorities as a pretence for not commuting his sentence. The offensive remark con- 
sisted alone wheiein he spoke of the chivalry as " the enemy." There certainly is 
nothing in this communication ihat ctnild justify a Government in taking the life of a 
man whom it otherwise considered not guilty of a capital crime, but whose greatest 
oflence was that of being found, as Wise claimed, in bad company. We give the 
letter entire : 



556 



irriiNDix. 



EDWIN COPPOCK TO MRS. BKOVVN. 



Chaijleston Jail, Virginia, November — , 1S59. 

Mrs. John Rrowx— Dear Madam ; I was very sorry that your request to see the rest of the 
prisoners was not tuin|>lie(l wiih, Mrs Avis brought me a book whose pag^es are full of tiiilh and 
lieauty, entitled " Voice uf the True-Hearted,'" which she told me was a present from you. Kor 
this dear token of remembrance, please act ept my thanks. 

My comrade, I. K. Cotik, and myself, deeply sympathize with you in your sad bereavement. 
We were both acquainted with Anna and Martha. Tht;y were to us as sisters, and as brothers we 
symjiathize with them in the dark hour of trial and affliction. 

1 %vas wiLh \ our sons when they fell. Oliver lived but a few moments after he was shot. 
He spoke no \v<>id, but yielded calmly to his fate. Watson was shot at lo o'clock on Monday 
morning, and died about 3 o'clock on U'ednesday morning. He suffered much. Though mortally 
wounded at 10 o'clock, yet at 3 o clock Monday afternoon he fout;ht bravelv against the men who 
charged on us. When the eiiemy were repulsed, and the e.\cilement ol the charge was over, he 
began to sink rapidly. 

After we were taken prisoners, he was placed in the guard-h'uise with me. Jle comi?lained 
of the hardness ot the bench on which he was lying. 1 begged hard for a bed for linn, or even a 
blanket, but could obtain none for him. I took off my coat and pinced it under him, and held 
his head in mv laji, in \\ hii h position he died without a groan or a siniggle. 

i have stated these facts thinkmg that they may afford to you, and to the bereaved widows 
they have lelt. a mournful cnisulatinn. 

Give uiy love to Anna and Maithu, with our last farewell. 

Vuurs truly, 

EDWIN coppock:. 



COOK S LAST LETTKK. TO HIS WIFE. 

» Charlestown Jail, Dec. 16, 1859. 

Mv Dear Wife and C^hilo : For the last time I take my pen to address you— for the last time 
to speak to you through the longue of the absent. 1 am about to leave you and this worhl for- 
ever. But do ii"t giv^Mvay to your grief. Look with the eves of hope beyond the vale of life, 
and see the dawning ofthat brighter morrow that shall know no clouds or shadows in its sunny 
sky— that shall know no sunset. To ttiat eternal day 1 trust, beloved, 1 am going now, Kor me 
there waits no far-off or uncertain future. I am onlv going from my camp on earth to a home in 
heaven ; from the dark clouds of sin and grief, to the clear blue skies, the fl':)wing fountams, and 
the eternal jjys of that better and brighter land, whose only entrance is through the vale of death 
— whose only gateway is the tomb. 

Oh, yes ! ihink that 1 am only going home ; going to meet my Saviour and my God ; going to 
meet my iomiadcs,and wait and watch f>.ir you. Each hour that jMsses, every tolling bell, pro- 
clauns this woi Id is not our h. me. We are but pilgiims here, journeying to our Kather's house. 
Some have a long and weary road to wander; shadowe.l o'er witii doubts and fears, they often 
lire and taint upon file's roadside; yet, still all wearied, thev must move along. Some make a 
more rapid journey, and complete tneir pdgrimage in the bright morn of life ; they know no weari- 
ness upoii ttieir journey, no ills or cares ol toil-worn age. 1 and my comrades here are among 
that number. Our ])ilgriinagc is nearly ended ; we can almost see our homes. A few more hours 
and we shall be lliere. 

True, 11 i- hard for me to leave my loving partner and my little one, lingering on the rugged 
road on \\ hii-h life's storms are bursting. Uut cheer up, my beloved ones ; those storms will soon 
be over ; ihioiigh their last lingering shadows you will see the jiromised rainbow. It will whisper 
of a hap|iy land where all stoi msare over. \Vill you not strive to meet me in that clime of unend- 
ing sunshine ? Oh! yes. I know you will ; that you will also try to ieaii our child along that 
path of gl'ny ; that vou will claim for him an entrance to that celestial city whose maker and 
builder i-. G<id. Teach him the way ul truth and virtue. Tell him for what and how his father 
left hi 11 ere his lips could lisp my name. Pray for him. Remember that there is no golden gate- 
way to the realms of pleasure here, but there is one for the redeemed in the land that lies star- 
ward. There I hope we may meet, when you have completefl your pilgrimage on the road of life. 
Years ^vlll pass <ni and >our journey will soon be ended. Live so that when fio.n the VL-rge ot 
life you look back you inav feel no vain regrets, no bitter anguish for mis-spent years. Look to 
God in all your troubles ; cast yourself t-n Him when your heart is dark wit ii the night ot sorrow 
and heavy with the weight of woe. He will shed over you the bright sunshine of llis love, and 
take away the burden from your heart. 

And now farewell. May that all-wise anil eternal God, who governs nil things, be with you 
to guide and protect you through liie, and bring us together in eternal joy beyond the grave. 
KareweU, fond i^artncr of my heart and soul. Farewell, dear babe of our love. A last, long fare- 
well, till we meet in heaven. 

I remain, in life and death, vour devoted husband, 

' * JOHN E. COOK. 

FUNERAL OF JOHN E. COOK. 

The funeral of Capt. Cook took place at Krooklyn on the 20lh, from the residence 
of Mrs. S. L. Harris. The services were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Caldicott, of the 
Lee Avenue Dutch Reformed Church, and at the Cypress Ilills Cemetery by the Rev- 
Wm. II. Johnson. Of the body the day previous, the Tribtme says : 

Owing to the length of time that elapsed between the decease and the time the body was de- 
livered into the charge of Dr. Holmes, the jirocess of embalming has been somewhat difhcult, and 
consequently the appearance of the remains is not so natural as it otherwise would have been. 



APPENDIX. ?57 

I.a'it cvcninR the hodv was placed in an erect position, in order to allow the Injcrtcl flni.I m .cltlr 
in the veins and arteries, so as l.jKivc to the face a inxrc n.itiiial uppearantc. Tin i cn- 

lirelv disappeared from the neck and (ace. and the deconipo>iti.,n ivliich ha. ,ccn 

checked. The remains will not be enshroude<l unld this niorninu, when thei td in 

the coffin, enclosed in a while merinu robe with a satin collar, satin cord about '.he uai;>i, and a 
black neckerchief about the neck. 

Yesterday afternoon the l.ither. sisters, and wife of the deceased were pcnnilted to view the 
remains. His wile removed the breast-pin an«l a ininialiire of their child lioni about his neck, 
which she had placed there but a few davs previous to his execution. She is but eighteen \cars 
of aj^e. and has an infant four months old. She is from Harjier's Kerry, \"a., where she was mar- 
ried about seventeen months since. She, as well as the other rcdatives, was <»ver\\ helmed willi 
sorrow, and it was some moments before '.lie>r were suHiciently recovered to be cnableil to leave 
the body. The refusal of the Consistories of the Lee Avenue and Konrth Rcfiirmed Dutch 
Churches to permit the services t'j be held in their edifices has Kiven rise to the expression of much 
feeliuK, and many of the friends of the ileceased iiiler that lliis refusal is made from a fear of 
censure on the part of some of the members of their congregatiuiis. in allu\viiin a Christian burial 
to the remains. 

In the little biiri.nl-grnund at Obcrlin, Lor-iin Cimnly, i iluo, ilicro is a monument 
dedicated to the memory of three of the John ISrowii Men, .ns follows : 

L. S. Leary. died at Harper's Kerry, Oct. 20. 1859, aRcd 24 years. 

S. Green, died at ( harlestown, \'irRinia, Dec, 2, 1850, aj^ed 23 years, 

J. A. Copeland, dictl at Cliarlestown, V'lrgirna, Dec. 2, 1859, aged 25 years. 

The monument beats the following inscription : 

These Colored citizens of Oberlin, the heroic associates of the Immortal John Brown, gave 
their lives for the Slave. 



THE NEGRO ARTIST OF Tllf; STATUE OK LIllI'RTV ON THE CAI'lTOI.. 

When .the bronze castings were being completeil at the foundry of Mr. Mills, 
near Bladensbviig, his foreman, who had stiperintended the work from the beginning, 
and who was receiving eight dollars per day, struck, and demanded ten dollars, assur- 
ing Mr. M. that the advance must be granted him, as nobotly in America, e.NCept him- 
self, could complete the work. Mr. M. felt that the demand was exorbitant, and ap- 
pealed in his dilemma to the slaves who were assisting in the moulding. " I can do 
that well," said one of them, an intelligent and ingenious servant, who had been inti- 
mately engaged in the various processes. The striker was dismissed, and the negro, 
assisted occasionally by the finer skill of his master, took the striker's place as super- 
intendent, and the work went on. The black master-builder lifted the ponderous, 
uncouth masses, and bolted them together, joint by joint, piece by piece, till they 
blended into the majestic " Freedom," who to-day lifts her he.id in the blue clouds 
above Washington, invoking a benediction upon the imperilled Republic ! 

Was there a prophecy in that nu>ment when the slave became the artist, and with 
rare poetic justice, reconstructed the beautiful symbol of freedom for America ?' 



inivt 7. 

THE NEGRO IX .'HE WAR FOR THE UA'ION. 



CHAI'TKR XIX. 
NKi:riies as soldiers. 

Gen. Benj. F. Butler commanrleil a number of Negro Troops at Fort Harrison, 
on the 29111 Sept., 1S64. After white troops had been driven back by the enemy. Gen. 
Butler ordered his Negro troops to storm the fortified position of the enemy at the 
point of the Ixayonet. The troops had to charge down a hill, ford a creek, and — pre- 
ceded by axemen w'ho had to cut away two linos of abatis — then carry the works held 
by infantry and artillery. They made one of the most brilliant charges of the war. 



Washington Correspondent of the New Vor'« Tribune, December 2, 1S63, 



558 



APPENDIX. 



with " Remember Fort Pillow" as their ballle-cry, and carried the works in an in- 
credibly short time. 

Nearly a decade after this battle, Gen. Butler, then a member of Congress from 
Massachusetts, said, in a speech on tlie Civil Rights Bill of this affair ; 

" Jt became my painful duty to follow in the track of that charging column, and lliere, in a 
space not wider ttian itie cleik's dusk, and tliree hundred yards loiio;, lay the dead bodicH of live 
hundred and loriv-thfee of inv colored comrades, fallen in defence of their country, who had 
offered up their IiVes to uphold its flag and its honor, as a willing sacrifice ; and as I rode along 
among them, sruiding my liorse this way and that way, lest he should profane with his hoofs what 
seemed to me the sat red dead, and as 1 looked on their bronze faces uptnrned in the shining sun, 
as if in mute appeal jigainst the wrongs of the country for which they had given their lives, whose 
flag had oidy buen to them a flag of stripes, on which no star of glory had ever shone for them— 
feeling 1 had wronged them in the past, and believing what was the future of my country to 
them— among mv dead comrades there,! swore to myself a solemn oath— 'May my right hand 
forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,' if I ever fail to defend the 
rights of those men who have givc-n their blood for me and my country that day and for their race 
forever, and God helping me, I will keep that oatli." 



BATTLES IX WHICH COLORED TROOPS PARTICIPATED. 



" Alliance." Steamer, Fla. 

March 8. 1S65. 

U. S. C.T. qgth Inf. 

Amite River, La. 

March 18, 1S65. 

U. S. C. T. 77th Inf. 

Appomattox Court House, Va, 

April g, 1S65, 

U. S, C, T. 41st Inf. 

Arkansas River, Ark. 

Dec. 18, 1S64. 

U. S. G. T. 54th Inf. 

Ash Bayou, La. 

Nov. IQ, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 93d Inf. 
Ashejioo River. S. C. 

Mav 16, 1S64, 

U. S. C T. 34ih Inf. 

Ashwood, Miss. 

June 25. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 63d Inf. 

Ashwood Landing, La. 

May I and 4, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. 

Athens, Ala. 

Sept. 24, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. io6th, iioth, and i nth Inf. 

Barrancas. Fla. 

July 22, 1864. 

U. S, C. T. 82d Inf. 

Baxter's Sftrings, Kan. 

Oct. 6, iSov 

U. S. C.T. 83d (new) Inf. 

Bavou Bidell, La. 

Oct. 15, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 5^d Inf. 

Bayou Boeuf. Ark. 

Dec. 13, 1S63. 
U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. 
Bayou Mason, Miss. 

July , 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 66th Inf. 

Bayou St. Louis, Miss. 

Nov. 17, 1863. 

U. S. C. T. Qist Inf. 

Bayou Tensas, La. 

Aug. 10, 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 48th Inf. 

Bayou Tensas, La. 

July 30 and Aug. 26. 1864. 

U.S. C. T. 'aeth Inf. 

Bayou Tunica. La. 

'Nov 0, 186:1. 

U. S. C. T. 73d Inf. 



Bermuda Hundred, Va. 

Mav 4. 1-S64. 

U. S. C; T. 4th Inf. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va. 

Mav 20, 1864. 

U. S. C'. T. istCav. 

Bermuda Hundred. Va. 

Aug. ?4 and 25. 1S64. 

U.S. C.T. 7lhlnf. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va. 

Nov. 30 and Dec, 4. 1864, 

U. S. C.T. igthlnf. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va. 

Dec. I, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. 3QthInf. 

Bermuda Hundred, Va, 

Dec. :3, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 23d Inf. 

Berwick, La, 

April 26, 1S64. 

U, S. C. T. gath Inf. 

Big Creek, Ark. 

Julv 26, 1864. 

t). S. C. T, Batt'ry E, 2d Lt. Art,; 60th Inf. 

Big Springs. Ky, 

Jan. , 1S65. 

U. S. C. T. i2th Hy. Art. 

Black Creek. Fla. 

July 27, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 35th Inf. 

Black River, La. 

Nov. 1, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 6th Hy. Art. 

Bogg's Mills, Ark. 

Jan. 24. 1S64. 

U.S. C.T. iithtoldl Inf. 

Bovtl's Station. Ala. 

March iS, 1S65. 

U.S. C.T. 101st Inf. 

Boykin's Mdl, S. C. 

'April iS, 1865. 

U.S. C T. 54tli (Mass.) Inf. 

Bradford's Springs, S. C. 

April iS, 1865. 

U.S. C. T. io2d Inf. 

Brawley Fork. Tenn. 

March 25, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 17th Inf. 

Brice's Cross Roads, Miss. 

June 10. 1864. 

U.S.C.T. Batt'y F,2dLt. Art.;55thand59tliliit 

Briggin Creek. S. C. 

l*eb. 25. 1865. 

U.S.C.T. 55th (Mass.) Inf. 



I ■ 



APPEXDIX. 



559 



Hryunt's Phmtalion, Kla. 

<^ct 21. 1S64 

U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. 

Cabin Creek. Caddo Nation. 

Julv I and i', 1863. 

U. S. C.T. 7i,tli (new) Inf. 

Cabin Creek, Caddo Nation. 

Nov. 4, 1S65, 

U. S, C. T. 54tU Inf. 

C'abin Point, V'a. 

Aug. 5,1864. 

U. S. C. T. isl Cav. 

Camden. .-Xrk. 

April 24. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 57tli Inf. 

Camp Marcnuo, I.a. 

Sept. 14, 18(14. 

U. S. C. T. i.jd Inf. 

Cedar Keys, I''la. 

Keb. 16. 1S65. 

U. S. C. T. jd Inf. 

Chapin's I-'artn.X'a, 

Se|>l. ^9 and ^o, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 2il Cav.; ist. 4th, 5ih. -jlh, 7th, 8:h 

(fii, 32d, 2i)tli tConn.), 36tll, 371I1, and jStb Inf. 

Chapin's Faini.Va, 

Nov. 4, 1864. 
I". S. C. T. jsd Inf. 
ClialtanooRa, Tenn. 

Feb. — , 1865. 

U. S. C. T. iSlil Inf. 

** Chippewia," Steamer, .\rk. 

I'eb. 17. 1865. 

U.S. C.T. 8;dtncw)Inf. 

** Cily Hellc," Steamer, La. 

May 3, 1864. 

U. S. C: T. 73d Inf. 

Cilv Point, Va. 

May 6, 1SC4. 

U. S. C: T. jth Inf. 

City Point. Va. 

Jinic — . i3()4. 

U. S. C. T. Halt'y H. ad tt. Ait. 

Clarksville. Ark. 

Jan. 18. 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 79tli tnew) Inf. 

Clinton. I.a. 

A UK- 25, i8f>4- 

U. S. C. T. 4th Cav. 

Coleman's Plantation, Miss. 

Inly 4, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 5jd Inf. 

('oluinbia. I.a. 

I'ub. 4, 1664. 

U.S. C.T. oiith Inf. 

Concordia Bavou, I^a. 

Aug. 5. 1^64. 

U.S. C.T. 6llilly. Art. 

Cow Creek. Kan. 

Nov. 14, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. 

Co.ts Hridse. N. C. 

March 24, it'65. 

U.S. C.T. 3>thlnf. 

Dallas. Ga. 

May ^1, i.S(>4. 

U. S. C. T. 40th Inf. 

Dallon. Ca. 
Anc. 15 and 16. 1S64. 
U.S. Cr. 14th Inf. 

Darbvtown Road, \*a. 

Oct. 13. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 7th, 8th, 9th, and ijth iConn.) Inf. 

Davis's Bend, I.a. 

June 3 and 29, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. 



Decatur. Tenn. 

AUL'. 18. 18C4. 

U.S. C.T. istllv. Art. 

Drcatur, .\l& 

Oct. 2S and :;iy. 1064. 

U.S. C.T. 14th Int. 

Decatur. .Ma. 

Dec. 27 and aS, iS^. 

U.S C. T. 17th Inf. 

Deep Mnttoni, Va. 

Auk M to 18, 18(4. 

U.S. C.T. 7th anil <,th Inf. 

Dicp llottom. Va. 

Sept. 2 and o, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. ad Cav. 

Deep Bottom. \"a. 

Oct. 1, 1864. 

l;. S. C. T. 3Slh Inf. 

Deep Bottum. Va. 

Oct. 31, 181.4. 

U.S. C.T. ia7tU!nf. 

Deveaux Neck, S. C. 

Dec. 7, 8, and .1, 1864. 

U. S. C.T. 3:U, 34lh. 55th (.Mass.), and load 

Inf. 

Drury's Blud, Va. 

Mav I'-', 16, and 30, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. ad Cav. 

Dutch Gap. \'a. 

Aul'. 34, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 3.d Inf. 

Dutch Gai». Va. 

Sept. 7, iSn. 

r. S. C. T. 4th Inf. 

l">utch Gap. \'a. 

Nov. 17, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. ;6ih Inf. 

East P.ascagoula. Miss. 

April 0. 1.^6;. 

U. S. C. T. Cos. n. and C. 74th In£, 

Eastport, Miss. 

Oct. 10, i8ft4. 

U.S. C.T. 6istlnf. 

Fair Oaks. \'a. 

Oct. 27 and 28. i£64. 

U. S. C, T. ist. 5th. .jth. 32d. a.jth (Cone), acd 

37th Inf. 

Federal Point, N. C. 

Feb. 11, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 3.)th Inf. 

Fillmore, \'a. 

Oct. 4. 1S64. 

U.S. C.T. iMln£. 

Floyd, I.a. 

July .1S64. 

U.S. C.T. 51st Inf. 

Fort .Vdams. Iji, 

Oct. ^. lS'^4 

i:.S.C.T. 3,1 Cav. 

Fort Anderson. Ky. 

March 2;. iS'-4. 

U. S. C. T. sih lly. .\rt. 

Fort Blakclv. Ala 

March 31 to .Xpiil o. iS'" = . 

U.S. C.T. 4-th. 4Sih. tcth.^ist,t.cth,73d,7«dl, 

gad, and 86ih Inf. 

l-'ort Brady. Va. 

Jan. 24, iSf?. 

U,S. C. T. iiSihlnf. 

F'ort Burnham. \'a. 

Dec. 10, iS^4- 
U. S. C T. 4i'-t Inf. 
F<irt Burnham. \'a. 

Jan. 24, ic6s. 
U. S. C. T. 7lh Inf. 



56o 



APPEA'DIX. 



Fort Donelson Tenn. 

t.)ct, II, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 4th Hy. Art. 

Fort Gaines, Ala. 

Aus 2 to 8, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. g6th Inf. 

Fort Gibson, Caddo Nation. 

Seiit. 16, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. yylh mew) Inf. 

Fort Gibson, Caddo Nation. 

Stpt , 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 54th Inf. 

Fort Jones, Ky. 

Fen. 18, 1865. 

U.S. C.T. 12th Hy. Art. 

Fort Pillow. Tenn. 

April 12. 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. Balt'v F. 2d Lt. Art.; nth (nsw) 

Inf. 

Fort Pocaiiontas, Va. 

Auc-, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. ist Cav. 

Fort Smith, Ark. 

Auf?. 24, 1864. 

U.S. C. T. 11th (old) Inf. 

I'ort Smith, ArK. 

I)i-"C. 24. 1864. 

U. S. r. T. 83d (new) InC 

Fort Taylor. Fhi. 

Auji. 21, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 2d Inf. 

Fort Wagner, S. C. 

July z8 and Sepi. 6, 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 54th (Mass.j Inf. 

Fort Wagner. S. C. 

Aug, L'6, iS6-j. 

U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. 

Franklin, Miss. 

Jan. 1', 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 3d Gav. 

Ghent, Ky. 

.Aui;. 20, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. 117th InC 

Glasgow, Mo. 

Oct. 15, 1^64, 

U. S. C. T. 62d Inf 

Glasgow, Ky, 

March 25, 1865. 

U.S. C.T. iigtU Inf. 

Goodrich's Landing, La. 

March 24 and July 16. 1864, 

U. S. C. T. 66th Int. 

Grand Gulf, Miss. 

July 16, 1864, 

U. S. C. T. 53d Inf. 

Gregory's Farm. S. C. 

Dec. 5 and 9, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 26th Inf. 

Hall Island, S. C. 

Nov. 24, 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 33d Inf. 

Harrodsburg. Ky. 

Oct. 21, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. 5th Cav. 

Hatcher's Run, Va. 

Oct. 27 and 2S. 1864. 

J. S. C. T. 27th, 39th, 41st, 43d, and 45th Inf. 

Haynes Bluff. Miss. 

' Feb. 3. 1SD4. 
U. S. C. T. 53d Inf. 
Haynes Bluff. Miss. 

April, 1SC4 

U.S. C. T. 3d Cav. 

Helena, Ark. 

Aug. 2, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 64th Inf. 



Henderson. Ky. 

Sept. 25, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. iiSth Inf. 

Holly Springs. Miss. 

Aug. 2S, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. nth (new) Inf. 

Honey Hill, S. C. 

Nov. 30, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 32d, 35th, 54th, and 55th (Mass,), 

and io2d Inf. 

Honev Springs. Kan. 

July 17. 1&63. 

U. S. C. T. 79ih (new) Inf. 

Hopkinsville, Va. 

Dec. 12, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 5th Cav. 

Horse-Head Creek, Ark. 

Feb. 17. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. 

Indian Bay, Ark. 

April 13, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 56th Inf. 

Indiantown, N. C. 

Dec. 18, 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 36th Inf. 

Indian Village, La. 

Aug. 6, 1864. 

U.S. C. 'J\ nth Hy. Art. 

Island Mound, Mo. 

Oct. 27 and 29, 1S62. 

U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf, 

Island No. 76. Miss. 

Jan. 20. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. Batt'y K, 2d Lt. Art. 

Issaquena t-uunty, Miss. 

July 10 and .Aug. 17. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 66th In/. 

Jackson, La. 

Aug. 3, iS6v 

U. S. C. T. 73d, 75tli, and 78th Inf, 

Jackson, Miss. 

Julv s, 1864. 

Ij.S. C.'T. 3d Cav. 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

March 29, 1863. 

U.S. C.T. 33d Inf. 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

May 1 and 2S. 1&64. 

U. S. C. T. 7th Inf. 

Jacksonville. Fla, 

Ai>ril 4, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 3d Inf. 

James Island, S. C. 

luly 16, i&6v 

U. S. C.T. 54tli iMass.) Inf. 

James Island. S. C. 

Mav 21. 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. ' 55lh (Mass.) Inf. 

Jaints Island, S. C. 

July 1 and 2, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 33d and 53th (Mass.) Inl 

James Island, S. C. 

July <^ and 7, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. 7th Inf. 

James Island. S. C. 

Feb. 10. 1&65. 

U.S. C.T. 55ih (Mass.) Inf. 

Jenkins's Ferry. Ark. 

April 30, 1864. 

U. S. C. T, 70th (new) and 83d (new) Inf, 

Jenkhis's Ferry, Ark. 

May 4. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 83d (new) Inf. 

John's Island, S. C. 

July 5 and 7, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 26th Inf. 



APPEXDIX. 



56. 



John's Island. S. C. 

July 9. 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 7th and 34lh Inf. 

Johnsonville. Tcnn. 

Sept. 23, 1S64. 
U. S. C. T. 13th Inf. 
Jones's HrilHC Va. 

June 23, \i<fi\. 

U. S. C. T. 2Sth Inf. 

Joy's Ford. .-Vrk. 

Jan. 8, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. 

Lake Providence. La. 

May 27. 1S63. 

Lawrence, Kau. 

July 27, 1S63. 

U. S. C.T' 7cjth (new) Inf, 

Little Rock. Aik. 

April 26 and May 28, iSCi. 

U. S. C. T. 57th Inf. 

Liverpool Heights, Miss. 

Feb. ■;, 1804. 

U. S. C. T. 47th Inf. 

** Lotus." Steamer. Kan. 

Jan. 17. 1S65. 

U.S. C.T. 83d (newl Inf. 

Madison Station. Ala. 

Nov 26, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. loistlnf. 

Magnolia, Tenn. 

Jan. 7, 1865 

U. S. C. T. 15th Inf. 

Mariana, Ma. 

Sept. 27, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. 82d Inf. 

Marion. Va. 

Dec. :8. 1664. 

U. S. C. T. 6th Cav. 

Marion County, Fla, 

March 10, 1S65. 
T'. S. C. T. 3d Jnf. 
VcKay's Point. S. C, 

Dec. 22, i8i''>4. 
U.S. C.T. 261U Inf. 
Meflleton Lodge, Ark. 

June 20, )ii64. 

U. S. C. T. 56ih Inf. 

Memphis, Tenn. 

Aug. 31, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 6ibt Inf. 

Milliken's Bend, La. 

June 5. 6, and 7. 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 5th Hy. Art.; 49th and 31st 

Inf. 

Milltown Rlufr. S. C. 

Julv 10, 186^. 
U. S. C. T. 3^d Inf. 
Mitchell's Creek, Kla, 

Dec. 17. 1864. 

U.S. C. T. S;d Inf. 

Morfranzia. La. 

Miiv 18, 1864. 

U.S. C:T. 73d Inf. 

Morganzia, La. 

Nov. 23, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. g4ih Inf. 

Moscow, Tenn. 

June 15, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 55th Inf. 

Moscow Station. Tenn. 

Dec. 4. 1863- 

U. S. C. T. 6istlnf. 

Mound Plantation, La. 

June 79, iS6^. 
U. S. C, T. 46lh Inf. 



Mount Pleasant Landing, I-a. 

May 15, i8'J4. 

C. S. C r. 67th Inf. 

Mud Creek. .Ma. 

Jan. s. 1865. 

U. S. C. T. io6lh Inf. 

Murfrcesboro'. Tenn. 

Dec. 3|, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 121K Inf. 

N. and N. W. R. R..Tcnn. 

Sept. 4, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. iLoih Inf. 

NasKville. Tcnn. 

-May 24, i6f4. 

U.S. C.T. i5ihlnf. 

Nashville, Tenn. 

Lee. 2 and 21, iJ-fi4. 

U.S. C.T. 44th Inf. 

Nashville, Tenn. 

Dec._7, j8'J4. 

U.S. C.T. 1 8th Inf. 

Nashville, Tenn. 

Dec. 15 and 16, 1864. 

C. S, C.T. 12th, i3ih, 14th, 17th, iSth.and looth 

Inl. 

Natchci, Miss. 

Nov. II, iS''?. 

U. R. C. T. sSth Inf. 

Natchez. Miss. 

April 25, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 93th Inf. 

Natural Bridge. Fla. 

March 6. \%^-^. 

U. S. C. T. 2d and 90th Inf. 

New Kent Court House, Va. 

March 2, 1864, 

U. S. C. T. 5lh Inf. 

New Market Heichts, \"a. 

June 24, i£64. 

U. S. C. T. 2?d Inf. 

Olustee, Fla. 

Feb. 20. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 8th, 35th, and ijHi (Mass.) InC 

dwensboro', Ky. 

.■\up. 27, 1-S61. 

U. S. C. T. i.Sth Inf. 

Palmetto Ranch. Texas, 

Mav' 15, 1865. 

I'. S. C. T. 62d Inf. 

Pass Manchas. La. 

March 2o. iSt'j. 

U.S. C.T. loth Hy Art. 

Petersburg. Va. 
June 15, 1S64, to .Xpnl 2, 1865. 
U. S. C. T. 5th 'Mass \ Cav. ; 1st, 4th, 5ih, 
6lh. 7th, lolh. i9lh, 22d. 2';d. a7th. 2Sth. 39lh, 

29th (Conn ). ^oth, 31st, 36th. 3(;ith, 41st, 43d, 
45lh. and ti6ih Inf. 

Pierson's Farm. Va 

June i^, i;64. 

U. S. C.T. 3'ih Inf. 

Pine Barren Creek, .\Ia. 

Dec. 17. )8. and iij. ic;4. 

f. S. C. T. 97th InL 

Pine Barren Ford. HIa. 

Dec. 17 and 16. i3(^4. 

U. S C. T. 63d Inf. 

Pine Blufi. Ark. 

Julv 2. i86i. 

U. S. C,T. 64lh Inf. 

Pleasant Hilt, La. 

.April 9, iS''4- 

U. S C. T. 75th Inf. 

Plymouth. N. C. 

Nor. 26. \^(^\. and April tS, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. loth Inf. 



562 



APPENDIX. 



Plymni.ih, N. C. 

April I. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 7;7lh Inf. 

Point Lookout. \'a. 

May 13, 1864. 
U. S. C. T. 36lh Inf. 
Point of Rocl(s, Md. 

June 9, 1S64. 

U.S. C. T. 2d Cav. 

Point Pleasant, La. 

June 25. 1864. 

U.S. C. T. 64tli Inf. 

Poison SpTinp;s, Ark. 

April i8, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 7yth (new) Inf. 

Port Hudson, La. 

May 22 to Julv 8. 1863. 

C. S. C. T. 73d. 75tli. 73th. 79tti (old), Sotll 

81st, 82d, and 95th Inf. 

Powhatan, Va. 

Jan. 25, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. ist Cav. 

Prairie D'ann, Ark. 

April 1^, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 7otli (new) and 83d (new) Inf. 

Pulaski, Tenn. 

May 15, 1S64. 

U. S. C, T.' iiithlnf. 

Raleigh, N'. C 

April 7. 18(15, 

U.S. C. T. 5th Inf. 

Rector's Farm, Ark. 

Dec. 19, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. Sad (new) Inf. 

Red River Expedition. La. 

May — , 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 92d Inf. 

Richland, Tenn. 

Sept. 26, 1864. 

U.S. C. T. iiithlnf. 

Richmond, Va. 

Oct- 28 and 29, 1864. 

U. S.C. T. 2d Cav. ; 7th Inf. 

Ripley, Miss. 

June 7, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 55th Inf. 

Roadie's Plantation, Miss. 

Marcli 31, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. 

Rolling Pork, Miss. 

Nov. 22, 1864. 

U.S. C. T. 3d Cav. 

RoseviUe Creek, Ark. 

March 20, 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 79th (new) Inf. 

Ross's Landing, Ark. 

Feb. 14, 1864. 
U.S. C.T. 51st Inf. 
St. John's River, S. C. 

Mav 23, 1864. 

U. S. C: T. 35th Inf. 

St. Stephen's, S. C. 

March i. 1S65. 

U. S. C. T. 55lh (.Mass.) Inf. 

Saline River, Ark. 

Mav 4. 1864. 

U. S. C. T." 8)d (new) Inf. 

Saline River, Ark. 

May — . 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 54tli Inf. 

Salkeh.itchie, S. C. 

Feb. 9, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. io2d Inf. 

Sal(ville, \'a. 

Oct. 2. iS''.4. 

U.S. C.T, 5th and 6th Cav. 



Saltville, Va. 

Dec. 20, 18(14. 
U.S. C.T. 5th Cav. 
Sand Mountain. Tenn. 

Jan. 27, 1865. 
U. S. C. T. iSlh Inf. 
Sandy Swamj). N. C. 

Dec. 18, 1863. 

U. S. C. T. 5th Inf. 

Scottsboro'. .Ma. 

Jan. 8, 1865. 
U. S. C. T. loibt Inf. 

Section 37, N. and N. W. R. R., Tsjia. 

Nov. 24. 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. i2tli Inf. 

Sherwood, Mo. 

Mav 18. 1863. 

U. S. C. t; 79th (liew) Inf. 

Simpsonville, Ky. 

Jan. 25, 1S65, 

U. S. C. T. 5th Cav. 

Sniithtield. Va. 

Aug. 30, 1864- 

U, S. C. T. 1st. Cav. 

Smithfield, Ky. 

Jan. 5, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 6th Cav. 

South Tunnel, Tenn. 

Oct. 10, 1S64. 

U.S. C.T. 40th Inf. 

Spanish Fort. Ala. 

March 27 to .April 8. 1^65. 

U. S. C. T. 63th Inf. 

Suffolk, Va. 

March Q, 1864. 

U. S. C. t: 2d Cav. 

Sugar Loaf Hill. N.C. 

Jan. 19, 1865 

U. S. C. T. 6th Inf. 

Sugar Loaf Hill, N. C. 

Feb. II. 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 4th, 6th, and 30th Inf. 

Sulphur Branch Trestle, Ala, 

Sept. 25, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. Iiithlnf. 

Swift's Creek, S. C. 

April 19. 1865. 

U.S. C.T. loid Inf. 

Taylorsville. Ky. 

April 18, 1865.' 

U.S. C.T. ii9lhlnf. 

Timber Hill, Caddo Nation. 

Nov. iq, 1864. 
U.S. C.T. 79th (new) Inf. 

Town Creek. N. C. 

Feb. 2o, 1865. 

U. S. C. T. 1st Inf. 

Township, Fla. 

Jan. 26, 1863 

U. S. C. T. 3id Inf. 

Tupelo, Miss. 

lulv 13. 14. and 15, 1864. 

U.S. C.T. 59th, 6ist, and 6Sth ti 

Vicksburg, Miss, 

Aug 27, iSi'3. 

U.S. C.T. 5th Hy. Art. 

Vicksburg, Miss. 

Feb. 13, 1S64. 

U. S. C. T. 52d Inf. 

V^icksburg, .Miss. 

June 4. 1S61. 

U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. 

V'icksburg. .Miss. 

July 4. 1864. 

U. S. C. T. 48th Inf. 



APPI-.XDIX. 



5^3 



Vidalia, I. a. 

July 22. liitj. 

U. S. C. T. 6tli lly. Art. 

Wallace's Ferry, Ark. 

Jiilv :;6, iS()4, 

U. S. c: T. s'-uh Inf. 

Warsaw, N. (". 

April 6, 1S65. 

U S. C.T. 1st Inf. 

Watcrford. Miss. 

Aujj. 16 and 17. 1S64. 

U.S. C.T, S3ttiand 6istlnf. 

Waterloo, La. 

Oct. 20, 186.1. 

U.S. C.T. 7slhlnf. 

WatL-rproof. I^. 

Feb, 14, 1864. 

U. S C.T. 4yiUlnf. 

Waterproof, La. 

April so, 1S64 

U. S. C. T. 63d Inf. 

White Oak Road, Va. 

Marclx 31, 1S65. 

U.S. C. T. 2gth Inf. 

White River. Ark, 

Oct. 2^, l3';4. 

U. S. C. T. 53 Inf. 



Willlanisburc. Va. 

.Muf(.ll 4, \%t'A. 

U. S. (^T. 6tli Inf. 

WilminKlon. N. C, 

Fell, aa, H^'^j. 

U. S. C. T. \s\. Inf. 

Wilson's Landing, \*a. 

Jtine 1 1, iS<'4 
U. S. C. T. iM i iiv. 

\S'ilson's Whiirf. Va. 

May -4. iSf-4. 

U. S. C. T. Itatfy H. 2d Lt. Art.; >st and loCb 

Inf. 

Vb/oo Cilv. Miss. 

Mari^ll <;. iS'i4, 
U.S. C.T. 3dCav., 47th Inf. 

Va^no City. Miss. 

May I i. 1=64. 

U. S. C. T. jd Cav. 

Vn/,00 Citv, Miss. 

Marrh 15. iS' ;. 

XT. S. C.T, 3d Cav. 

Yazoo Kxpt'diiion, Miss. 

Feb. as, 18^4. 

U. S. C. T. 3d Cav. 



CIIAPTKR XX. 

HOISTING TliE CLACK FLAC..— OI-T-TCIAK 

REPORTS. 



CORRESrOXDENCE AND 



GENERAL S. D. LEE TO OENEKAL C<X>rr,k. 

IIkADQUAKTBRS Dlil-AKTMKNr AlAHAMA. MtSS1<;SIITI, ANI> ( 

East Lov'Isiana, Mi.kiuian. June 3-. is!4. \ 

General: I have llie honor to transmit copies of correspondence hot" ecu General Washburn, 
U. S. A., General Kurrest, atul inysell. which I consider very imporiant. anl should be laid bctorc 
the Department. It will he my endeavor to avoid, as far as is consistent with my idea ot the dij?- 
niiy of my position, resorting to such an extremity as the black tlug ; aiul the onus sliull be wiui 
the I'cderal commander. 

I would like tliat the onus be put where U properly belonj;s. before the public, should the ex- 
tremity arise. The correspondence is not complete yet, and the Department will be tntnnncd of 
the result at tlie earliest practicable moment. 

I am, General, y<.»urs respectfully, 

S. U. i^Kli, Licuirntttt('Ccntri.tl. 
General S. Cooprr, A. and I. C, Richmond^ I 'a. 



GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASIIBL'RN. 

Headqcartfrs Forrest's Cavalrv, (^ 
In TDK FiKLi), June 14, 1S64. \ 

Major-Gencral Washburn, Commandim^ Unittd States Forces^ Memfhis : 

General: I have the honor herewith to enclose copy of letter received frnm Bripadlcr-Gencral 
Huford, commandnig L'nited States forces at Helena'. .-Vrknnsas. »d«lrcssed to Coltmcl E. W. 
Ruckcr, corainandin;^ Si.xlli Resimcnt of this command; also a letter from mvscU to General 
Buford, winch 1 respectfully request you will read and fortvard lo him. 

There is a m;itter also'io which I desire to call vour attention, whiih. until now. I have not 
thouE;ht projier to make the subject of a cutnmunici^tioD. Recent events render it necessary.— in 
fact, dcmanil it. 

It has been reported to me thaf all the nepro troops stationed in Memphis look an naih nn 
their knees, in the presence of Major-Ge:ierul Ihirlbut and other orticcrs ui your army, to avenge 
Fort Pillow, and thiit they would show mv troops no <|uarter. 

Again. I have it from indisputable authority that the tto ps under Bri>;adicr-Gencral Sturgis, 
on their recent march from Memphis, publicly and in varices places proclaimed that no quarter 
would be siKnvn inv men. As his troops were mt)vcd into action on the eleventh, ihe othcers com- 
manding exhorted their men to remember Fort Pillow, and a lar^c luajotiiv ol the pris«inci<i we 
have captured from that command have voluntarily st.ited that iht-y e.^pe^ tid us to murilcr ihera, 
otherwise they would have surrendered in a body rather than taken to the bu--hcs after being run 
down and exhausted. The recent battle of Tishe'minKO Cieck \\a^ far more b oo<!v titan it other- 
wise would have been but for the fact that your men evidently cxpcctcil to be slauphicrcd when 
captured, and both fcidi s acted as (liough neither felt safe in surrcndermg even when further re- 
sistance was useless. The prisoners captured by us say they felt condemned by the announce- 
ments, etc., of their own commanders, and expected no quarter. In all my orcrattons since the 
war began. I have conducted the war on civilize<l ininciplcs, and desire sidl to .1.-. so, but it is duo 
to my command that they should know the position you occupy and the policy you uitcod lo 



564 



APPENDIX. 



pursue. I therefore respectfully ask whether my men in your hands are treated as other Confeder- 
ate prisoners, also the course intended to be pursued in regard to those who may hereafter fall 
into your liauds. 

1 have in my possession quite a number of wounded officers and men of General Stur^is's com- 
mand, all of whom have been treated as well as we have been able to treat them, and are mostly 
in charge ot a surgeon left at Kipli:y by General Sturgis to look after the wounded. Some of them 
are loo severely wounded to be removed at present. 1 am AviUins; to exchange them for any men 
of my command you may have, and as soon as they are able to be removed will %\\^ them safe 
escort throng li njy lines in charge of the surgeon leit with them. 

I made such an arrangement with Maior-General Hurlbut when he was in command of 
Memphis, and am willing to renew it. provided it is desired, as it would be better than to subject 
them to the long and fatiguing delay necessary to a regular exchange at City Point* Virginia. 
1 ani, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

N. B. FORREST, Major-Cenerat. 

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL LEE. 

Headquarters District of West Tennessee. ( 
Memphis, Tenn , June 17, 1864. \ 

Major-Gcneral S. D. Lee, Commanding Confederate Forces near Tuficlo^ A/fss. : 

Gfnf.ral : When I heard that the forces of Hiigadier-General ilurgis had been driven back, 
and a jiortion of them juobably captured. I felt considerable solicitude fc)r the fate of ihe two 
colored regunents that lurmed a p.nl 01 tiie command, untd I was uitormed that the Confederate 
forces were ctiminanded by yon. When 1 learned that, I bet ame satished that no atrocities would 
be committed upon those troops, but that they would receive the treatment wliich humanity as 
well as their gallant conduct demanded. 

I regr- 1 to sav that the hope that I entertained has been dispelled by facts which have recently 
come to my knowledge. 

l*"rom statements that have been made to me by colored soldiers who were eye-witnesses, it 
would seem that the massacre at Kort Pillow had been reproduced at the late affair at Hryce s 
Cross-roads. The detail o( the atrocities there committed 1 will not trouble you with, ll true. 
and not disavowed, they must lead to consequences too fearful to contemplate." It is best that we 
shouUI now have a fair understanding upon this question, of the treatment of this class ot soldiers. 
If it IS contemplated by tlie C ontederaie government to murder all colored troops that may by 
chance of war lull into iheir hands, as was the case at Port Pillow, it is but fair that it should be 
freely and liankly avowed. \\"ilhin the last six weeks 1 have, on two occasions, sent colored 
troops into the field from this pomt. In the expectation that the Confederate government would 
disavow the action of their comniandm;; general at tiie 1* ort Pillow massacre. 1 have forborne 
to issue any instructions to the colored troops as to the course they should pursue toward Con- 
federate soldiers. No disavowal on the part of the Confederate government having been made, 
but, on the contrary, laudations from the entire Southern press of the perpetrators of the nias- 
s.icre. I may safely prcs'jme that indisciiminale slaughter is to be the fate of colored troops that 
fpl! into your hands. liut I am not willing to leave a matter of such grave import, and involving 
consequences so fearful, to inference, and I have therefore tliought it proper to address you 
this, believing that you would be able to indicate the policy that the Confederate government 
intend to pursue lieieafter on this question. 

It it is intended to raise the black Hag against that unfortunate race, they will cheerfully accept 
the issue. Up to this lime no trootis have fought more gallantly, and none have conducted them- 
selves with greater propriety. They have Jully vindicated their right (so long denied) to be 
treated as men. 

1 hope that I have been misinformed in regard to the treatment they have received at the 
battle of Hryce's Cross-roads, and that the accounts received result rather 'from the excited imagi- 
nations of the fugitives than from actual lact. 

Fur the government of the colored troops under my command, I would thank you to inform 
me. with as little delay as possible, it it is your intention, or tlie intention of the Confederate 
government, to murder colored soldiers that may fall into your hands, or treat them as prisoners 
of war, and subject to be exchanged as other prisoners 

1 am, General, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

C C. WASHBURN, Major-Gcneral^ Commanding. 

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST. 

Headquarters District of West Tennessee, I 
Memphis, Tenn., June 19, 1864. j 

Major-General N. B. Forrest, Commandint^ Confederate Forces : 

General : Your communication of the fourteenth instant is received. The letter to Brigadier- 
General Kuford will be forwarded to him. 

In regard to that part of your letter which relates to colored troops. 1 beg to say that I have 
already sent a communication on the subject to the officer in command of the Confederate forces 
at Tupelo. 

Having understood that Major-General S. D. Lee was in command there, 1 directed my letter 
to him— a topy of it 1 enclose, \ o\\ sav in vour letter that it has been re(^orted to you that all the 
negro troo[ts stationed in Memphis took an oath on their knees, in the presence of Maior-General 
Hurlbut, and other officers of our army, to avenge Fort Pillow, and that they would show your 
troops no quarter. 

I believe it is true that the colored troops did take such an oath, but not in the presence of 
Geneial Hurlbut. From what I tan learn, this act of theirs was not influenced by any white 
officer, but was the result of their own sense of what was due to themselves and their fellows who 
had been mercilessly slaughtered. 

I have nodoubt'that they went into the field, as you allege, in the full belief that they would 
be murdered in case they fell into your hands. The affair at Fort Pillow fully justified that belief. 
I am not aware as to what they proclaimed on their late march, and it may be, as you say. that 
they declared that no quarter would be given to any of your men that might fall into their hands. 



APPENDIX. 565 

Your declarntion that you have conducted the war, on all occasions, on cirilized principles, 
cannot be accepted ; but Ircceive with satisfaction the intimation in your IctlL-r that the rccrnl 
slaughter ot colored troops at the battle of TisheiiiinRo Creek resulted rather from the desperation 
with which they fought than a predetermini-d intention to Rive them no quarter. 

Vou must have learned bv this time thai the attempt to intimidate the colored troops by indis- 
criminate slaughter has si^n:illy failed, and that, instead of a feeling of terror, you have aroused a 
spirit ot courage and desperation that ivdl not down at your bidding. 

1 am left in dctubt, by your letter, as to the course you ami the fonfedcrate government intend 
to pursue hereafter in regard to colored troops, and I beg you to advise me, with as little delay as 
possible, as lo your inuniinns 

If you intend to treat such of them as fall into your hands as prisoners of war. please S'j state ; 
if you do not so intend, but contemplate either their slaughter or their return to sla\ ery, please 
state that- so that we may have no misunderstanding hereaiter. If the former is your intctiiion^ 1 
shall receive the announcement with pleasure, and shall explain the fact lo the colored troops at 
once, and desire that they recall the outh they have taken ; if the latter is the case, then let the 
<»ath stand, and upon those \\ ho have arouse(l this spirit by their atrocities, and upon the govern- 
ment and people whosiinction it. be the consequences. 

In regard lo your iiiquirv reliting to prisi^ners of your command in our hands. 1 have to state 
that they have always received the treatment which a'gre;it and humane Government extends to 
its prisoners. What course will be pursued hereafter toward Ihcm must, tif course, depend on 
circumstances that may arise. If your command, hereafter, does nothing which should properly 
exclude thcui from being treated as prisoners ot war. they will be so treated 

I thank you for your offer to exchange wounded oHiccrs and men in your hands. If you will 
send them in. I will exchange man tor man. so far as 1 have the ability to do so. 

Before closin*; this letter, 1 wish to call your attention to one case of un|iara)1c1ed outrage and 
murder that has been brought to my notice, and in regard to which the evidence is overwhelming. 

Among the prisoners captured at Kort l^illow was Major Bradford, who had charge of the 
defence ol the fort alter the fall of Major Booth. 

After being liiken prisoner, he was started with other prisoners of war. in charge of Colonel 
Duckwiiith, lor Jackson. At Krownsville they rested over night. The following morning two 
companies were detailed by Colonel Duckworth to proceed lo Jackson with the prisoners. 

After thev had started, and proceeded a very short distance, five soldiers were recalled by 
Colonel Duckworth, and were conferred with by him ; they then rejoined the column, and after 
proceeding about five miles from Krownsville the column was halted, anrl ,\lajor Bradford taken 
about titty yards from the roadside and deliberately £hot by the five men who had been recalled 
by Colonel Duckwortti, and his body left unburied upon the ground where he fell. 

He now lies buried near the spot. and. if you desire, you can easily satisiy your>cIf of the 
truth of what I assert. I beg leave to say to vou that this transaction hardly justifies your remark, 
that your operations have been conducted on civilized principles ; and until you lake some steps 
to bring the perpetrators of this outrage to justice, the world will not fail to believe that il had 
your sanction. 

I am, General, your obedient sen'ant, 

C. C. WASHBURN, Major-Ceneral^Comvianding. 

GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHULRN. 

HEAnQUARTERS FoRRF.ST's CaVALRV. ( 

Tci-F.i.o. Miss., June so, 1864. \ 

Major-Gencral C. C. WASHiifRN, CovntianHinff U. S. Forces^ Memphis^ I enn. 

General : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt (perfl-ig of truce) of your letter of the 
seventeenth instant, addressed to Maior-General S. D. l.ee. or offuer commanding Cunfcderaie 
forces near Tupelo. I have forwarde<f it to General Lee. with a copy of this iettcr. 

1 regard your letter as discourteous to the commanding othcer ol'this department, and grossly 
insulting to mvsclf. 

Vou seek by implied threats lo intimidate him. and assume the privilege of denouncing me as 
a murderer, and as guilty of the wholesale slaughter of the garrison at Vort Pillow, and tound 
our assertion upon the ex parte testimony of (your friends) the enemies of myself and country. 
_ shall not enter into the discussion, therefore, of any of ihc questions involved, nor undertake any 
refutation of the charges made bv you against myself ; nevertheless, as u matter of personal piu- 
ilege alone. I unhesiLitinglv sav' that thev are unfounded and unwarranted bv the facts. But 
whether thc>se charges are'true' or false. 'thev. with the question you ask, as to whether negro 
troops, when captured, will be recognized an(i treated as prisnners 01 war. sutiject to exchange, 
etc., are matters which the governments of the United Slates and Confederate Slates are 10 decide 
and adjus , not their subordinate officers. 1 regard captured negroes as 1 do other captured proiw 
crty, and not as captured soldiers; but as lo how- regarded by my covernmcnl, and the dispnsi- 
lion which has been and will hereafter be made of them. I respeclfullv refer you. through the 
proper channel, to the authorities at Richmond. It is not the policy or the interest of the South to 
destroy the negro ; on the contrary to preserve and protect him. ah<i all who have surrendered to 
us have received kind and humane treatment. 

Since the war began I have captured many thousand Federal prisoners, a nu they, including the 
survivors of the " Fort IMUow Massacre,"' "black and while." arc living witnesses of the fact 
that with my knowledge or consent, or by my order, not one of them has ever been insulted, or in 
any way maltreated. 

You speak of ynnr forbearance in not giving your negro troops instructions and orders as 10 
the course thev should pursue in regard lo Conlerterate soldiers thai might fall into their (vouri 
hands, which clt-arlv conveys 10 mv mind two v-ry distinct impressions. The iirst is. that in nol 
giving them instructions and oroers. you have left the matter entirely lo the discretion of the 
negroes as to how they should dispose of prisoners. Second, an implied threat to give such 
orders as will lead to "consequences too fearful" for contemplation. In contirmalion of ihc cor- 
reclnesa of the first imprc'^sion (which vour language now fullv develops*. I refer most respect- 
fully to my letter from the batile-field. Tishemingo Creek, and forwarded you by flag of truce on 
the fourteenth instant As to ihc second impression, you seem disposed l'i 'a'cc into vour own 
hands the setileiuents which belong to. and can only be settled by. yuu: "it you 



\ 



S66 



APPENDIX 



are prepared to take upon yourself the responsibility of inaugurating a system of warfare con- 
trary to ci\'ilizcd usutiL-s. ilieonus as well as the consequences will be chargeable to yourself. 

Ue|>recatinj;, as I should do, such a state of affairs; determined, as 1 am. not to l>e instru- 
mental in brin^inj; it about ; Iceling and knowing, as I do, that 1 have the approval of my govern- 
ment, my peofile, and my conscience as lo the past, and with the hrni bcliel that I will be sus- 
tained by theui in my tulure policy, it is ^eft with you to determine what that policy shall be» 
whelher in accordance with the laws of civili-^ed nations, or in violation of them. 

I am J General, yours, very respectfully, 

N. H. FORREST, .)/rt/*^;'-t;*'«<r«/. 

GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN. 

Headi^V'arters Forrest's Cavalry, \ 
Im the Kielo, June 23, 1864, (" 
Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding District 0/ IVcsi Tennessee^ Memphis^ Tenn. : 

Vour communication of the nineteenth inst. is received, in which you say "you are left in 
doubt as to the course the Confederate government intends to pursue hereafter in regard to 
colored troops." 

Allow me to say that this is a subject upon which I did not and do not propose to enlighten 
vou. It is a matter to be settled by our governments through their proper officers, and I respect- 
fully refer vou to them for a solution of your doubts. 

Vou ask me to stale whether *' I contemplate either their slaughter or their return to slavery." 
I answer that I slaughter no man except in open wurlarc, ami that my jirisuncrs, both wliiie and 
black, are turnei^ over to my government to be dealt wiili as it may tlirect. My government is in 
possession of all the factsas regards my official conduct, and the operations of my command since 
1 entered the service, atnl if you desire a proper discussion and decision, 1 refer you again lo the 
President ol the Confcdertite States. I would not have >'ou understand, however, that in a matter 
o! so much importance I am indisposed to place at your command and disposal any facts desired, 
when applied for in a manner becoming an officer hoUiing your rank and position, for it is cer- 
tainly (lesirable to every one occupying a public povition to lie placed right before the world, and 
there has been no time, sin» e the capture of hort Pillow, that I woultl not have furnished all the 
facts connected with its ca|>ture, had tiiey been applied for properly, but now the matter rests 
with the two grivernments. 1 have, however, for vour intormation. encloseil vou copies of the 
official correspondence between the commanding officers at Kort Pillow and myself; also copies 
of a statement ot Captain Young, the senior officer of that garrison, together with (suflicient) ex- 
tracts from a repoil of the affair by my A. D. C, Ca])tain Chas. W. Anderson, which 1 ap[>rove 
and endorse as correct. 

Asto the death of Major Bradford, 1 knew nothing of it until eight or ten days after it is said 
to have occurred. 

On the thirteenth (the day after the capture of Fort Pillow) I went to Jackson, and the report 
1 had of the affair was this : Major ll.adlord was, with other ofticers, sent to ihe headquarters of 
(_"olonel McCulioch, and all the i^risoners were in charge of one of McCulloch's regiments. Hrad- 
fonl re(iuesled the privilege of attending the burial c>f his brother, which was granted, he giving 
his parole of honor to return. Instearl ol returning, he changed his clothing and started for Mem- 
]diis. Some of my men ^vere hunting de'^erters, and came on Bradford jiist as he had landed on 
the south bank of the Hatchie, and arrested him. \\hen arrestoii, he claimed to be a Confederate 
sohlier belonging to Hragg's army ; that he had been on furlough, and was then on his way to 
join his command. 

As he could show no papers he was believed to be a deserter, and was taken to Covington, 
and not until he was recognized and sjiokeu to by citizens did the guards know that he was Brad- 
ford. 

He was sent by Colonel Duckworth, or taken by him, to Brownsville. 

All of Chalmers's command went from Brownsville, Tia La Grange, and as all the other prison- 
ers had been g<)ne some time, antl there was nochaiue for them to catch up and place Bradford 
with them, he was ordered by Colonel Duckworth or General Chalmers to be sent south lo me at 
Jackson. 

1 knew nothing of the matter until eight or t2n days afterwards I heard that his body was 
found near Brownsville. I understand that he attem|iteil to escape and was shot. If he was im- 
l»ro|)erly killcil, nothing would afford me more jdensure than to i>unishthe perpetrators to the lull 
extent of the law. and 10 show you how I regard such transactions. 

1 can refer \ ou to mv demand on Major-General Hurl but (no doubt upon file in your office) 
for the delivery to I oufederale autiiorities of one Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his regi- 
ment, who deliberately took out and killeil seven Contederate siddiers, one of whom they left to 
die after cutting off his tongue, punching out his eyes, splitting his mouth on each side to his 
ears, and cutting off his iirivates. I have mentioned and given you these facts in order that you 
may have no further ex< use or apology for referrmg to these matters in connection with myself, 
and to e\ ince to you my determination to do all in my power to avoid the reSjionsibility of causing 
the adoption of the policy which you have determined to \n ess. In your letter you acknowledge 
the fact that the ne;jro troo|is did take an oath on bended knees to show no quarters lo my men, 
and you say lurlher "you have no doubt they went to the battle-lield expecting to be slaugh- 
tered," and admit, also, the probability of their having proclaimed on their inarch that no quar- 
ter would be shown us. Such being the case, why do you ask for ihe disavowal on the part 
<>f the commanding general of this department of the government, in regard to the loss of lite at 
Tishemingo Creek ? That your troops expecteil to be slaughtered, appears to me. after the oath 
they took, to be a very reasonable and natural expectation. Vet you w ho sent them out. know- 
ing and now admitting that they had sworn to such a policy, are complaining of atrocities, and 
deniant-ling acknowledgments and disavowals on the part of the very men you sent forth sworn to 
slay whenever in your power. 

' 1 will, in all candor and truth, say to you that I nad only neard these things, but did not be- 
lieve them ; indeed, did not atiathlo them the importance they deserved, nor did 1 know of the 
threatened vengeance as proclaiuicd along the line of m:irch until the contest was over. Had 1 
;ind my men known it, as you admit it. the b;ittle of Tishemingo Creek would have been noted as 
Vhe bloodiest battle ol the war. That you sanctioned this policy is plain, lor jou sa^' now '' that 



APPENDIX. 567 

if the nesrro is treated as a prisoner of war. you will receive with pleasure the announcement, and 
will explain the facts to your coloreil troops, and desire \\M:>\.order) that they recall the o.itli; l>ui if 
they are to be either staiiKliti.-ri.d or returin.-.! to slavt-ry. Ici the o.ith stiind." Your rank lorhuls a 
doubt as to the fact that you and every otfi,crand man of your dcnartnicnt areidcntilicil w iih the 
policy and responsible for it. and I s'uil! not permit von. n >twithsiandinc bv vour stiidi.-,l lan- 
guage in both your communications yon seek t<f Umii ihc operations of your unholy scheme, and 
visit its terrible consetjuences alone upon that iKuor.ini, dehi.led, but unfortunate [»eopte. the 
negroes, whose destruction you are planning m order to accomplish ours. The negroes have <iur 
sympathy, and, so lar as consistent with sulety, we will sp;ire them at the expense of those who 
are alone responsible for tlie inauguration ol a worse than siivage warfaie. 

Now. ill Luiiclusion. I d^-maiui a plum and nnciuali)ie<l answer to tw«i i)uestions, ami then I 
have done with further correspomlence witli you on this siil)jeit. This mailer must be settled. 
In battle and on the battle-field <lo you intend to shiu-ihter mv men who full in*.o your hands ? If 
you do not intend so to do. will they be treated as [)risniicrs of war > 

T have over two thousand of Stiugis's comnian<l [>risoners, and will hoUl every officer an<l pri- 
vate hostage until 1 receive your declarations, and am salisticd thai you carry out in good faith 
the answers you make, and until 1 am assured that no (Nnifederate soUlier has been toullv dealt 
with from the day of the battle of Tishemingo Creek to this tune. It is net vet too late for you 
to retrace your steps anil arrest the storm. 

Relying, as I do. upon thai Divine power which in wisdom disposes of all things ; reiving also 
upon the support and appioval of mv government and countrvmen. an<l the nntliiuhini: btuvery 
and endurance of my troops; and with a consciousnessth.it I have done nothing to produce, bet 
all in inv power, ronsistent with honor and the per'-onal safety of myself and commund. to pre- 
vent it, 1 leave with yon the responsibility of bringing about, to use your own language, *' a stale 
of affairs too fearful to coiUemplatc." 

I am, General, yours, vcrv rcspeclfullv, 

N. li. FORREST, Majiyr-Genrral. 

OFFICIAL MKMOK.\M)A. 

Cahaua Hospital. Cahaba, Alabama, ( 
May It, 1664. f 

Colonel H. C. Davis. Commanding Post Cahaba : 

(/OLONF.i. : I herewith transmit you. as near as my memory serves me, according to promise, 
the demand made by .Major-tieneral Korrest, C S.., A., for the surrender of Fori Pillow, Ten- 
nessee. 

Major Booth, Command/nj^ If. .V. Forces, Fort Pillt^Wy Tennessff : 

I have force sufTicient to take your works by assault. I therefore demand an unconditional 
surrecuier of all your lorces. Your heroic defence will entitle you to be treateii as prisoners oi 
war, but the surrender must be unconditional. I await your answer. 

I'ORKKST, Major~Getteral, CommntuiiH^. 

Heaoquaktrhs Unitkd Statks Kokces. \ 

KOKT I*ILLO\V, TKNNtsSKE, .April 12. 1S64. J 

Major-Gcncral Korkkst, Commanding Con fcdt-r ate Forces : 

General: Vour demand for the surrender of United States forces under my command re- 
ceived. I ask one hour for consultation with my oflicers and the commander of gunboat No. 7, 
at this place. I have the honor to be 

^'our obedient servant. 

L. I"". HUOTII, Major^ Commanding U. S. Forces^ Fort Pillo^tf. 

Major L. F. Booth. Commanding I'niied States Forces : 

I do not demand the surrender of the gunboat No. 7. I ask only for the surrender of Tort 
Pillow, with men and munitions of war. You have twentv minutes for consideration. At the 
expiration of that time, if you do not cai)itulate, I will assault vour works. 

Your obedient servant. 

l'\)KREST, Major-General, Commanding. 

HEAU<;'irARTEKS United States Forcbs, / 

Kokt Pillow, Tennessee, April 12. 1S64. f 
Major-General Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces: 

Genf.kal; Your sec<)nd demand for the surrender of my forces is received. Your demand 
will not be complied with. 

Your i)bedient servant. 

L. I''. IJOO TH, Major ^ Commanding l\ S. Forces, Fort Piiio-.t'. 

I give you the above for vour own satisfaction from memnrv. I think it is true in substances 
My present condition w ould nreclude the idea of this being an uthrial statement. 
1 am, Coloiul. vour obedient servant. 

JOHN T.' YOUNG, Captain, Company A, Tiventy-fourth Mo. Inf. Vols. 

CAPTAIN J. T. YOLNG TO .MAJOR-GENERAL FORREST. 

Cahaha, Alarama, May 19, 1S64. 
Major -General Forrest, C. S, A . : 

Gi-N'RRAL : Your request, made through Judge P. T. Scroggs. that I should make a statement 
of the treatment of the Federal dead and wounded at Fori Pillow, has been made known to me. 
Details from Federal prisoners were made to coliect the dead and wounded. The dead were 
buried by their surviving comra<ies. I saw no ill treatment of their wounded on the evening of 
the battle, ornext morumg. My friend, Lieutenant Learning, Adjutant Thirteenth Tennessee 



568 



APPENDIX. 



Cavalry, was left wounded in the sutler's store near the fort, also a lieutenant Sixth U. S. Artil 
lery; both were alive next morning, and sent on hoard U. S. transport. amouK many other 
woundud. Aniuny: the wounded were some colored troops— I don't know how many. 
\'ery respectlully, your ubedient servant, 

JNO. T. Y(_)LjNG, Captain Tiventy-fourth Missouri Volunteers. 
P. S.— I have examined a report said to be made by Captain Anderson (of) A. D. C. to Major- 
General Korrest, appendix to General Korresl's report, in regard to making disposition of Federal 
■woundc<l left on the tieid at Kort Pillow, and think it is correct. I accompanied I'aptain Anderson, 
on the day succeeding the battle, to Poit Pillow, for the purjiose above mentioned. 

JOHN T. YOUNG, Crt//rt/w, l\vcnty-/oiirth Missouri VoUntcers. 
A true copy. 

Samuel V>oti\\AO^, Licutejiant and A. D. C. 
Official, 

Henry B. Lee, .-1 .Z>.C. 

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST, 

Headquarters District of West Tennessee, \ 
Memi'His, Tenn., July 2, 1864. ( 

Major-General N. B. Forrest, Conunandin^ Confederate J-'orces^ near Tupelo: 

Grn'Ekai,; Vour communications of the twentieth and twenty-tliird ult. are received. Of the 
tone and temper of both 1 do not complain. The desperate fortunes of a bad cause excuse niuch 
irritation of temper, and I pass it by. Indeed, I received it as a favorable augury, and as evidence 
that you are not mditf erent 10 the opinions of the civilized world. 

In regard to the Fort Pdlow affair, it is useless to prolong the discussion 

I shall lorwaid your report, which you did me tlie favor to enclose, to my government, and 
you will receive the full benctit of it. 

The record is now made up, and a candid world will judge of it. I beg leave to send you 
herewith a copy of the report of the Investigating Committee from the United States Congress on 
the aftair. In regard to the treatment of Major Bradford, 1 refer you to the testimony contained 
in that report, from w hich you will see that he was not attempting to escape when shot. It will 
be easy to biing the perpetrators of the outrage to justice if you so desire. 

1 will add to what 1 have herctoi'ore said, th;it I have it from responsible and truthful citizens 
of Brownsville, that when ^lajor Bradlord was started under an escort from your headquarters at 
Jackson, General Chalmers remarket! tliat '• he would never reach there." 

Vou cail altention, apparently as an offset to tliis affair of Major Bradford, to outrages said to 
have been committed by Colonel FiL-lding Hurst anti others ol his regiment (Si.\th Tennessee 
Cavalry). The outrages, if committed as slated by you, are disgraceful and abhorrent to every 
brave and sensitive nund. 

On receiving your letter I sent at once for Colonel Hurst, and read him the extract pertaining 
to him. He indignantly denies the charge against him, and until yi:>u furnish me tl'ic names of the 
parties mnr-.lereil, and ihe time when, and t'le place where, the olTcnce was committed, with the 
names uf witnesses, it is impossible for me to act. When you do that, you may rest assured that I 
shall use every etiort in my power to have tlie parties accused tried, aiid if found guilty, properly 
punished. 

In regard to the treatment of colored soldiers, it is evidently useless to discuss the question 
further. 

Your attempt to shift from yourself upon me the responsibility of the inauguration of a 
" worse than savage warfare.'* is too strained and far-fetched to reqiure any response. The full 
and cumulaiive evidence contained in the Congressional Report I herewith forward, points to jyo it 
as tlie person lesponsihle for the barbarisms already committed. 

It was ypur soldiers who, at Fort Pillow, raised the black 6ag, and while shooting, bayonet- 
ing, and otherwise maltreating tlie l-edcral prisoners in their hands, shouted to each other in the 
hearuig of their victims that it was done by "* Forrest's urders." 

Thus far I cannot iearn that you have made any disavowal of these barbarities. 

Vour letters to me inform me conficlenth- that y- ^u have always treated our prisoners according 
to the rules of civilized warfare, but your disavowal of the Fort Pillow barbarities, if you intend 
to make any. should be full, clear, exfilicit, and published to the wjrld. 

The United Slates Government is, as italways has been, lenient and forbearing, and it is not 
yet too late for you to secure for yourself and your soldiers a continuance of the treatment due to 
honor.ible warriors, by a public disclaimer of barbarities already committed, and a vigorous effort 
to punish the wreiches who committed them. 

Hut 1 say to you now, cleaily and unequivocallv, that such measure of treatment as you mete 
out to Federal soldiers will be measured to you again. 

If vou give no quarter, you need expect none. If you obser\'e the rules of civilized warfare, 
and treat our prisoners in accordance with the laws of war, your prisoners will be treated, as they 
ever have been, with kindness. 

If you depart from these principles, you ina^'' expect such retaliation as thelaws of war justify. 
That you may know what the laws of war are, as understood l»y my Government. I beg leave 
to cnclnse a copy of General Orders No. loj from the War Department Adjutant-General's Otfice, 
Washington, April twenty-four, 1863. 

1 have the honor to be, sir. 

Very respectfully yours, 

C. C. WASHBURN, Major- Genera/. 

GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHBURN. 

Headiouaktkrs Departmhnt Alabama, Mississippi, and { 
Easi LuuisiANA, Meridian, June aS, 1864. \ 

Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding Federal Forces at Meinpkis.. Tennessee : 

General: I am in receipt of your letter of the seventeenth inst., and have also before me the 
reply of ^lajor-General I' nrrest thereto. Though that reply is full, and approved by me, yet I 
deem u proper to communicate with you upon a subject so seriously ailecting our future conduct 
and that of the troops under our respective commands. 



APPF.yDJX. 5O9 



Your communication is by no means respectful to me, and is by implication insuUinfif to Major- 
Cicneral I'orrcst. This» however, is overlnokcti in considcratitjn of the important cliafacter oi its 
contcius. 

Vou assume as correct an exaggerated statement of the circumstanres atteiuiinK the raiiturc 
of Kort Pillow, relying solely upon the evidence of those who would naturally g'^'^ '^ distorted 
history ot the affair. 

No demand for an explanation has ever been made cither by yourself or your E^vernment. a 
course which would certainly recommend iiselt to every one desirous of hearintj truth j l>ul, on 
the contrary, you seem to have been perfectly willing to allow your soldiers to labor under false 
impressions upon a subject involviiii; such terrible cuiiSL-cpiences. liven the forui.ility of pmudes 
an<l oaths have been resorted to tor the piirpose of incilm^ your colorcii troops to the perpetra- 
tion of deeds which, you j-ay. " will lead to consctiuences too fcjrful to contemplate." 

As commanding; ofiiccr of this Uepartment I desire to make the followiiiK statement concern- 
ing the capture of l''ort Pillow a slalement supported in a ^reat measure by the evidence of one 
of your own oHiters captured at that place. 

The version <;iven by you and your government is untrue, and not sustained by the facts to 
the extent that you indicate. 

The garrison was summoned in the usual manner, and its commafidinK officer assumed the 
responsibility of refusing to surrender alter having been informed by General honest oi his ability 
to take the fort, and of his fears as to what llie result would be' in case the demand was not com- 
plied with. 

The assault was made under a heavy tire, and with considerable loss to the attacking 
party. 

Your colors were never lowered, but retreated from the fort to the cover of the gunboats. 
with arms in their hands, and constantly usin^ them. 

This was true, partlcularlv of your colored troops, who had been firmly convinced by your 
learhinss of the certainty of their slaughter in case of capture. Even under these circumstances 
many of your men—white and black — were taken prisoners. 

I res|iectlulty refer you to history for numerous cases of incbscriminate slaughter, even under 
less aggravated circumstances. 

It is generally conceded bv all militarv i>recedents that where the issue has been fairly 
presented, and the ability displayed, fearful results are expected t'> follow a refusal to sur- 
render. 

The case under consideration is almost an extreme one, 

Vou had a servile race armed against their masters, and in a country which had been deso- 
lated by almost unprecedentetl outrages. 

I asserc that our officers, wuh all these circumstances against them, endeavored to prevent the 
effusion of blood ; and. as evidence of this. I refer you to the fact that both white and colored 
prisoners \vere taken, and are n:jw in our hands. 

As regards the battle of Tishemingo Creek, the statements of your negro witnesses arc not to 
be relied on. In this panic they acted as might have been expected from their i>revious impres- 
sions. I do not think many ot them were killed— they are yet wandering over the country, at- 
tempting to return to their masters. 

With reference to the status of those captured at Tishemingo Creek and Fort I'illow, I will 
slate that, unless otherwise ordered bv my government, they will not be regarded as prisoners of 
war, but will be retained and humanely treated, subject to such future instructions as may be in- 
dicated. . , 

Vour letter contains many imidied threats ; these you can of course make, and you arc fully 
entitleti to any satisiaction that you may feel from having made them 

It is my intention, and that also of mv subordinates, to conduct this war upon civilize'I princi- 
ples, provided you permit us to do so'; and I take this occasion to state that we will not shrink 
from any responsibilities that vour actions may force upon us. 

We are engaged in a struggle for the protection ot our homes and firesides, for the inamten- 
ance of our national existence and liberty; we have counted the cost and are prepared to "o to 
anv extremes ; and although it is far from our wish to light under the " black flag, sltll. if you 
drive us to it. we will accept the issue. * , , ■ 

Vour troops virtually (ought under it at the battle of Tishemingo Creek, and the pi isonen; 
taken there state that they went into battle with the impression that they were to receive no quar- 
ter, and I suppose with the determination to give none. 

I will further remark that if it is raised, so tar as your soldiers are concerned, there can he no 
distinction, for the unfortunate people whom vou pretend to be aiding are not con-idered eiilnely 
responsible for their acts, iiiHuented as thev aie by the superior intellect of their white brothers, 

I enclose for your consideration certain napers touching the Fort Pillow affair, whieh were 
procured from the' writer alter the exaggerated statements of your press were seen. 
I am, General, very respectfully, 

Vour obedient servant, 

S. D. Lli.E, Litutcnant'Ccnf-raly Ccminandtng, 

EN'CLOaUKF. IN THK I-'OKIU;! »ING, 

Cahaha, Alabama, May 16, 1S64. 

I was one of the bearers of ihe flag of truce, on the part of the Cnitcd Slates authorities, at 
Kort Pillow A majority of the oHicers of the garrison doulne.l whether (..eneral l-orrcsl was 
present, and had the impression that it was a luse to induce the surrender ..t the tort At the 
second meeting of the flag of truce. General lM>rrest announced hiinsed as beiiiR General I" or rest ; 
but the oMicers who accompanied the Hag. being unac^piainted vm h the G. ner.il doubted his 
word, and it was the opinion of the garrison, at the time ol the assault, ^''-'t GeneraM-orresi was 
not in the vicinity of the fort. The comman<lmg oflicer refused to surrender. ^^ hen the bail 
assault was made, I was captured at my post, inside the works, and have been treated as a 

prisoner of war, , . .,. ■ ., y, ■ t- > ^ 

JOHN T. vol NG, Laptain^ 'J wcnlyjourth MisiOurt I ciunUcrs. 

F. \V. Undekhii-1., /'Vrj/ Z/r«/c«rt«/, Cavalry, 



570 APPENDIX. 



GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL LEE. 

Headi,>('artrks District of Wi:st TENNEjiSEE, } 
MEMi'His, Tennessee, July 3, 1864. f 

Lieutenant-General S D. Lee, Comptandtn^ Department A iahama^ Mississippi a7id East Louisi- 
ana, C. S, A., Mvridian, A/iss. : 

General: Your letter i.if tlie twcnly-eightii ult., in reply to mine of the sevcnteenlli ult., is 
received. 

The discnurtesy which you profess to discover in niyjetter I utterly disclaim. Havitij; al- 
ready discussed at length, 111 a torrespondent e with Major-General Forrest, the Fort Pillow 
massacre, as well as the policy to be |nirsueil in ref^ard to colored troops, 1 do not reyarti it 
necessary to say more on those subjet ts. As you state lliat you fuUv a))provc of tlic letter sent 
by (iencfiil l''orrest to me, in answer to mine of the seventeenth ult., I am forced to presume that 
you fully approve of his action at Fort Pillow. 

Your arguments in support of that action confirm sucli presumption. You state that the "ver- 
sion piven by me ami my •government is not true, and not sustained by the tacts to tlie extent 1 
indicate." You furnish a stutcmcnt of a ceitain Captain Younjj, who was captured at Fort Pil- 
low, and is now a])risoner in your hands, liow far the statement of a prisoner under duress and 
in tlie position of C-uptain ^'ounff should go to disprove the sworn lestimonv ol the hundred eye- 
witnesses who had am|)le opportunity of seeing and knowing, I am willing that others stuiU 
judge. 

In relying, as you do, upon this certilicate of ("aptain Young, you confess that all better re- 
sources are at aTi end. 

>'ou are \^ekollle to all llie relief tliat that ccrtiricate i> calculated to give vou. Does he say 
that our soldiers w ere not inhumanly treated ? No Does he say that he was in a position to see 
in case they had t>een mistreated > No, 1 le simply says that " lie saw no ill-treatment of tlieir 
wounded." If he was in a position to see and know what took place, it was easy for him to 
say so. 

I yesterday sent to Major-General Forrest a copy of the report of the Congressional Investi- 
gating Committee, and I hope it nia\^ f;ill into your hands Vou will find there the record of 
inhuman atroi ilies. to find a parallel for which you will search the page ot history in vain. iMen — 
white men and bhick men— weic crucihed ant.1 burned ; others wetc hunted by bloodhounds ; 
while others, ni their anguish, were made tlie sport of men more cruel than the dogs by which 
they were hunted. 

I have also sent to my government < opies of General Forrest's reports, together with the cer- 
tificate of Captain Young. 

The record in the case is plainly maile up, and i leave it. You justily and approve it, and ap- 
peal to history for prccerlents. 

As I have said, liistory furnishes no parallel, True, there are instances where, after along 
and protracted resistance, resulting in heavy loss to the assailing party, the garrison has been put 
to I he sword, but I know of no such instance that did not bring dishonor upon the commander that 
ordered or suffered it. 

There is no Englishman that would not gladly forget Badajos, nor a Frenchman that exults 
^vhen Jaffa or the Caves of Dahra and Siielas arc spoken of. The massacre of Glencoc, which the 
world has read of with horror, for nearly two hundred years, pales into insignificance before the 
truthful recital of Fort Pdlow. 

Tlie desperate defence of the Alamo was the excuse for the slaughter of its brave survivors 
after its surrender, yet That act was received with just execration, and we are told by the historian 
that it led more than anything else to the independence of Te.\as. 

At the battle of San' Jacinto the Texans rushed into action with the war-cry, " Remember the 
Alamo," and carrietl all before them. 

You uill seek in vain for consultation in history, pursue the inquiry as far as you may. 

Your desire to shift the res|ionsibility of the Fort Pillow massacre, or to find excuses for it, is 
not strange. Hut the responsibility still remains where it belongs, and there it will remain. 

In my last letter to General Forrest I stated that the treatment which Federal soldiers 
leceived would be their guide hereafter, and that if you give no quarter you need expect none. 
If you observe the rules ot civilized warfare I ihall rejoice r-t it. as no one can regret more than 
myself a resort to such measures as the laws of war justify' towards an enemy that gives no 
quarter. 

Your remark that our colored soldiers " will not be regarded as prisoners of war, but will be 
retained an<l humanely treated," indicating that you consider tliem as of more worth and imjior- 
tanie than your own soldiers who are now in our hands, is certainly very complimentary to the 
colored troo|)s. though but a tardy acknowledgment of their bravery antl devotion as soldiers ; 
but such fair word^ can neither do justice to the coloretl soldiers \vho were butchered at Fort 
Pillow after thev had surreiuiercd to their victors, nor relieve yi>ursclf. General Forrest, and the 
troops serving under y<ni, from the fearful responsibility now resting upon you for those wanton 
and unparallcded barbarities. 

I concur in your remarks that if the black flag is once raised, there can be no distinction so 
far as our soldiers are concerned. No distinction in this regard as to color is known to the 
laws of war, and >ou may rest assured that the outrages we complain of are felt by our white 
soldiers, no less than by our black ones, as insults to their common banner, the flag of the United 
■States. 

1 will close by a reference to your statement that many of our colored soldiers "arc yet 
wandering over the country attempting to return to their masters." If this remark is intended 
for a joke, it IS acknowledged as a good one ; but, if stated as a fact, permit me to correct your 
misapprehensions by informing you that most of them have returned to their respective com- 
mands, their search for their late " masters " having proved bootless ; and I think I do not exag- 
gerate in assuring you that there is not a colored soldier here who does not prefer the fate of his 
comrades at Fort Pillow to being returned to his "master." 

I remain. General. 

Yours, very respectfully, 

C. C. WASHliCRN,.l/rt>?-.(;f«*-rri/. 



APPENDIX. 571 

CAi'TAlN J. T. YOUNG TO GENERAL WASHBURN. 

Mkmchis. Tknnkssee, September 13, 1864. 
Major-General C. G. Washhurn, Commanding Dislrkt M\st I'tnmssee : 

Gt-:NKi;Ai. • I h;ive the honor to acUlres'5 you in regard to certuin papers fonvarded you by 
Major-Geiieial !• orrest, ut tlie so-called Coaictlcratc acniy, signed hy me under protest, whilst u 
prisoner ol' war at Caliaba, Alabama. I would lirstcall your atienlioii tu the iniinner by wtiicti 
these iiapers were prouured. About twenty-seventh April last, all I'cdLial prisoners'iexcepi 
coloretl soldiers) were sent to Aiiilersonville antl Macon. Georgia, niyselt amoiij; the number. 
About ten <iays alter my arrival at Macon pi ison. a Gonfedcrale captain, w ith two men asj^uard, 
came to lliat pi isoTi \- ith iin order tor rue 10 icturn to Cahaba. 1 uppeatcd to the oHicer iu com- 
mand to know why I was takL-ii from the other otfuers. but reci-ivcd no cxphinalion. Mativ of 
my friends HinonK Ihe Kcderal oltnrtrs who had been prisoners lnn;:er than invscU lelt uneasy at 
the proceedings, and advisL-d me to make my escape Roinp back, as it was likely a stiojcri of 
retaliation. Gonsequently I felt considemble uneasiness of mind. On returning to Cuhatta. bcinj; 
quite unwell. 1 was placed in hospital, under Kuard. with still no explanation Trom the nulilary 
authorities. On the day following, I was iidorm<.d by a sick l-edctul uflicer. also in ho>i»ital. that 
he had iearneil that 1 had been recoucni/.ed by some ("onfederate as a dtserter Uoin tiie Confeder- 
ate army, and tliat I was to be court-martialed and sliot. The colored waiters about the hospital 
told mo the same thii^g, and althouKli I knew that the muster rolls oi my country would sliow 
tiiat 1 bid been in the Milunteer service since tirst Ma,v, 1861, I slill felt uneasy, havinj; fresli in 
my mind 1' ort I'iilovv, anil the summary manner the Confederate officers have of dispf)siiiK o( 
men on some occasions. With the above impressions on my mind, about three days after my 
return to ("ahaba I was sent for by tlie Provost Marshal, and ceitain papers handed mc. made out 
by Gcni:ral l-orrest for my signature. Looking; over the papers. I toimd that sijiiiinjj lliem would 
bean endorsement ot (itneral l-'orrest's official report of the I-'orl l*idow affair I of course re- 
turned the papets. positively refusing to have anything; to ilo wah them. 1 was sent (ora^ain 
the same day. with request to sij;n wiher pa|)ers ot the same tendency, but moditied. I ajjain re- 
fused to sitjn the p;i[)ers, but sent General Korrest a slaieinent, that alihou;;h I considered some 
of the versions of the I'ort Pillow affair, which I Iiad read in their own papers, saitl to be copied 
from Federal papers, exaggerated, I also thougiit that his own official report was equally so in 
some particulars. 

Heiclhe matter rested about one week, when I was sent for by ('oloncl \\. C. Havis, com- 
mander of post at Cahaha. who informed mc that (iencral Forrest had sent P. T. Scroops to sec 
me, and have a talk with me about the I'^ort Pillow liKht. 1 found the judge very alT.ible and 
rather disposeil to flatter me ; he said that General I'Orrest thought that I was a gentleman and a 
soldier, and that llic tieneral had sent hmi Ube judge) down to see ine and talk to me about the 
l''ort Pillow li^iht ; Ik? then went on to tell over a great many things that were testihed to before 
he iMilitar>' (. oinimssion, which I ^vas perfectly' ignoiani of, never haying seen the testimony. 
le then produced papers w hii h Cieneral I'orrest w ished mc to sign. I'pon examination. 1 found 
i-.jem about the same as those previ'Usly shown me. and refused again to sign them, but the 
Judge was very importunate, and finally prevailed on me to sign the papers you have in your 
possession. pleJging himself that if I wished it they shouUI only be seen bv (ieneial t'"orresi him- 
self, that they were not intended to be used by him as testimony, but merely for his own satisfac- 
tion. 

I hope. General, that tliese papers signed bv me. or rather extorted from me while under 
duress, will not be used by my government to my <llsparageinenl. lor my only wish is now, alter 
three years' service and over, to rccr\iit my health, which has suffercti bi-ip. bv impri^onmcut, 
and ^ in /or the ivar. 

1 have the honor to be. General, 

Your obcilient servant. 
JOHN T. YOUNG. Cit/'lniti, Company A ^ T-.vcntv-jourth Mo. In/.^ 

It should not be forgotten lliat llie material part of Gen. Forrest's defence \va.s 
extorted from CapU John T. Young, an officer in the Union forces at Fort Pillow, 
lie was sick an<I .1 prisoner in the h.inds of the rebels ; and while in this condilirm he 
was compelled to sign ihe [)apcis given above, which bad lieen ma<ie out by Forrest 
himself. The last letter of the correspondence shows that Capt. Vouny did not want 
the papers used by the United States Government, because ibey were not irue. More- 
over, the despatches of Forrest to Major IJradfortt make no mention of reialialion. 
The despatches al)ove ate not true coi>ies. For instance, he (iemamled the surrender 
of raducah en the 25th of March, 1S64, just before he took Fort Tillow, and this wxs 

his despatch : 

H'uqi'rs Forrest's Cavalrv Cori-s, i_ 
Paducah. March 25, 1864 \ 

To Col. Hicks. Commamiing Frdt-ral Forces at Paducah : 

Having a force amply sufficient to carry your works and reduce the place, in order to avoid 
the unnecessary effusion ()f blood, I (lemand the surrender of the fort and troops, witli all ihc pub- 
lie stores. If you surrender, yt)u shall be treated as prisoners of war ; but, i/ i have to Atarm your 
■works. ,cu may cxficct no i/uartfr. 

X. W. KORRKST. AfajMUn. Com'dinc 

* RebclUon Records, vol. x. pp. 721-730. 



572 APPENDIX. 

And (111 the iQlh of April, 1S64, the next day after the massacre at Fort Pillow, 
Gen. Abe Buford demanded tlie surrender of Columbus, Kentucky, in the following 
despatch ; 

To the Commtintit'r of the Unitfti States Forces . Coltttnhus. Ky.'. 

Fully capatile of t:ikinp: Columbus and its jjarrison by force, I desire to avoid shedding 
blood. I therefore deinand the unconditional stirrender of tlie forces under your coininand. 
Should you surrender, the nejirnes now in anus will be returned to their masters. Should I be 
compelled to take the place by force, no qimrter wilt lie shown negro troops ivhatever ; white 
troops will be treated as prisoners of war. 

1 am, sir, yours, 

A. BUFORD, Brig.-Gcn. 

Now, as both Bradford and Booth were dead, it was impossible to learn just what 
language was used by Foriest in the despatches he sent them. But from the testimony 
given above, the explanation of Capt. Young and the language of the two despatches 
just quoted, addressed to the commander of the Union forces at Paducali and Colum- 
bus, Kentucky, history has made out a c.ise against Gen. Forrest that no human being 
would covet. 



fart 8. 

THE FIRST DECADE OF FREEDOM. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

AN EDL'CATED AFRICAN. 

Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce, a native Afiican, ami educated in Ainerica, pre- 
sents a striking illustration of the capabilities of the Negro. He was born a pagan, and 
when brought in contact with the institutions of civilization he outstripped those whose 
eailier life had been impressed with the advantages of such surroundings. There 
was nothiitg in his blood, or in liis early rearing, to develop him. He came from 
darkness himself as well as by his ancestry. Rev. Daniel K. Flickinger, D.D., has 
been secretary of the Home Frontier and Foreign Missionary Society for the past 
twenty-live years. He was the companion in Africa of George Thompson, and on 
one of his trips liad a short association with Livingstone. Dr. Flickinger aided in es- 
tablishing the United Brethren Mission on the Western Coast of Africa, and has had 
his heart in il for a quarter of a century. During that time he has made six trips to 
Africa to look after this mission ; returning fi'om his last voyage in May. 1881. He 
has studied those people and found them apt in the schools as well as in the acquiring 
of American customs in tilling the soil and in the trades. During Dr. Flickinger's 
first visit to Africa in 1S55, wliile at Good Hope Station, Mendi Mission, located on 
tlie eastern banlvs of Sherbro Island, latitude 7"^ north, and longitude 18** west, he 
employed a native to watch over him at night as lie slept in his hammock, there being 
wild and dangerous trilies in the vicinity. To that man in that time was horn a child. 
The father came to tlie missionaries the next day to tell tliem that his wife " done 
born picin " and wanted theni to give it a name. Mr. Burton, the missionary in 
charge, suggested that of Daniel Flickinger, and if was taken. The missionaries had 
performed the usual marriage ceremony for as many as came within tlieir reach, and 
broken up the former heathen customs in their iinmediate vicinity .as far as possible, 
and this man was duly married. He took as his last name that of Wilberforce after 
the English philanthropist, who was dear to all Colored people, and from that time on 
this native and his family became attached to the mission, and were known by the 
name of Wilberforce. This man had children born in heathendom and under quite 
different circumstances. 



APPENDIX. 573 

Dr. Flickingcr soon afterward sailed for Amerita, and soon forgot that lie had a 
namesake on the distant shore. He made other trips across the water, but failed to 
come in contact witli the Wilberforce family. .Sixteen years afterward, in 187J. he 
was in New York City shipping goods to the African missionaries. The boxes, lal)elled 
"Daniel K. Flickinger," were being loaded and unloaded at the American Mission 
Rooms in that city, and the doctor noticed that the colored porter boy was about half 
wild over something. He asked him if there was any thing wrong, but got no reply. 
The young porter kept rolling his eyes and acting half scared at the name on those ^ 
boxes, and finally the doctor asked him liis name, to which there came the prompt re- 
ply, Daniel Flickinger Wilberforce ! In his travels of a lifetime the missionary had 
often been surprised, but this bewildered him. jV thunder-bolt could not have shocked 
him more. Then the two stood gazing at each other in jierfect amazement, and neither 
able to tell how tlieir names came to be so near alike. The boxes were forgotten. 
The boy soon had his relief and began laughing as few others could laugh, while the 
doctor was still unable to see through the mystery. He gave the young fellow two 
shillings and told him to proceed with the boxes. The doctor then began an investi- 
gation about the Mission Rooms, and found that this boy, just a short time before that, 
had been brought over on a merchant vessel to care for an invalid missionary lady 
during the voyage, that he had served a short time as bell-hoy at a hotel, and that they 
had employed him in the Mission Rooms, but had promised to send him b.ack on the 
next sail vessel. The doctor got his location in Africa and a complete chain of cir- 
cumstances such as to convince him that this was the boy that was named after him in 
1S55. He told the authorities at the American Mission Rooms, to write to Africa and 
^ say that Dan. was well cared for over here, and for them to keep him till further ad- 
vised. As soon as the doctor made his shipments to the missicmaries he returned to 
Dayton and askeil the Executive Committee of his Board if they would assist him in 
educating this African who had turned up in such a romantic manner. Consent was 
given, and young Wilberforce was shipped to Dayton. He was brought into Dr. 
Flickinger's office with the tag of an express company attaciicil m his clothes — young, 
green, and, in fact, a raw recruit to the ranks of civilization. Seven years after that he 
bid adieu to his friends in that same office, to return to his people in Africa as a 
teacher, preacher, and physician. He was then one of the finest scholars of his age in 
this country. When he arrived at Dayton he of course had to have a private tutor. 
He was sixteen years old and had to start with the rudiments, but he was, at the be- 
ginning of the next school year, able to join classes on which he doubled right along. 
It requires a course of eight years to reach the High School, but in less tlian fouryears 
after his arrival in Dayton he passed the examination for admission to the High School 
of Dayton, Ohio, and was the first Colored i")upil ever admitted to that schoiil. Since 
then, other Colored pupils have annually been following his example. The course in 
the High School was four years, and the Board and teachers were very particularly 
averse to gaining time. Owing to Wilberforce's great aptness, that allowed him to go 
ahead of his class, he gained one year then and there, and took the honors of the class 
that started one year ahead of him. There were twenty-three members of that cl.rss. 
The Commencement was in the Opera-house at D.ayton in 1S7S, and on that occa- 
sion the President of the Board said, without discredit to any others, he felt called 
upon to make special mention of young Wilberforce, which he diti in a handsome 
manner. This was not all ; the Missionary Society wanted to scikI Wilberforce to 
Africa in September of that year, and as he went along they h.-id him at other studies. 
He had become an excellent musician, both vocal and instrumental. He had been 
studying theology and read Hebrew well. He had also taken a course of reading in 
medicine, so tliat he might be of service to the bodies as well as the souU of his 



574 APPENDIX. 

brethren. Marvellous as it may seem, all of this was done in so short a time, and 
from a state of savage life up to civilized life ; still it is true. And, besides, Wilber- 
force had been a reader of history and general literature, and was a writer of unusual 
merit. His progress has always and always will seem incredible, even to those who 
had personal knowledge of him during the time that he had this experience of seven 
years. lie had a remarkable mind, was born a heathen, had no youthful advantages, 
and is to-day one of the best-informed and most thoroughly cultivated thinkers of his 
^ age. When he left Dayton in the summer of 1S78, he was greatly missed. At the 
Colored United Brethren Church he was janitor, leader of a choir, organist, superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school, and class leader, and when the pastor failed, Wilber- 
force also did the preaching. He was never proud. In the humble capacity of jani- 
tor he took excellent care of Dr. Flickinger's office, and was willing and ready to do 
anything. He was modest socially, but a favorite among his classmates, and not only 
respected but admired by all. He married a Dayton girl before he left for Africa, and 
has remained abroad since 1S7S, but he expects at no distant time to return to Ameri- 
ca to complete his professional studies. He belonged to the Shcrbro tribe or peopIe» 
and with them he is now laboring. 



LAFAYETTF. S PLAN OF COLONIZATION. 

Now, my dear General, that yoii are about to enjoy some repose, permit me to propose to 
you a scheme which may prove of great benefit to ihe'black part of the liuman race. Let us unite 
m the purchase of a small estate, where we can attempt to free the ne.2roes and employ them 
simply as farm laborers. Such an example set by you might he generally followed, and should 
we succeed in America I shall gladly consecrate a part of mv time'lo introducing the custom into 
the Antilles. If this be a crude idea I prefer to be considered a fool in this way latticr than be 
thought \vise Ity an opposite conduct.' 

5th February, 17S3. < 

THE RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION. 
As an evidence of the growing confidence in the eagerness for and capacity of the 
Negro to become an educated citizen, the handsome bequest of John F. Slater, Esq., 
for the education of the race stands forth as a conspicuous example. The Negroes of 
the South have acknowledged this munificent gift with that graceful gratitude so strik- 
ingly characteri^itic of them. 

DRAFT OF A:^ AC 1" TO INCORPORATE THE TRUSTEES OF THE JOHN F. SLATER FUND. 

Whcrenx^ Messrs. Rutherford B. Haves, of Ohio; Morrison R. Waite, of the District of 
Columbia ; Wii.iiam E. Donar-:, of New York ; Phillii*s Brooks, of Massachusetts; Danif.l C. 
GiLMAN, (^)f Maryland; John A. Stewart, of New York; Ai-frf,i> H. Colquitt, of Georgia; 
MoRKis K. ji:sLi', of New York; James 1*. Bovce. of Kentucky; and William A. Slater, of 
Connecticut, ha^•e. hv their inemciriat, represented to the Senate and Assembly of this Stale Ihata 
letter has buen received t)y them from John F. Slaier, of Norwich, in the State of Connecticut, 
of wliich the following is a copy ; 

To Messrs. Rctherforo B. Haves, of Ohio ; Morrison R. Waite. of the District of Colum- 
bia ; William K. Dodge, of New York, Phi l lip s Broo ks, of Massachusetts: Danihl C. Gtl- 
MAN, of Marvland ; John A. Stewart, of NeV York ; A LFREn'HTeDTQTT-rr;'^ Georgia ; Morrjs 
K. Jesup, of New York; Jami-s P. Boyce, of Kentucky; and William A. Slater, of Con-* 
necticut: 

Gentlemen. — It has pleased God to grant me prosperity in mv business, and to put it into 
mv power to apply to charitable uses a sum of money so considerable as to require the counsel of 
wise men for the administration of it. 

It IS my desire at this time to appropriate to such uses the sum of one million of doHars 
($i.oo3.oLTi) oo) ; and 1 hereby inviie you to procure a charter of incorporation under which a chari- 
tible fund may lie litld exempt from taxiiion, and under which vou shall ortiLinize ; and I intend 
that the corporation, as soon as formed, shall receive this sum in trust to apply the income of it 
according to the instructions contained in this letter. 

The general object which I desire to have exclusively pursued, is the^JiRliitiug- oi. th.eJatel7 
emancipated population of the Southern States, and their posterity, by LOuXejuiH^-on -them tUe 
blessinas of Clxristian education. The disabiUtiL-s tonnerly suffered by these people, and iheir 
singular patience and ftdelitv in the great crisis of the nation, establish a just claim on the sym- 
pathy and go. id will ot humane and patriotic men. I cannot but feel the compassion ttiat is due 
in view of their prevailinia; ignorance which exists by no fault of tUeir own 

^ Correspondence of American Revolution, vol. ui. p. 547. 



APPKXDJX. ■ 575 

Hut it is not only for Iheir own sake, but nko for the safctv of our common country, in which 
they have l)etn invested with eqmil puliiiciil ri;4hts, that I ;uii desirous t-miil in pr-ivuhiiK ihcm 
with the tneiiiisof such eciucatiun iis shall tciul to make thcni trodd men nnd kikhI cUi/ens cluca- 
tion in which the instruction i)t' the inirul In the coinriion branches of secular learninf; shall be as- 
suciatcd with training,' in just notions of dutv toward God and man, in the licht of llic Holy 
Scriptures. 

The means to he used in the proserutlon of the Rencral obicct above described. I leave to the 
discretion of tliu corporation ; only indic-ttin^, as lines of operation adapted to the present c liuli- 
tion of tUiuRs. the training of teachers from amtiuK the iicojije leipiinnt; to be tauRhi. if, in the 
opinion of tlic corporation, by such limited selection the purposes of the trust can be best accom- 
plished ; and the encouraj^ement of such institutions as are most effectuallv useful in nromotine 
this trainin'^ of teachers. 

I am well aware that the work herein proposed is nothing new or untried. And it is no?;maU 
pan of my satistactmn in takin^,' this share in it. that 1 hereby associate myself with some of the 
noblest enterprises of cliarity and humanity, and mav hope to encourage the prayers and tods of 
faithful men and woinin who have labored and are still lat)OTinji in this cause. 

1 wish the corporation which you are invited to constitute, to consist at no time of more than 
twelve members, nor of less than nnie members for a binder time than may be reiiuired f-.r the 
convenient fdlini; of vacancies, which I desire to be filled bv the cor[H>ration. and. when found 
practicable, at its next meeting alter the vacancv may occur. 

1 designate as the lirst ['resident of the corporation the i lonorable Rutmrrkoro H. Havrs. of 
Ohio. 1 desire that it m.iyhavc power to provide frou) the income of the fund, among other 
things, for expenses incurre 1 by members in the ftdfilumit ot this trust, and for the expenses of 
such ofllcersantla-jeiitsasit may appoint, and generallv to do all such acts as may be necessary 
for carrying out the |.urposesof this trust. I desire.it it mav be, that the cori)oraiion may have 
full liberty to invest its tunds according to its own bevt discrelioa. without reference to. or re- 
striction liy. any laws or rules, legal or equitable, of any nature, reguhunig the mode of invest- 
ment of trust funds; only 1 wish that neither princip.it nor income be expended in land or 
buddings, for any other jiurpose than that of sale and i>rodnctivc investment lor income. And I 
hereby disrtiarge the corporation, and its individual mend>crs, so (ar as it is in my power so to do, 
of all responsibility, except fur the faithlul administration of this lrust» according to their own' 
honest understainiuig and best judgment. In particular, also. I wish to relieve them of any [>re- 
tcnded claim on the part of any ieis<ui, party, sect, insiitutmn, or localit v. to benefactions tr.»m this 
fund, that may he putforward on any ground whatever ; as i wish evcrv cxpendiiure to be deler- 
mmetl solely by the convictions of lhecor|)oration it-el i as to the most useiu I disposition of itsgiiis. 

I desire that the c'oingsof the corporation each vear be printed and sent to each of the Mate 
Libraries in the United Stales, and to the Library of (."ongress. 

In case the capital ot the Pund should become impaired. 1 desire that a part of the income, 
not greater than one half, be investeil, from year to year, until the capital be restored to its origi- 
nal amount. 

I puT[)osely leave to the corporation the largest liberty of making such changes in the meth- 
ods ot applying the income of the Fund as shall seem from inne to time best adapted to accom- 
plish the geneial object herein detined. But being warned by the hislorv of sucli en.low ments 
that they sometimes lend to discourage rather tlian promote effort and self-reliance on the p.itt of 
beneliciaries or to inure to the advancement of learning instead of the tlissemination of it ; or to 
become a convenience to the rich instead of a help to those who need help 1 solemnly charge my 
Trustees to use their best wisdom in preventing any such defeat of the spirit of this trust ; so that 
my gift may continue to future geneiations to be a blessing lo the poor. 

If at any ti:ne after tne lapse of thirty-three years from tiio <late ot this founihition it shall ap- 
pear to the judgment of three fourths of the membcis of this r<irporalion that, by reason of a 
change in social conditions, or by reason of adequate and equitable public provision for education, 
or by anv other sulli< ient reason, there is no lurther serious need of this Fund in the Inrtrt in 
which it is at tirst instituted I auihoii/e the corporation to apptv the capital of the Fund to the 
establishment of foundations subsidiarv to then already existing institutions of higher education, 
in such wise as to make the educational advantages of such institutions moie freely accessible fo 
poor students of the colored race. 

It IS my wish that this trust be administered in jio j^artism. secti'jnaU or Sectarian spirit. 
the interest of a generous jiatiioti-m and an enligtitened Cluislian faith ; and that the cor; 

about to be formed, mav continue to be constituted of men distinguished either by hon^ : ^ 

success in business, or by services to literature, cducaiion. religion, or the State. 

\ am encouraged to the execution in this charitable foundatitm of a long-chcrishcd purpose. 
by the eminent wisdom and success that has marked the conduct of the l*eal)odv Education Fund 
in a field of operation not remote from that c"nteni|dateil bv thi^ trust. I shall comii>it it to your 
hands, deeply conscious how insufTicient is our best forecast to prt>vide for the future that is 
known only to (Jod ; but humbly hoping that the administration of it mav be so guhled bv divine 
wisdom, as to be. in its turn, an encouragement to philanthropic enterprise on the part oi others, 
and an enduring means of good to our belovcvl country and to our fellow-men. 

1 have the honor to be, Gentlemen, vnur friend and fellow-ciii/cn, 

JOHN 1-. SLATER. 

Norwich, Cons., March 4. 1882, 

-■/«fj' :('//cr<-rtj, said memorialists have further represented that thev are ready to accept said 
trust and receive and administer sjiid Fund. ) r.jvided a chatter of incofnorati m is granted by this 
State, as indicated m said letter ; 

N<yn}^therf/orc,iox the purpose of giving full effect to the charitable intentions declared in said 
letter ; 

The fcopU' 0/ the State of Xezo York, represented in Senate and Assirn/-i'y. .I'e enaet as/oi\'''-.f! 

Skc I. Rutherford H. Hayqs, Morrison R. Waite, William V.. Dodge. Phillips Brooks. Iiamel 
C. Gilman, John A. Stewart. Alfred IL Colquitt. Morris K. Jesup. Janus I*. Hovce. and \\ ili;.itn 
A. Slater, are hereby created a body politic and corporate bv the name of Tmk Tm stke> of tut. 
John F. Slater I'l^No.and by that name shall have perpetual succession ; said original corporators 
electing their associates and successors, from time t > time, so that the whole number of corpora- 
tors may be kept at not less than nine nor more than twelve. 



570 APPENDIX. 

Said corporation may hold and manage, invest and re-invest all propertv ^vhich may be given 
or transferred to it lor the charitable pur[)oses indicated in said letter, and shall, in so doing, and 
in appropriating the income accrumg therefrom, conform to and be governed by the directions in 
said letter contained ; and such properly and all investments and re-investmenls thereof, exceining 
real estate, shall, while owned by said corporation and held for the purposes of said trust, be 
exempt from taxation of any and every nalure- 

Sec. 2. Rutherford B, Hayes, of Ohio, shall be the first President of the corporation, and it 
may elect such other officers and hold such meetings, whether within or wilhoul this State, from 
time to time, as its by-laws may authorizi-- or prescribe. 

Sec. 3. Said corporation shall annually tile with the Librarian of this State a printed report of 
its doings during the preceding year. 

Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 



COLORED EMPLOYES IN WASHINGTON. 
There are six hundred and twenty persons of color employed in the different de- 
partments of the Government at Washington, D. C, distributed as follows : 

War Department .......... 44 

Treasury Department ......... 342 

Department of Justice ......... 7 

Department of State ......... 20 

Navy Department .......... 40 

Department of the Interior ...,,, 106 men, 7 women 

Post-Office Department ......... 54 

Total .......... 620 



NEWSPAPERS CONDUCTED BV COLORED MEN. 

Al.AB.AMA. 

Mobile. — The Mobile Gazette ; Phillip Joseph, Editor; $2.co per year; office 
No. 3O Conti Street. 

IIuntsvili.e. — Htnttsville Gazette ; , Editor ; $1.50 per year ; Saturdays. 

Arkansas. 
Helena. — The Golden Epoch ; H. W. Stewart. 
Little Rock. — Arkansas Mansion ; Henry Simkens, Editor ; $1.50 a year. 

California. 
San Francisco. — The Elevator ; Phillip A. Bell, Editor. 

District of Columbia. 
Washington City. — People's Advocate, established in 1S76; J. W. Cromwell, 
Editor ; C. A. Lemar, Manager ; §1.502 year. 

Washington City. — The Bee; W. C. Chase, Editor; C.C. Stewart, Business 
Manager ; $2.00 per year ; Saturdays ; office, No. 1107 I Street, N. W. 

Florida. 

Pensacol.a. — The younioil of Progress ; Matthews & Davidson, Editors and 
Proprietors ; §2.00 ; Saturdays. 

Key West.— A'f/ West A'ews ; J. Willis Menard, Editor ; weekly ; five columns ; 
price, §1.50 per annum. 

Georgia. 

Atlanta. — Weekly Defiance ; W. H. Burnett, Editor. 

Augusta. — The People's De/ettse ; Smith, Nelson, cSc Co., Proprietors. 

Augusta. — Georgia Baptist; Wm. J. White, Editor; $2.00 per year; office, 
No. 633 Ellis Street. 

Savannah. — Savannah Echo ; Hardin Bros. & Griffin, Proprietors; §2.00; Sat- . 
urdays. 

Illinois. 

Chicago. — The Consei-vator ; Barnett, Clark, & Co., Editors and Proprietors; 
$2.00 per year ; Saturdays ; 194 Clark Street. 

Cairo. — The Three States; M. Gladding, Publisher ; Saturdays ; $1.50 per year; 
190 Commercial .\venue. 

Cairo. — 7'Ae Cairo Gazette; J. J. Bird, Editor; Wednesdays and Saturdays; 
§2.50 per year. 



APPENDIX. 577 

Kansas. 

TOPEKA — Topcka Trihine : IC. II. Wliitc. 

Kk.ntuckv. 

Louisville. — The Bulletin ; Adams brotlicrs ; $2.00 per year ; Saturdays ; 562 
West Jefferson Street. 

Louisville. — The American Baptist ; W'm. M. Stewart. 

Louisville. — Ohio Falls Express ; Dr. II. liizbutler, Editor; $1.50 per year', 
Saturdays. 

Howling Green. — Bo-vling Green Watchman ; C. C. Strumm, Editor; C. R. 
McDowell, Manager ; Saturdays ; Si. 50 per year. 

Louisiana. 

New Orleans. — Observer ; Saturdays ; republican ; four pages ; sl/e, 22 x 32 ; 
subscription, $2.00 ; established, 1S78 ; G. T. Ruby, Editor and Publisher. 

Massachusetts. 

Boston. — The Boston Leader ■, Howard L. Smith, Editor ; $1.50 per yea; ; office. 
No. 8 Boylston Street. Room c). 

Mississippi. 

I'erona. — The Banner of Liberty ; J. B, Wilkins. Editor; $1. 50 per year. 

Greenville. — The Baptist Signal ; Rev. G. W. Gayles. Editor; $1.00 per year. 

Jackson. — People's Adviser. 

Jackson. — Mississippi Kepublican ; I'rcston Hay, Editor; $1.00; Saturdays. 

Maveksvii.le. — Mayersville .Spectator ; W. E. Mollison, Editor ; D. T. William- 
son, Publisher ; $1.50 per year ; Saturdays. 

Missouri. 

St. Louis. — Tiibune ; Sundays; republican ; eight pages; size, 26x40; sulxscrip- 
tion, $2 00 : established, 1876; J. W. Wilson, Editor and i'ubli>her ; circulation, 1. 

Kansas City. — The A'ansas City Enterprise ; D. V. A. Nero; published every 
Wednesday and Saturday ; $2.00 per year ; office. No. 537 Main Street, Room 
No. 2. 

New Jersey. 

Trenton. — The Sentinel; R. Henri Herbert, Editor; Saturdays; $1.25 per 
year ; No. 4 North Green Street. 

New York. 

New York City. — Proi;ressive American ; Thursdays ; four pages; size, 22 x 31 ; 
subscription, $2 00; established, 1S71 ; John J. Freeman, Editor ; George A. Washing- 
ton, Publisher; circulation, J.; office, 125 \V. 25ih Street. 

New York City. — Ncju York Globe ; Geo. Parker & Co. ; T. Thos. Kortune, 
Editor ; office, No. 4 Cedar Street, Room 15. 

Brooklyn. — The National Monitor ; R. Rufus L. Perry, D. D. 

North Carolina. 

GOLDSBOROUGII. — The Carolina Enterprise; E. E. Smith, Editor; $I.OO per 
year ; Saturday. 

Charlotte. — Charlotte Messenger ; W. H. Smith, Editor; §1. 50 per year. 
Wilson. — The Wilson News ; Ward, Moore, & Hill, Editors; §1 50 a year. 
Raleigh. — Raleigh Banner ; J. H. Williams. 
Wilmington. — Africa-American Presbyterian ; D. J. Sanders. 

Ohio. 

Cincinnati. — The Afro-American ; Clark, Johnson, ami Jackson, Editors and 
Proprietors ; $1.50 per year ; Saturd.ays ; office, 172 Central .-V venue. 

Cincinnati. — The Weekly Review ; Review Publishing Co. ; Chas. W. Bell. 
Editor ; $1 . 50 per year. 



S78 APPENDIX. 

Pennsylvania. 
Philadelphia. — Christian Recorder ; Tluiisdays ; Methodist ; four pages ; size, 
2S X42 ; subscription, $2.00 ; established, 1S62 ; Rev. lienj. T. Tanner, D.D., Editor ; 
Rev. Tlieo. Gould. Publisher ; circulation, G ; office, 631 Pine Street. 

South Carolina. 

Charleston. — The New Era; Wm. Holloway, Business Manager; $1.50 i)er 
year ; Saturdays ; democratic ; 196 Meeting Street. 

Charleston. — The Palmetlj Press ; Robert L. Smith, Editor; $1.50 per year; 
3a.turdays. 

Tennessee. 

Nashville. — Knights of Wise Men ; J. L. Brown, Editor ; office, No. 5 Cherry 
Street. 

Chattanooga. — The Enterprise ; Rev. D. W. Plays. 

Te.xas. 

Austin. — The Ausiiii Citizen ; J. J. Hamilton & Co. 

D.ALL.AS. — 7'he Baptist Journal ; S. H. Smothers, Editor; A. R. Greggs, Pub- 
lisher. 

D.ALLAS. — Christian Preacher ; C. M. Wilmeth. 

Marshall. — The Christian Advocate ; M. F. Jamison. 

G.ALVESTON. — Spectator; Richard Nelson, Editor; $1.50 per year. 

Palestine. — Colored American Journal : monthly; C. W. Porter, Editor. 

Virginia. 

Richmond. — Virginia Star: Saturdays; four pages ; size. 20x26; subscription, 
3i2.oo; established, 187O ; R. M. Green, M.D., O. M. Stewart, and P. H. Woolfolk, 
Eilitors and Publishers ; circulation, K. 

RiCH.MOND. — Industrial Herald ; John Oliver, Editor; $1.00 per year. 

Petersburgii. — The Lancet; Cleo. E. P.ragg, Jr., Manager; $1.50 per year ; 
Saturdays. 

West Virginia. 

Wheeling. — The Weekly Times ; Welcome, Buckner, & Co., Publishers; Geo. 
W. Welcome, Editor ; S pages ; $1.00 per annum. 



. negroils in northern colleges. 

In response to a circular sent out, seventy Northern Colleges sent information ; 
and in. them are at present one hundred and sixty-nine Colored students. The exact 
number of graduates cannot be ascertained, as these colleges do not keep a record 
of the nationality of their students. 



CHAPTER XXni. 

HENRY HIGHLAND GARNET, D. D. 

The career of this man, who died at Monrovia. Liberia, Feb. 14, 1882, where he 
iWas the Minister of the United Stales, was extraordinary. Grandson of a native 
African, brought over in a slave-trader, himself born a slave, he was brought to Penn- 
sylvania by his father, when he fled from slavery in 1824. Next we find him, at the 
age of .seventeen, ridiculed for studying Greek and Latin ; then mobbed in a New 
Hampshire seminary ; then dragged from a street car in Utica ; then .studying the- 
ology with Dr. Beman in Troy, N. Y. Soon he \vas settled as a minister ; afterward 
he travelled in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe, and was sent by a 
Scottish Society as Presbyterian missionary to Jamaica, West Indies. He returned to 
New York, and was long the pastor of the Shiloh Presbyterian Church; his house 
escaping the riots in 1S63 " by the foresight of his daughter, who wrenched off the 
door plate." He was the first Colored man who ever spoke in public in the Capitol at 



APPENDIX. 579 

Washington, having prtachcd llierc Sunday, Feb. 12, 1S65. In iSSi ho was appointed 
Minister to Liberia. Dr. Garnet was eijiial in ability to Frederick Doughass, an<I 
greatly his superior in iearnintj, especially excelling in logic and terse statement. We 
heard him niakc a speech in 1S65, which in force of rea;uning, purity of language, and 
propriety of utterance, was not unworthy of comparison with a senntjn of l>ishup 
Thomson, or an address of George \Viiliani Curtis. As lie was " a full-bl(;o<led 
Negro," he was a standini; and unanswcr.able proof that the race is capable of all that 
has distinguished M.\X. How much of history and progress could be erowcled in a 
memorial inscription for hint ! It might be .something like this ; l>orn a >lave in the 
country to which his grandfather was stolen aw.ay, he competed, under the greatest 
disadvant.ages, with white men for the prices of life ; attaining the highest intellectual 
culture, and a corresponding moral elevation, his career commamlcd universal respect 
in Europe and America, wherever he was known. He died the .Minister of the 
United St.ate3 to a civilized nation in the land whence his barbaric ancestors were 
stolen. To God, who "hath maile of one blootl all nations of men for to tiwell on all 
the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and tlie bounds 
of their habitation " (.Vets xvii : 26), be the glory. " How unsearchable are His judg- 
ments, and His ways past finding out ! " 



inilvNICZKR II. IIASSKTT. 

One of the ablest di)domats the Negro race has produced is the Honorable 
Ebenczer D. B.assetl, for nearly nine years the Resident Minister and Consul-Gencral 
from the United .States to Ilayli. He was born and educated in the Stale of Con- 
necticut, and for many years was the successful Principal of the Institute for Colored 
Youth at T'hiLidelphia, Tennsylvania. As a classical scholar and for proliciency in the 
use of modern langu.ages he has few equals among his race. 

Returning to this country, after years of honorable service abroad, he was pro- 
moted by the H.iytian Government to the position of Consul at New York City, and 
at present is serving the RepuVilic of Hayti. As an evidence of the high esteem in 
which he was held as an officer the following documents attest : 

(copy.) 

DF.rART:MKM' OK StaTK. f 

\\'ASHi.s-t.it>.\, October 5. 1877. r 
Edenezek D. Rassett, Esquire, etc., etc., etc. 

Siu: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your dcspatclt N'i». 530. of the 211! .Vucust last, 
tendering vour resif^nation ol" tlie ofhcc ot ftlinistcr Kesitlent and Coiisul-t-iencml of the United 
Stales to llayti. ami to intonn von tliat it is acccptctl. 

I cannot'iillovv lliisopportiiiMty to pass without expressing to you the appreciation of the De- 
partment of tile very satisfactory manner in which you have dischar^ctl the tiutics of the mission 
at Port au Prince durinji your term of office. This coiiiiiieiuialion ot your .services is ilie more 
especially meriletl, because at various times your duties have been ot sudi a delicate nature as to 
tiave rcmiired the exercise otnun h t.ut aiul discretion. 

I enclose lierewith a letter adiircssid by the President of the United States to the President of 
Mayti. announcing vovir retirement from the mission at Port au I*rince. touclher wiih an ofiicc 
copy of the same. Voti will transmit the latter to the Minister of Ktireii:n .MTairs, and make 
arranKcineiits for the delivery ot the original to the President when your successor shall present 
his credentials. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant. 

(.Signed.) V. W. Sin\'.\UI), A.liiig Sr.rrlary. 

(tkan.si.ation.) 

BoiSKOND Casai., President f/ the Rcf'uUic 0/ Hayti, 
To His Excellency the I'resnient e/lhc I 'nitct States c/Amerio. 

GkB\T ANO Goou l-KitNO : Mr. libene/er D. Hassett, wh.> has resi.led hire \n the capacity of 
Minister of the United Slates, has placed in my hands the letter liy wliich your Kxcellcncy has 
brought his mission 1 1 an end. 

In t dving leave ot me in conformity with the wishes of your F.xcellent y, he ha.s renewed Ihc 
assur.ince ol the friendly sentiments which so hat>pily exist on the part oi tin- i ,. \ .nimcnt and ine 
people of tlie United Stales to\varcl the (iovcrnmenl ami the people ul th l!.i\ Ii. 

I have not failed to request him to transmit to your Kxcellcncy, the i mv great 

desire to maintain always the relations of the two Countries upon the Ic ■. cordial un- 

derstanding. 



58o APPENDIX. 

It is for me a pleasing duty to acknowledge fully to your Excellency, the zeal and the intelli- 
gence with which Mr. Babsett has fulfilled here the high and delicate functions that had been 
entrusted to Www. 

1 have, therefore, been happy to be able to testify to him publicly before his departure, in the 
name of iiiv leliovv-titizens, the esteem and sincere affection which his talents, his character, his 
j)nvate and public comiuct have won for him, as well as the particular sentiments of friendship 
and gratiluile 1 personally entertain for him. 

1 prav God tliat lie mav hiive your E.xcellency always in His Holy keeping. 

Given at tlie National Palace of Port au Prmce, the 29th day of November, 1877. 

Your Gooil Friend, 

(Signed) BOISRGND CANAL. 
Countersigned. 

(Signed.) F. Cakkie, Secretary c/ State. 



COLORED SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN. 

UNITED STATES SENATORS. 

Hiram R. Rkvels, United States Senator from Mississippi, was born in Fayette- 
ville, North Carolina, September I, 1S22 ; desiring to obtain an education, which 
was denied in his native State to those of African descent, he removed to Indiana ; 
spent some time at the (Quaker Seminary in Union County ; entered the Methodist 
ministry ; afterward received further instructions at the Clarke County Seminary, 
when he became pieaclier, teacher, and lecturer among his people in the States of In- 
diana, Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri ; at the breaking out of the war, he was ministering 
at iialtimore ; he assisted in the organization of the first two Colored regiments in 
Maryland and Missouri; during a portion of 1S63 and 1S64 he taught school in St. 
Louis, then went to Vicksburg, and assisted the provost marshal in managing the 
freedmen affairs ; followed on tlie heels of the army to Jackson; organized churches, 
and lectured ; spent the next two years in Kansas and Missouri in preaching and lect- 
uring on moral and religious subjects ; returned to Mississippi, and settled at Natchez ; 
was chosen presiding elder of the Methodist Church, and a member of the city council ; 
was elected a United States Senator from Mississippi as a Republican, serving 
from J'ebruary 25, 1S70, to March 3, 1871 ; was pastor of a Metliodist Episcopal 
church at Holly Springs, Mississippi ; removed to Indiana, where he was pastor of the 
African Metiindist Episcopal Church at Richmond. 

liLANCiiI-: K. IlRr?CK, United States Senator from Mississippi, was born in Prince 
Edward County, Virginia, March I, 1S41 ; as his parents were slaves, he re- 
ceived a limited education ; became a planter in Mississippi in iS6g ; was a mem- 
ber of the Mississippi Levee Board, and sheriff and tax-collector of Bolivar County 
from 1S72 until his election to the United States Senate from Mississippi, February 3, 
1S75, as a Republican, to succeed Henry R. Pease, Republican, and took his seat 
March 4, 1S75. His term of service expired March 3, 1S81. 

U.NTTED STATES CO.NGRESS.MEN. 

Richard H. Cain was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, April 12, 1825. His 
father removed to Ohio in 1S31, and settled in Gallipolis. He had no education, ex- 
cept such as w'as afforded in Sabbath-school, until after his marriage ; entered the min- 
istry at an early age ; became a student at Wilberforce Univeisity at Xenia, Ohio, in 
i860, and remained there for one year ; removed, at the breaking out of the war, to 
IJrooklyn, Nesv Voik, where he was a pastor for four years ; was sent by his Church as 
a missionary to the freedinen in South Carolina ; was cliosen a member of the Consti- 
tutional Convention of South Carolina ; was elected a member of the State Senate 
from Charleston, and served two years ; took charge of a republican newspaper in 
1S6S ; was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-third Congress as 
a Republican, receiving 66,825 votes against 26,394 for Lewis E. Johnson, and was 



APPENDIX. 581 

again elected to the Forty-fifth Congress as a Republican, receiving 21,385 voles 
against 16,074 votes for M. P. O'Connor, Democrat. 

Roi-.ERT C. De I,aiu:k was born at Aiken, South Carolina, March 15, 1S42 ; re- 
ceived such an education as was then attainable ; was a farmer ; was an agent of the 
Freedmen's Bureau from May, 1S67, to April, iSfaS, when he was elected a member 
of the Stale Constitutional Convention; was a member of the House of Representa- 
tives of the State Legislature in 1S6S, 1S69, and 1870; was one of the Stale Commis- 
sioners of the Sinking Fund ; was elected in 1870 State Land Commissioner, and 
served until he was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forly-second 
Congress as a Republican, receiving i6,(')S6 votes, against 15,700 votes for C. C. Bowcn, 
Independent Republican ; was appointed a trial justice, which olhce he held when he 
died at Charlestown, South Carolina, February 15, 1874, 

RouiiRT Brown l'".Ll.iorT was born at Boston, ALissachusetls, Augu-t 11, 1342; 
received his primary education at private schools; in 1S53 entereil lli"h Ilolbom 
Academy in London, England ; in 1S55 entered Eton College, England, and gradu- 
ated in 1859 ; studied law, and practises his profession ; was a member of the Stale 
Constitutional Convention of South Carolina in 1S6S ; was a member of the House of 
Representatives of South Carolina from July 6, 1868, to October 23, 1S70; was 
appointed on the 25lh of March, 1869, assistant adjutant-general, which position he 
held until he was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forly-second 
Congress as a Republican, receiving 20,564 votes against I3.9c;7 ^•Otes for J. E. 
Bacon, Democrat, serving from March 4, 1871, to 1873, when he resigned ; and was 
re-elected to the Forty-third Congress as a Republican, receiving :.i,627 votes against 
1,094 votes for W. H. McCan, Democrat, serving from December i, 1S73, to May, 
1874, when he resigned, having been elected sherifl. 

Jkre Haralson was born in Muscogee County, Georgia, April i, 1S46, the 
slave property of John Walker ; after Walker's death, was sold on the auction-block in 
the city of Columbus, and bought by J. W. Thompson, after whose death he became 
the property of J. Haralson, of Selma. and so remained until emancipated in 1865 ; 
received no education until after he v.'as free, when he instructed himself ; w.as elected 
to the State House of Representatives of Alabama in 1S70 ; was elected to the State 
Senate of Alabama in 1872 ; was elected a representative from Alabama in the Foriy- 
fourlh Congress as a Republican, receiving 19.551 votes .against 16.953 votes for F. 
G. Bromberg, Democrat, serving from December 6, 1875, to .March 3, 1S77 ; w.is 
defeated by the Republican candidate for the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving 8,675 votes 
against 9,685 votes for Charles L. Shelley, Democrat, and 7,236 voles for James T. 
Rapier, Republican. 

John R. Lynch was born in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, September 10. 1S47, 
a slave ; and he remained in slavery until emancipated by the results of the Rebellion, 
receiving no early education ; a puich.aser of his mother carried her with her chililren 
to Natchez, where, when the Union troops took poscssicm, he attended evening school 
for a few months, and he has since by private study acquired a good English educa- 
tion ; he engaged in the business of photography at Natchez, until l86g, when Governor 
Ames appointed him a justice of the peace ; he was elected a member of the State 
Legislature from Adams County, and re-elected in 1S71, serving the Last term a.s 
Speaker of the House ; was elected a representative from Mississippi in the Forty- 
third Congress as a Republican, receiving 15,391 votes .against S.430 votes (or H. 
Cassidy, Sr. , Democrat ; and was re-elected to the Forty-fourth Congre.-s as a Republican 
(defeating Roderick Seals, Democrat), serving from Lleccmber i, 1S73, to>rarch 3, 1S77. 



582 APPENDIX. 

Charles E. Nash was born at Opelousas, Louisiana ; Received a common* 
scliool education at New Orleans ; was a bricklayer by trade ; enlisted as private in 
the Eighly-tliird Regiment, United States Chasseurs d' Afrique, April 20, 1863, and 
was promoted untd he became acting sergeant-major of the regiment ; lost a leg at 
the storming of Fort Blakely, and was honorably discharged from the army May 30, 

1565 ; ' was elected a representative from Louisiana in the Forty-fourth Congress as a 
Republican, receiving 13,156 votes against 12,085 votes for Joseph M. Moore, Demo- 
crat, serving from December 6, 1S75, to March 3, 1877 ; was defeated as the Repub- 
lican candidate for the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving 11,147 votes against 15,520 
votes for Edward White Robertson, Democrat. 

Joseph II. Kainey was born at Georgetown, South Carolina (where both of his 
parents were slaves, but, by their industry, obtained their freedom), June 21, 1832; 
although debarred by law from attending school he acquired a good education, and 
further improved his inind by observation and travel ; his father was a barber, and he 
followed that occupation at Charlestown till 1S62, when, having been forced to work 
on the fortifications of the Confederates, he escaped to the West Indies, where he 
remained until the close of the war, when he returned to his native town ; he was 
elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1S68, and was a member 
of the State .Senate of .South Carolina in 1870, resigning when elected a representative 
from South Carolina in the Forty-first Congress as a Republican (to fill the vacancy 
caused liy the non-reception of B. F. Whittemore), by a majority of 17,193 voces over 
Dudley, (Conservative ; was re-elected to the Forty-second Congress, receiving 20,221 
voles against 11,628 votes for C. W. Dudley, Democrat ; was re-elected to the Forty- 
third Congress, receiving 19,765 votes, being all that were cast ; was re-elected to the 
Forty-fourth Congress, receiving 14,370 votes against 13,563 votes for Samuel Lee, 
Rcjmblican ; was re-elected to the Forty-fifth Congress, receiving l8,lSo votes against 
16,661 votes for J. .S. Richardson, Democrat, serving from March 4, 1869. 

Ai.oNzo J. Ransier was born at Charlestown, South Carolina, in January, 1S34 ; 
was self-educated ; was employed as shipping-clerk in 1S50 by a leading merchant, 
who was tried for violation of law in *' hiring a Colored clerk,** and fined one cent with 
costs ; was one of the foremost in the works of reconstruction in 1865 ; was a member 
of a convention of the friends of equal rights in October, 1S65, at Charlestown, and 
was deputed to present the memorial there framed to Congress ; was elected a member 
of the State Constitutional Convention of 1868 ; was elected a member of the House 
of Representatives in the .State Legislature in i86g ; was chosen chairman of the State 
Republican Central Committee, which position he held until 1S72 ; was elected a 
presidential elector on the Grant and Colfax ticket in 1S68 ; was elected lieutenant- 
governor of South Carolina in 1S70 by a large majority; was president of the Southern 
States Convention at Columbia in 1S71 ; was chosen a delegate to, and was a vice- 
president of, the Philadelphia Convention which nominated Grant and Wilson in 1872; 
and was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty-third Congress as a 
Rejiublican, receiving 20,061 votes against 6,549 votes for W. Gurney, Lulependent 
Republican, serving from December 1, 1873, to March 3, 1S75. 

James T. Rapier w-as born in Florence, Alabama, in 1S40; was erlucated in 
Can.ada ; is a planter ; w.as appointed a notary public by the governor of Alabama in 

1566 ; was a member of the first Republican Convention held in Alabama, and was 
one of the committee that framed the platform of the party ; represented Lauderdale 
County in the Constitutional Convention held at Montgomery in 1S67 ; was nominated 
for secretary of State in 1S70, but defeated with the rest of the ticket ; was appointed 
assessor of internal revenue for the second collection-district of Alabama in 1871 ; was 



ylPPENDJX. 5S3 

appointed State commiisioner to ihu Vienna Exposition in 1873 by the governor of 
Alaliama ; was elected a representative from Alabama in the Korty-third Conj^rcss as a 
Reptdilican, receiving ig.ioo votes against 16,000 votes for C. W. Oales, Democrat, 
serving from December i, 1873, to March 3, 1S75 i '"""l was defeated as the Repub- 
lican candidate for the Forty-fourth Congress, receiving 19.124 votes against 20, iSo 
voles for Jeremiah N. Williams, Dentocrat. 

RoiiEKT Smai.i.s was born at lieaufort, South Carolina. April 5, iS3(; ; being a 
slave, was deliarred by statute from atteniling school, but educated himself with such 
limited adv.iut.ages as he could secure ; removed to Charlcstown in 1851 ; worked as a 
rigger, and led a seafaring life ; became connected in 1S61 with "The I'lanier," a 
steamer plying in Charlcstown harbor as a transport, which he took over Charle-.town 
Bar in May, 1S62, and delivered her and his services to the commander of the United 
States blockading squadron ; was appointed pilot in the United States navy, and served 
in that capacity on the monitor " Keokuk " in the attack on Fort Sumter ; served as 
pilot in the quartermaster's department, and was promoted as captain for gallant and 
meritorious conduct December I, 1S63, and placed in command of " The I'lanter," 
serving until she was put out of commission in 1866 ; was elected a member of the 
State Constitutional Convention of 1S6S ; was elected a member of the State House 
of Representatives in tS6S, and of the State Senate (to fill a vacancy) in 1S70, and re- 
elected in 1S72 ; and was elected a representative from South Carolina in the Forty- 
fourth Congress as a Republican, receiving 17.752 votes against 4,461 votes for J. 1'. 
M. Epping, Republican ; and was re-elected to the Forty-hfth Congress, receiving 
I9i954 votes against 18,516 votes for G. D. Tillman, Democrat, serving from Decem- 
ber, 6, 1S75, to March 3, 1S77 ; and is tiow a member. 

JosiAil T. W'ai.i.s w.as born at Winchester, Virginia, December 30, 1S42 ; received 
a connnon-school educaiioTi ; was a planter ; was elected a member of the State Con- 
stitutional Convention in :S6S ; was elected a member of the State House of Repre- 
sentatives in 1S6S ; was elected to the Stale Senate 1869-1872 ; claimed to have been 
elected a re]irescntative from the State-at-large to the Forty-second Congress as a Re- 
publican, but the election was contested by his competiior, Silas L. Niblack, who took 
the seat January 29, 1S73 ; was re-elected for the Stale-al-iarge, receiving 17,503 votes 
against 15,88: votes for Niblack, Democrat; and was re-elected to the Forty-fourth 
Congress, receiving 8,549 votes .ngainst 8,178 votes for Jesse J. Kinley, Democrat. 

Benj. SiKKi.iNO TuKNER was born in Halifax County, Nurili Carolina. March 
17, 1S25 ; was raised as a slave, and received no early education, becau>e the laws of 
that Stale made it criminal to educate slaves ; removed to Alabama in 1S30, and, by 
clandestine study, obtained a fair education ; became a dealer in general merehnndisc ; 
was elected tax-collector of Dallas County in 1S67, and councilman of the cily of 
Selma in 1S69 ; was elected a representative from Alabama in the Forly-second Con- 
gress as a Republican, receiving 18,226 votes against 13.466 votes for S. J. Cumming, 
Democrat, serving from March 4, 1S71, to March 3, 1S73 ; was defeated as the Re- 
publican candidate for the Forty-third Congress, receiving 13,174 votes against 15,607 
votes for F. G. Bromberg, Democrat and l-iberal, and 7,024 votes for P. Joseph, 
Republican. 

Jefkkrso.v F. Long, Macon, Georgia. Took his seat Feb. 24, 1S71. 



BUREAU OFFICER. 

Honor.able Blanche K. Bruce, Register of the United States Trcasur>' ; ap- 
pointed liV President James A. Garfield, iSSl. 



5 84 APPENDIX. 

NEGROES IN THE DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT. 

Hayti. — E. D. Bassett, Pennsylvania, 1869-77. 

Hayii. — John M. Langston, District of Columbia, Minister Resident and Consul- 
General to Hayti, 1877. 

,Liberia. — J. Milton Turner, Missouri. 

Liberia. — John H. Smyth, North Carolina. Reappointed in 1882. 

Liberia. — Henry Highland Garnet, New York, Minister Resident and Consul- 
General to Liberia. 



lieutenant-governors. 
The following Colored men were Lieutenant-Governors during the years of recon- 
struction. At the head of them all for bravery, intelligence, and executive ability 
stands Governor Pinchback. One of the first men of his race to enter the army in 
1S62 as captain, when the conflict was over and his race free, he was the first Colored 
man in Louisiana to enter into the work of reconstruction. He has been and is a 
power in his Slate. He is true to his friends, but a terror to his enemies. A sketch 
of his life would read like a romance 

Louisiana. South Carolina. Mississippi. 

Oscar J. Dunn, Alonzo J. Ransier, Alex. Davis. 

P. B. S. Pinchback, Richard H. Cleaves, 
C. C. Antoine. 



INDEX. 



ACV'ls, Capt., his opinion of John Brown, 
225. 

Adams, C. F. , advocates the education 
of Negroes, i;S. 

Adams, John, (irst Colored teacher In the "I 
D. C, 183. 

Adams, John Qiiincy, remarks on the 
death of William Costin, 192. 

Adams, Rufus, opposes school for Col- 
ored cliildrcn in Conn.. 150. 

Aden, D., letter on the bravery of Negro 
troops, 34S. 

Africa, imported sU"es ordered to be re- 
turned to, 12 ; agents appointed by the 
United States for that purpose, 13 ; 
proposed colony of free Negroes on the 
coast, 51 ; a line of war steamers to be 
established, to suppress the slave- 
trade, promote commerce, and colo- 
nize the coast, 53-55 ; colonization of, 
by Negroes, opposed, 70; the "Ami- 
stad " captives returned to, 93-96 ; 
number of slaves impcirted from, 544. 

African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
origin, growth, organization, and in- 
fluence, 135, 452 ; numerical and finan- 
cial strength, missionary and educa- 
tional spirit, 455-45S ; publishing 
house, periodicals, and papers, 45S, 
459 ; report of Wilberforce University 
for 1876, 455, 456 ; list of the faculty, 
460 ; report and general statement, 
462-464 ; list of bishops, 464. 

African School Association established, "' 

157- 
Aggressive Anti-Slavery Party, the, 50. 
Alabama, formation of the territory of, 

the most cruel of slave States, 3 ; slave 

5^5 



population, 1S20, 22; 1830, 1840,99; 
1S50, 100; education of Negroes pro- 
hibited, 14S ; recedes from the Union, 
232 ; number of Negro troops funii>hcd 
by, 299 ; represented in Congress by 
Negroes. 382 ; comparative statistics of 
education, 388 ; institution for the in- 
struction of Negroes, 392 ; ratifies the 
fifteenth amendment to the Constitution 
of the U. S., 422. 

Albany Atlas and Argus (.The) de- 
nounces the Rev. Justin D. Fulton for 
his views on slavery, 243. 

Alexander, Francis A., his testimony in 
regard to the Fort Pillow massacre, 
372- 

Allegheny City, I'a., Avery College 
founded, 177. 

Allen, Rev. Richard, founder of the 
African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
452 ; mentioned, 45S ; fir.-.t bishop of 
the Church, 459. 

Alton, III., mob destroy printing-press, 
5J- 

Ambush, James Enoch, founds the Wcs- 
leyan Seminary, 194. 

.Vmerican Anti-Slavery Society, org.inizcd, 
43 ; influence of, 79. 80. 

American Colonization Society, organized, 
list of officers, 52 ; commended, 63 ; 
protest against the colonization of 
Negroes in Liberia, 69, 70, 73, 76. 

American Missionary Association estab- 
lish the first school for freedmen, at 
Fortress Monroe, 393. 

" Amistad " captives, natives of Africa, ■ 
sail from Havana on the Spanish slaver 
"Amistad," cruelly treated, take posses- 



586 



INDEX. 



sion of the ship, alter her course for 
Africa, 93 ; captured by a Uiiilecl 
States vessel and carried to New Lon- 
don, Conn., their trial and release, tour 
through the United States, 94 ; return 
to Africa, 96. 
^ Anderson, Rev. Duke William, Colored 
liaptist minister, birth, early life, and 
education, 476-478 ; farmer, teacher, 
preacher, and missionary, 479-492 ; 
his influence in the West, 493-496 ; 
pastor of the 19th Street Baptist Church 
at Washington, occupies various posi- 
tions of trust, '*497 ; builds a new 
church, 498 ; death and funeral, 499, 
500 ; resolutions on his death, 500- 
503. 

Anderson, Ransom, testimony in regard 
to the Fort Pillow massacre, 365. 
V Andrew, Gov. John A., authorizes the 

raising of Negro regiments, 2S9. 
> Andrew, William, representative of Attle- 
borough. Pa., in the fust conference of 
the African M. E. Church, 452. 

Anti-slavery, societies formed, 20 ; senti- 
ment at the North, 22 ; agitation, 1S25- 
1S50, 31-36 ; speeches in the Legisla- 
ture of Virginia, 33-35 ; methods, 37- 
60; antiquity of, sentiment, 38; news- 
papers established, 38, 39, 41 ; Garri- 
son, leader of the, movement, 39 ; Na- 
tional Convention, number of societies 
in the United States, 1S36, 44; Sum- 
ner's speech before the Whig party, 45; 
heterodox party, 48 ; economic party, 
49 I aggressive party, 50 ; colonization 
society, 51 ; American colonization 
society, 52 ; underground railroad or- 
ganization. 58 ; literature, 59, 60 ; 
efforts of free Negroes, 6l-St ; New- 
England, Society, dissolution of Negro 
societies, 79 ; convention of the women 
of America, So ; prejudice against ad- 
mitting Negroes into white societies, 
81 ; friends of, instruct the " Amistad " 
captives, 94 ; the cause benefited by 
their stay in the United States, 96 ; 
violent treatment of, orators, 97 ; op- 
posed, 98 ; John C. Calhoun opposed 
to, 104. 
Appleton, John W. M., superintends the 



enlistment of Negro regiment in Mass., 
289. 
Appomattox, Va. , bravery of Negro troops 
at the battle of, 344. 

^Arkansas, territory organized, 15 ; slave 
population, 1820, 22 ; 1S30, 1S40, gg ; 
1850, 100 ; opposed to the education 
of Negroes, I4g ; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 299 ; comparative 
statistics of education, 388 ; institutions 
for the instruction of Negroes, 392 ; 
ratifies the fifteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the U. S., 422. 
Asbury, Francis, member of the first 
American Methodist Conference, 446 ; 
and bishop of the Church, 468. 

'Ashley, Jaines M., opposes the return of 
fugitive slaves, 246. 
Ashum Institute, founded, list of trustees, 
178. 

''Atlucks Guards, a Colored militia com- 
pany, organized, 145. 

'Auchmuty, Rev. Samuel, teaches Negro 

slaves in New York, 165. 
Auld, Hugh, master of Frederick Doug- 
lass, 431, 432. 

^Austin, James T., signs memorial against 
the increase of slavery, 16. 

"^Avery, Rev. Charles, founder of the 
Aver)^ College, 177. 

Baily, Frederick, see Douglass, Fred- 
erick. 

Ball, Flamen, counsel for the Colored 
people in Cincinnati, 172. 

Baltimore, Md., anti-slavery newspaper 
published, 38 ; cargo of slaves sent to 
New Orleans, to be sold, 40 ; Demo- 
cratic and Whig conventions held at, 
1852, 1853, 106; St. Frances Academy 
founded, 160 ; the Wells school estab- 
lished, 161. ■ 

Bancroft, George, views on tlie Declara- 
tion of Independence, 32. 

Banks, Maj.-Gen. N. P., orders the en- 
listment of Negro troops, 290 ; official 
report on the battle of Port Hudson, 
322 ; commends the Negro troops for 
their bravery, 323. 

Baptist Church, Colored, organized, 135 ; 
the members an intelligent and useful 



INDEX. 



587 



people, 475 ; tlieir leadinj^ ministers, 
476; sketch of Duke William Ander- 
son, 476-503 : Leonard Andrew 
Grimes, 504-515. 

Barclay, David, donates money to the 
Quakers, 174. 

Barclay, Rev. Henry, advocates the edu- 
cation of Negro slaves, 165. 

Bartram, Col. Nelson B. , description of 
Colored rci;imcnt commanded by, 2g2. 

Bassett, Lieut. -Col. Cliauncey J., com- 
mands the isl La, regiment of Colored 
troops at the bailie of Port Hudson, 
320. 

Bassett, E. D., appointed U. S. minister 
to Hayti, 423. 

Beams, Ch.nrlutte, establishes a school for 
Colored children, 213. 

Beaufort, S. C, military savings bank for 
Negroes established, 403. 

Beauregard, Gen. G. T., urges passage of 
the bill for the execution of prisoners, 
270. 

Bell, George, former slave, founds a Col- 
ored school, 1S2. 

Becraft, Maria, sketch of, 195, 196. 

Benezet, Anthony, establishes Colored 
school in I'hiladelphia, 1750, 172; his 
will, donating money for education of 
the Colored jieople, 173 ; death, 174. 

Bennington, Vt., ami-slavery nevvsjiaper 
published, 39. 

Billing, Mary, establishes school for Col- 
ored children, 1S3. 

Birney, Maj.-Gen. David B., bravery of 
Negro troops under his command, re- 
fuses to march his troops in the rear of 
the whites, 344. 

Birney, James G. , meml)er of the hetero- 
dox and aggressive anti-slavery party, 
4S, 50 ; his newspaper destroyed by a 
mob, 51. 

Black Regiment, the, a poem by George 
H. Boker, 324. 

Blake, George, signs memorial against the 
increase of slavery, 16. 

Bleeckcr, John, mentioned, 166. 

Blunt, Maj.-Gen. James G., letter on the 
bravery of Negro troops, 346, 

Boardman, Richard, member of the first 
American Methodist Conference, 466. 



Boker, George H, The Black Regiment, a 
poem by, 324. 

Boiling, I'. .\., speech against slavery in 
the Legislature of Virginia, 34. 

Boon fj-. Juliet, case of, mentioned, 120. 

Booth, Maj. L. I'"., in c<->mmand oi Kurt 
Pillow, his death, 360; Gen. Korrest 
commends his bravery for the defence 
of the fort. 36S. 

Border Stales, number of troops furnish- 
ed by, 300. 

Boston, Mass., meeting in opposition to 
the increase of slavery, helil in, 1S19, 
16 ; William Lloyil G.irrison mobbed, 
97 ; first school for Colorei! children, 
1798, Colored schools. Baptist Church, 
162 ; meeting for the relief of Kansas, 
216; amount of money and arms sup- 
plied, 216, 2lS. 

Boyd, Henry, sketch of, 13S, 140. 

Boyd, Marshall William, see T.aylor, 
Rev. Marshall M. 

Boyle, Brig-Gen. Jeremiah T., orders 
the return of fugitive slaves, 245. 

Bradford, Major W. F., in command at 
Fort Pillow, surrenders, 360. 

Briscoe, Is.abella, establishes school for 
Colored children, 212. 

Brooke, Samuel, meuiber of the hetero- 
dox anti-slavery party, 4S. 

Brown, Daniel, principal t>f Catholic Col- 
ored school, 213. 

Brown, John, member of the aggressive 
anti-slavery parly, 50 ; mentioned, S2 ; 
hero and martyr, his birih, personal 
description of, 214 ; arrives in Kans.as, 
denounces slavery in a political meeting 
at Osawatomic, 215 ; at Boston, 216; 
urges aid for the fugitive slaves, secures 
arms for the defence of Kans.is, 218 ; 
his plan for freeing the slaves, 219 ; ex- 
tract of a letter while in prison in re- 
gard to the attack on Harper's Ferry, 
plan for the rescue of, 220 ; instructions 
of, before the att.ack on Harper's Ferry. 
denies ih"; charges of murder, treason, 
or rebellion, desires only the freedom of 
sl.aves, 222 ; descendant of n revolu- 
tionary officer, 223 ; in Ohio and 
Canada, matures his pl.ins for the at- 
tack, purchases farm near Harper's 



;88 



INDEX. 



Ferry, amount of arms under his con- 
trol, attack on Harper's Ferry, 224 ; 
defeat, capture, and execution, 225 ; 
last letter to Mrs. George Stearns, 226 ; 
his influence upon the slavery question 
at the North, place in history, 227 ; 
held his first convention, list of the 
members, 495. 

Brown, John M., bishop of the African 
M. E. Church, 464. 

Brown, Robert, establishes school for. 
Colored children, 207. 

Bruce, Blanche K., his birth, enslave- 
ment, secures his freedom, education, 
444 ; removes to Miss., appointed ser- 
geant-at-arms of the State Senate, 
sheriff of Bolivar Co., chosen U. S. 
Senator, 445 ; candidate for Vice-Presi- 
dency, appointed Register of the U. S. 
Treasury, 446. 

Bryan, Joseph, petitions Congress for a 
line of mail steam-ships to the Western 
Coast of Africa, 53. 

Buchanan, George, oration on the moral 
and ])olitical eviluf slavery, 179I, men- 
tioned, 33. 

Buchanan, James, in sympathy with the 
•South, refuses military support to Gov. 
Geary, 1 10. 

Bucll, Brig.-Gen. D. C, letter to J. R. 
Underwood on the return of fugitive 
slaves to their masters, 24S. 

Bulkley, I., counsel for the prosecution in 
the trial of Prudence Crandall, 156. 

Bureau of refugees, freedmen, and aban- 
doned lands, established, 3gS ; report, 

399- 

Burling, Thomas, mentioned, 166. 

Burns, Francis, bishop of the M. E. 
Church, 469. 

Burnside, Maj.-Gen., Ambrose E., orders 
the arrest of two free Negroes, 244 ; 
jnoclamation protecting slave property, 
24S ; services of Negro troops at the 
siege of Petersburg, commanded by, 

341. 342. 
Butler, Maj.-Gen., Benjamin F., letter 
to Gen. Scott, declaring slaves contra- 
band of war, 250 ; orders the employ- 
ment of Negroes for fatigue duty, calls 
for the enlistment of free Negroes, 287 ; 



outlawed by Jefferson Davis, 354, 35^ ; 
establishes military savings-bank for 
Negroes, 403. 

Cain, R. H., bishop of the African M. 
E. Church, 464. 

Calhoun, John C, his followers favor a 
demolition of the Union, 98 ; speech in 
the United States Senate in favor of 
slavery, 103-105 ; in favor of State 
rights, 230. 

California, resolution in regard to the ad- 
mission into the Union, 100, loi. 

Callioux, Capt. Andre, bravery at the 
battle of Port Hudson, 31S, 321 ; his 
death, 3IQ, 321. 

Cameron, Simon, letter to Gen. Butler 
approving his action of declaring slaves 
contraband of war, 251 ; order in regaid 
to enlistment of troops, 278. 

Campbell, H. G., commanding naval 
officer at Charleston, S. C, circular 
letter to, in regard to the importation 
of slaves, 10. 

Campbell, Jabez P., delivers address on 
the ratification of the fifteenth amend- 
ment, 422 ; bishop of the African M. 
E. Church, 459, 464. 

Canada, Negroes settle in, 66, 70, 71 ; 
Negro colonization of, opposed, 72. 

Cannon, Gov. William, requests the en- 
listment of Negroes in Delaware, 291. 

Canterbury, Conn., protest of the citizens 
against admitting Colored pupils to 
school, 150, 151 ; school abolished by 
act of the Legislature, 152, 153 ; school- 
house mobbed, 1 56. 

Carey, Mary Ann Sliadd, lecturer, writer, 
and school-teacher, 419. 

Carney, William H., sergeant in the 54th 
Mass. Regiment Colored Troops, his 
bravery at the assault on Fort Wagner, 
plants the colors of the regiment on the 
fort, 329-331- 

CarroIIton, Ta,, fugitive slaves offer their 
services to the army, 2S5. 

Casey, Maj.-Gen. Silas, letter endorsing 
the free military school for Negroes, 296. 

Cass, Lewis, speech in reply to Calhoun, 
in the United States Senate, on slaveiy, 
105. 



INDEX. 



5S9 



Chalmers, Brig.-Gen. James R., liis con- 
nection with the Fort Pillow massacre, 
375- 

Champion, James, rejiresentativcof Phila. 
in the first conference of the African 
M. E. Church, 452. 

Chapin's Farm, Va., Negro troops engage 
in the battle of, 335. 

Chapman, Maria Weston, her opinion of 
the American Anti-Slavery Society, 79. 

Charleston, S. C, the Negro plot of 1822, 
83. 

"Charleston Mercury " (The) on the ex- 
change of captured Negro sokliers, 35S. 

Charlton, Rev. Richard, teaches Negro 
slaves in New Voik, 165. 

Chase, Salmon P., speech against the re- 
peal of the Missouri compromise, 109. 

Chauncey, Isaac, letter to Captain Perry 
defending the enlistment of Negroes in 
the U. S. Navy, 29. 

Child, Advcntur, free Negro, petitions for 
relief from taxation in Mass., 17S0, 
126. 

"Choctaw," gun-boat, at the battle of 
Milliken's I'.end, 326. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, mob destroys news- 
paper, 51 ; report on the condition of 
the Colored people, 1S35, 136-133 ; 
prominent Colored men of, 13S-143 ; 
home for Colored orphans established, 

144 ; the Attucks Guards organized, 

145 ; Colored schools established, 170- 
172. 

Cinqviez, Joseph, son of an .\frican 
prince, one of the " Amistad" captives, 
leads in the capture of the ship, 93 ; 
tour through the United States, de- 
scribes his capture, 94 ; returns to Af- 
rica, 96. 

'(^larkson, Mathew, mentioned, 166. 

Clay, Cascius M., member of the ag- 
gressive anti-slavery party, 50 ; men- 
tioned, 51. 

Clay, Ilenry, mentioned, 20 ; favors col- 
oniz.atian of free Negroes at Liberia, 
52 ; resolutions in Congress for the ad- 
justment of the slavery question, loi. 

Cleaveland, C. F., counsel for the prose- 
cution in the trial of Prudence Cran- 
dall, 156. 



Coggeshall, Pero, free Negro, petitions 
for relief from taxation in Mass., 1730, 
126. 
Cogswell, James, mentioned, iWi. 
Coke, Rev. Thomas, ordained bishop of 
the Methodist societies in America, 4O5. 
Coker, Daniel, representative of Haiti- 
more in the first conference of the Afri- 
can M. E. Church, 452. 
Colgan, Rev. Thomas, teaches Negro 

slaves in New \<)rk, 165. 
Colonization .Anti-.SIavery Society, ob- 
jects of the, 51. 
Colorado, number of Negro' troops fur- 
nished by, 300. 
Columbian Institute, Washington, 1). C, 

1S6. 
Columbus, Ky., fort at, garrisoned by 

Negro troops, 345. 
Confederate Stales, organized, 232 ; list of 
delegates to the convention, 232, 233 ; 
Jefferson Davis chosen President, .Mex- 
ander II. Stephens, Vice-President, 
Constitution adopted, 233 ; impress 
Negroes to build fortifications, 261 ; 
effect of President Lincoln's emancipa- 
tion proclamation, 271 ; Negroes in the 
service of the, 277 ; resolutions of their 
Congress against the military . em- 
ployment of Negroes by the U. S., 
350. 351 ; white ollicers commanding 
Negro troops against the, and Negroes 
captuied in arms against the, to be ex- 
ecuted, tlie first to employ Negro sol- 
diers, 352 ; refuse to exchange Negro 
prisoners, 355-357 ; proclamation of 
Jefferson Davis outlawing Cen. Butler, 
35S ; reconstruction of the, 377-383; 
provisional military government estab- 
lished, 379. 
Connecticut, slave popidation. i.Soo, 2; 
1810, 9 ; 1S20, 22 ; prejudice against 
Colored schools, 149; school abolished 
by act of Legislature, 152, 153 ; school- 
house mobbed, 157 ; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 299 ; ratifies the 
fifteenth amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the U. S., 422. 
Convention of the people of color, 1S31, 
report on the condition of free Negroes 
in the United Stales, 62 ; on the cstab- 



590 



INDEX. 



lishment of a college, 63 ; provisional 
committee appointed in e;ich city, 64 ; 
conventional address, 65-6S ; second 
contention, 1S32, 6S ; resolutions on 
colonization, 70 ; conventional address, 
75-7S. 

Cook, D. R., organizes company of Ne- 
gro troops, 277. 

Cook, Eliza Anne, establishes school for 
Colored children, 211. 

Cook, Major John B., Negro troops com- 
manded by, capture redoubt at Peters- 
burg, Va., 33r). 

Cook, Rev. John F., sketch of, 1S7-HJI ; 
mentioned, 206, 2H, 212. 

Coppin, Mrs. Fanny M. See Jackson, 
Fanny M. 

Cornish, Alexander, establishes school for 
Colored children, 2og. 

Costin, Louisa I*arke, establishes school 
for Colored cliildrcn. 192, 193. 

Costin, William, his death, I92 ; sketch 
of, 193. 

Coxo, R. S., emancipates slave, 210. 

Crandall, I'rudence, establishes a school 
in Conn., admits Colored pupil, 149 ; 
protest of the citizens, 1 50, 151 ; re- 
ceives additional Colored pupils, 152 ; 
school abolished by act of the Legisla- 
ture, 152, 153 ; her arrest and trial, 
153—156 ; school-house mobbed, 156. 

Cuff, Peter, representative of Salem, N. 
|., in the first conference of the African 
M. E. Church, 452. 

Cuffc, lohn and Paul, free Negroes, peti- 
tion for relief from taxation in Mass., 
17S0, 126, 127. 

Cumberland, Department of the, Negro 
troops recruited for, 294. 

Cumings, Mrs, Elizabeth, school of, men- 
tioned, 471. 

Dandkidge, Ann, family of, 193. 

Darnes, Mary A., address to the Attucks 
Guards of Cincinnati, 145. 

Davis, Jefferson, speech in the U. .S. 
Senate, on the right to hold slaves, 
102 ; chosen president of the Confeder- 
ate States, 233 ; his message to the 
Confederate Government, 234 ; views 
on President Lincoln's emancipation 



proclamation, 271, 350 ; proclamation 
outlawing Gen. Butler, 359 ; pl.mtation 
of, owned by Negroes, 414 ; succeeded 
in the U. S. Senate by a Negro, 423. 

Davis, John, Negro sailor, his bravery 
and death, 30. 

Deep Bottom, Va. , Negro troops engage 
in the battle of, 335. 

De Grasse, John T., first Colored mem- 
ber of the Mass. Medical Society, 133, 
sketch of, 134. 

Delaware, slave population, iSoo, 2, 
iSio, 9; in favor of restriction of 
slavery, 16 ; slave population, 1S20, 
22 ; Quakers emancipate their slaves, 
35 ; slave population, 1S30, 1S40, 99, 
1850, 100 ; tax on slaves, added to the 
school fund for the education of white 
children, 157 ; order for the enlistment 
of Negroes, 2gt ; number of Negro 
troops furnislied by, 299 ; comparative 
statistics of education, 3S8 ; institutions 
for the instruction of Negroes, 392. 

Deloach, C, organizes company of 
Negro troops, 277. 

Democratic Party, convention of, 1S53, 
nominates Franklin Pierce for the 
Presidency, defines its position on the 
slavery question, 106. 

De Mortie, Louis, her birth, education, 
public reader, secures funds for the 
erection of an asylum for Colored 
orphans, her ileath, 449. 

De Peyster, >Iaj.-Gen. J. Watts, advo. 
cates the employment of Negroes as 
soldiers, 276. 

Dickerson, William F., bishop of the 
African M. E. Church, 464. 

District of Columbia, slave population, 
1800, 2, 1810, 9, 1S20, 22 ; petition 
of Garrison for the abolition of slavery 
in, 39 ; slave population, 1830, 1S40, 
99, 1050, 100; schools for the educa- 
tion of the Negro population, 1S2-213 ; 
Lincoln in favor of the abolishing of 
slavery in the, 237 ; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 299 ; Negro school 
population, 1S71, 1876,387; compara- 
tive statistics of education, 38S ; insti- 
tutions for the instruction of Negroes, 
392, 393- 



INDEX. 



59' 



Dix, Maj.-Gen. Jolin A., pvoclamaliun 
prolectinp slave property, 24(1. 

Dixon, Archil)alcl, introduces bill in 
Congress for the repeal of the Missouri 
compromise, luS. 

Dodge, IK-nry, introduces l)iU in Con- 
gress 10 organize the territory of N'c- 
biaska, 107. 

Douglass, Frederick, his book " My 
Bondage and My Freedom," 5y ; men- 
tioned, 79, Si ; delivers address on the 
ratification of the fifteenth amendment, 
422 ; birth, enslavement, 424 ; escapes 
to the North, marries, life as a freeman, 

425 ; becomes an anti-slavery orator, 

426 : publishes the experiences of a 
" fugitive slave," leaves for Great Brit- 
ain, 427 ; letter to William Lloyd 
Garrison, 428 ; his freedom purchased, 
co]"»y of freetlom papers, 431 ; his 
former name when a slave, how he re- 
ceived his present one, 431, 432 ; re- 
turns to America, 432 ; reasons for 
leaving the Garrisonian party, estab- 
lishes the news])aper " North Star," 
433 ; his eloquence, 434, 437 ; in- 
fluence and career, 437, 43S ; death of 
his wife, 437 ; mentioned, 471. 

Dou;^lass, Margaret, arrested for instruct- 
ing Negroes, iSl. 

Douglass, Stephen A. , speech in f.avcr of 
the repeal of the Missouri com]iromise, 
loS ; questions to Lincoln, on slavery, 
237, 23?. 

Douty, Lieut. Jacob, tires the mine at the 
siege of Tetersburg, Va., 341. 

Dow, Jesse E., urges the establishment 
of a free Colored public school in the 
D. C, 20C). 

Dunlap, George W., resolution in Con- 
gress, opposing the enli-^tment of Ne- 
groes, 2S2, 

Durham, Rev. Clayton, representative of 
Phila., in the first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 

Dutch Gap, Va.. excavated by Negroes, 
262. 

Dwight, Brig. -Gen. William, orders the 
Negro troops to capture a battery at the 
battle of I'oit Hudson, 31S. 



Eari.v, Peter, introduces bill in Con. 
gress for the forfeiture of slaves illegally 
imported, S. 

Economic Anti-.SInvery I'arty. 41J. 

Edwards, G. G., describes the br.ivery of 
Negro troop'i, 327. 

F^dwards, Samuel, his connection with 
the Negro insurrection in .Southampton 
County. Va., .S7. 

Elsworth, W. W., counsel for I'rudencc 
Crandall, 156. 

Embree, Lawrence, mentioned, iC)6. 

Embury, I'hillip, one of the founders of 
^L E. Church in New \'.»ik. 465. 

Emerson, Dr., iiwner «»f the Negro slave 
Dre<l Scott, 1 14. 

Emerson, R. W.. his opinion of John 
Brown, 217. 

Emancipation proclamations, 255, 257, 
263-275 ; the results of. 3S4-41S. 

Fair Oaks, Va., Negro troops engage in 
the battle of, 335 

Fancuil Mail, Boston, meeting f«->r the re- 
lief of Kansas, 216. 

Farmville, Va., Negro troops engaged in 
the battle of, 33;. 

Faulkner, C. J., speech against slaverj' in 
the Legislature of \'irginia, 35. 

Ferrer, Capt. Ramon, ci^mmander of the 
Spanish slaver " Amistad," 93. 

Ferrero, Brig.-(.ien. Edward, Negro 
troops under the ct^nnnaiul of, defeat 
the Hampton Legion, 349, 

Finnegas, Lieut. -Col. Henry, commands 
the 31I La. Regiment of Coloreil Troops 
at the battle of I'orl Hudson, 320. 

Fish, Hamilton, certifies the ratification 
of the fifteenth amemlment to the Con- 
stitution of the U. S., 421. 

Fleet, John IL, establishes a .school for 
Colored children, 207. 20S. 

Florida, slave population. 1S30, I,'>40. 99, 
1S50, 100; proceeds tif the .sale of .slaves 
added to the school-fund. 15S ; seccdc> 
from the Union, 232; Gen. Hunter's 
proclamation emancipating -laves, 257 ; 
rescinded, 25S : number of Negni 
troops funiishc<l by, 299 ; represented 
in Congress by Negroes, 352 ; compar- 
ative statistics of education, 3SS ; in- 
stitutions for the instruction of Negroes. 



592 



INDEX. 



392 ; ratifies tlic fifteenth amendment 
to the Constitution of the U. S., 422. 

FoUen, Rev. Mr., speecli in su]iport of 
resolution on aiiti-sl.tvery, 80. 

Ford, Mrs. George, establishes a school 
for Colored children. 207. 

Forrest, Maj.-Gen., N. B., attacks Fo:-t 
Pillow, demands its surrender, orders 
the massacre of Negro soldiers, 360, 
361 ; testimony against his inhuman 
treatment of Negroes, 361-375 ; com- 
mends the bravery of the U. S. sol- 
diers, 36S ; his conduct endorsed, 375. 

Fort Gib;on, ,\rk., bravery of the Ne- 
gro troops at tlic battle of, 313. 

Fort Mackinac, Mich., Negro sailors at, 2S. 

Fort Pillow, Tenn., defended by Union 
troops, refuse to capitulate, 360 ; mas- 
sacre of the Negro soldiers, 360, 361 ; 
testimony in regard to the massacre, 
361-375 ; Gen. Forrest commends the 
bravery of the U. S. soldiers, 36S. 

Fort Wagner, S. C, assault on. Negro 
regiment leads the charge, 30S, 313, 
323, 32g. 

Forte, Sarah, verses on the Negro, 81. 

Forten, James, his subscription to the 
" Liberator," 43. 

Fortress Monroe, Va., first school for 
freedmen established at, 393, 

Fortune, Charlotte L., her eilucation, 
literary abilities, 450. 

Foster, Gov. Charles, appoints Negro to 
office, 447 ; one of the leaders of the 
Republican Party in the contest over the 
electoral count of 1S76, 521; his speech 
on " a solid North against a solid 
South," 525, 526. 

Foster, Col. John .-\. , letter on the 
bravery of the Negro troops, 348. 

Franklin, Jesse, his report against the 
modification of the ordinance of 1787, 
in Indian Territory, 7. 

Franklin, Nicholas, former slave, estab- 
lishes a Colored school. 1S2. 

Free Mission Institute, 111., destroyed by 
a mob, 159. 

Free Soil Party, organized, 46. 

Freedman's Savings Pank and Trust Com- 
pany, incorporated, list of the trustees. 
403, 404 ; act incorporating, amended. 



407 ; organized. 40S ; reports, 408-410 ; 
total amount deposited, failure, com- 
missioners appointed to settle the affairs 
of the. 411, 412; dividends, 413. 

Freedmen's Bureau, established. 379 ; 
number of schools in charge of the, 
385. 394; amount exjiended. 3S6. 394, 
395 ; report, 401, 402, 403. 

Friends, see Quakers. 

Fry, Brig. -Gen., orders the return of 
fugitive slaves, 246. 

Fugitive-Slave Law, of 1793, condemned, 
2; amended, 10; of 1S50, 106; recog- 
nized in Ohio, 112 ; passed in Kansas, 
215 ; Lincoln opposed to the repeal of 
the, 237. 

Fulton, Rev. Justin D., preaches the 
funeral sermon of Col. Elsworth, views 
on slavery, 242, 243. 

Gaiikiel. Gener.-\l, leader of the Negro 
plot in Virginia, 1800. S3. 

Gaillard. Nicholas, representative of Bal- 
timore, in the first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 

Gaines, John I., urges the claims of the 
Colored people to school-fund in Cin- 
cinnati, 171. 

Galveston, I'exas, captured Negro soldiers 
sold into slavery, 353. 

Garnet, Henry Highland, mentioned, 79, 

134- 

Garnett, James M., reports in favor of the 
modification of tlie ordinance of 17S7, 
in Indiana Territory, 5. 

Garrison, William Lloyd, leader of the 
anti-slavery movement, edits news- 
papers, petitions Congress for the 
abolition of slavery in the District of 
Columbia, 39 ; favors immediate eman- 
cipation, imprisoned for libel, 40 ; re- 
le.iscd, establishes the " Liberator," 41 : 
extract from his article on the abolition 
of slavery, 41, 42 ; organizes the Arneri- 
can Anti-Slavery Society, 43 ; men- 
tioned, 63 ; opposed to the colonization 
of Negroes in Liberia, 70, 75 ; mobbed 
at Boston, 97 ; address at the Framing- 
ham celebration, 98 ; mentioned,- 425, 
426 ; Frederick Douglass's letter to, 42S; 
his views on slavery, 433. 



INDEX. 



593 



Garrisonian Parly, mentioned, 44 ; in 
favor of tlie (.lissolulion of the Union, 

98. 

Getlney, Lieut., Thomas R., captures the 
Spanish slaver " Amistad," 94. 

Georgetown, D. C, Colored schools. 206, 
207. 

Georgia, slave population. iSoo, 2 ; cedes 
territory for the formation of .'\labama 
and Mississippi, 3; slave population, 
iSlo, 9, 1S20, 22, 1S30, 1S40, 99, 
1850, 100 ; education of Negroes pro- 
hibited, 15S, advocated, 159 ; secedes 
from the Union, 232; Gen. Hunter's 
proclamation emancipating slaves, 257, 
rescinded, 25S ; expedition of Negro 
regiment into, 314 ; represented in 
Congress by Negroes, 3S2 ; number of 
slaves, 1S60, Negro school population. 
1876, 3S7 ; comparative statistics of 
education, 38S ; institutions for the 
instruction of Negroes, 392 ; elects 
Negro representative to Congress, 423. 

Gilmore, Rev. Iliram S., founder of ihe 
Cincinnati High School, 171. 

Goddard, Calvin, counsel for Prudence 
Crandall, 156. 

Gooch, D. W., one of the committee of 
investigation of the Fort Pillow mas- 
sacre, 36:. 

Gordon, Charlotte, establishes a school 
for Colored children, 213. 

"Governor Tompkins," armed schooner, 
bravery of Negro sailors on board of 
the, 30. 

Grant, Gen. Ulysses S., orders the attack 
on Petersburg, 336, 337 ; carries the 
Southern States in the presidential elec- 
tions of 1S6S and 1S72, 382; special 
message to Congress on ratification of 
the fifteenth amendment, 420 ; appoints 
Negroes in the diplomatic service, 423 ; 
not responsible for the decline and loss 
of the rejiublican Stale governments at 
the South, 51S. 

Grant, Nancy, establishes a school for 
Colored children, 206. 

Gray, Samuel, free Negro, petititions for 
relief from taxation, in Mass., 17S0, 125. 

Greeley, Horace, leader of the economic 
anti-slavery party, 49 ; letter to Presi- 



dent Lincoln on slaver)', 253 ; I-incoht's 
reply, 25.^ ; newspaper etiilorials on Ne- 
gro troops, 303-307 ; opposed to the 
resolutions of the Confcilerate Congress 
in regard to Negro troops, 356. 

Green, John P, his struggles to ol>tain an 
education, successful orator, lawyer, and 
statesman, 447, 44S. 

Greener, Richard Theodore, his early life, 
43S ; education, first Colored graduate 
of Harvard Univei^ity, 439 ; principal 
of the Institute for Colore<l Youth, and 
Sumner High School, accepts the Chair 
of Metaphysics and Logic in the Uni- 
versity of S. C, Dean of the Law De- 
parlment of Howard University, gradu- 
ates from the Law .School of the Univer- 
sity of .S. C, literary career, 440 ; the 
intellectual position of the Negro, a 
reply to James Parton's article on the 
antipathy lo the Negro, 441 ; .speech at 
the dinner of the Harvard Club, 442. 

Greenlaw, William B., organizes company 
of Negro troops, 277. 

Grimes, Rev. Leonard Andrew, Colored 
B.aptist minister, sketch of his life, 505- 
512; death, 513; resolutions on his 
death, 5 ' 3-515- 

Grow, G. A., Stanton's letters to, 279. 

Guinea, memorial against the slave-trade 
on the coast of, 2. 

Gurley, Rev. R. R., favors the coloniza- 
tion of frOc Negroes at Liberia, 52, 70, 



Hali,, .\nni; Maria, establishes school 
for Colored children, 1S3. 

Hall, Primus, first school for Colored 
children, held in the house of, 1798, 
162. 

Hallock, M.aj.-Gcn., Henry \V., forbids 
fugitive slaves entering the army, 247, 
248. 

Hamilton, Paul, circular letter to H. G. 
Campbell, in regard to the in>[)ortalion 
of slaves, 10. 

Hammond, Eliza Ann, arrested for at- 
tending school in Conn., 152. 

Hampton, Va., st?hool for the education 
of Negroes, 394 ; normal and agricultu- 
ral institute, 395. 



594 



J.\'B£X. 



Hampton, Fanny, establishes school for 
Colored children, 207. 

Hampton Legion, defeated by Negro 
troops, 349: 

Harden, Henry, representative of Balti- 
more in the first conference of the Af- 
rican M. E. Church, 452. 

Harper, Frances Ellen, essayist and lect- 
urer, 419. 

Harper's Ferry, Va., operations of John 
Brown at, 222, 224. 

Harris, Sarah, protests of the citizens of 
Canterbury, Conn., against her attend- 
ing school, 150. 

Hartford, Conn., establishes a separate 
school for Colored children, 149. 

Harvard University, first Colored gradu- 
ate, 439. 

Hatcher's Run, \^a., Negro troops en- 
gaged in the battle of, 335. 

Havana, Cuba, Spanish slaver "Ami- 
stad " sails from, with slaves, 93. 

Hayard, Elisha, mentioned, 1S7 ; school- 
house destroyed by a mob, 1S9, 

Hayes, Akxander, establishes school for 
Colored children, 2og ; emancipated, 
his marriage, 210. 

Hayes, Ruiherfoid V,., failure of his 
Southern policy, 522-524. 

Hayli, opposition to the colonization of, 
by free Negroes, 70 ; E. D. Bassett ap- 
]3ointed Minister to, 423. 

Heck, Barbara, foundress of American 
Methodism, 465. 

Helena, Ark., bravery of Negro troops at 
battle of, 313. 

Helper, Hinton K., influence of his book 
the " Impending Crisis," 5o. 

Henderson, Rev. Henry, school of, men- 
tioned, 471. 

Henry, Patrick, opposed to slavery, 33. 

Heterodox Anti-Slavery Party, the plat- 
form of the, 48. 

Higginson, Col. Thomas Wentworth, 
description of regiment of Colored 
Troops commanded by, 304 ; expedi. 
tion into Ceorgia, 314. 

Hildreth, Joseph, teaclies Negro slaves 
in New York, 165. 

Hill, Margaret, establishes school for 
Colored children, 2og. 



Hill, Stephen, representative of Balti- 
more in llie first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 

Hinks, Brig.-Gen. Edward W., com- 
mands brigade of Negro troops at the 
battle of Petersburg, Va., 336, 339, 346. 

Holt, Joseph, letter to the Secretary of 
War on the enlistment of slaves, 307. 

Honey Springs, Ark, bravery of Negro 
troops at the battle of, 346. 

Hooker, Maj.-C^en. Joseph, order in re- 
gard to harboring fugitive slaves in the 
army, 249. 

Hosier, Rev. Harry, first Negro preacher 
in the M. E. Church in Atnerica, 466; 
his eloquence as a i)ulpit orator, 4G6, 
467. 

Houston, Gen. Samuel, proposition to 
Congress on the admission of California 
and New Mexico, 100, loi ; maintains 
Congress has no authority to prohibit or 
interfere w ith slavery, loi. 

Howard, Maj.-Gen. 0.0. .appointed Com- 
missioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, 
his report on schools established by the 
bureau, 385 ; in charge of Bureau of 
Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned 
Lands, 398 ; report, 399, 400. 

Howland, Pero, free Negro, petitions for 
relief from taxation in Mass. ,1780, 126. 

Huddlestone, William, teaches Negro 
slaves in New York, 165. 

Humphreys, Richrad, founder of the In- 
stitute for Colored Youth, 176. 

Hunter, Maj.-Gcn. David, proclamation 
emancipating slaves, 257 ; rescinded by 
President Lincoln, 258 ; organizes Ne- 
gro regiment, 27S ; official correspond- 
ence with the Secretary of War, re- 
specting the enlistinent of Negroes, 
279, 2S0 ; asks to be relieved of his 
command, 2S4 : outlawed l)y Jefferson 
Davis, 354. 

Hunter, Rev. William H., establishes 
school for Colored people, 212. 

Illinois, slave population in the territory 
of, iSio, 9, 1S20, 22, 1S30, 1S40, 
99 ; first constitution, Negroes, Mulat- 
toes, and Indians exempted from mili- 
tia service, free Negroes required to 



INDEX. 



595 



produce certificate of freedom, persons 
brini;;intj slaves into, for the purpose of 
emancipating, to give bonds, 122 ; 
criminal coile enacted, Negroes, Mii- 
lattoes, and Indians declared incom- 
petent to be witnesses, Ac> to prevent 
the immigration of free Negroes into, 
123 ; separate schools for Colored chil- 
dren established, the Free Mission In- 
stitute destroyed by mob, 159; number 
of Negro troops furnished by, 2t;9 ; 
ratifies the fifteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the U. S., 422; Negro 
elected to the Legislature, 447, 

Indiana, slave population in the territory 
of, iSoo, 2 ; William Henry Harrison, 
a|ipointed governor, 3 ; memorial to 
Congress for the modification of the 
ordinance of 17S7, 4-S ; slave popula- 
tion, iSlo, ij, 1S20. 22 ; law in regard 
to executions against the time of service 
of slaves, lig, 121 ; Act for the intro- 
duction of Negroes, 120 ; first consti- 
tution, Negroes excluded from giving 
testimony, Act regulating free Negroes, 
121 ; Negroes denied the right of suf- 
frage, 159; number of Negro troops 
furnislied by, 2(j9 ; ratifies the fifteenth 
amendment to the Constitution of the 
U. S., 422. 

Indians, list of, ordereil to leave Mass., 
130. 

Institute for Colored Youth, established, 
176. 

Iowa, number of Negro troops furnished 
by, 299 ; ratifies the fifteenth amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the U. S., 
422. 

" Isaac Smith." gun-boat, free Negroes 
captured from, 354. 

Jackson, Alfred, fugitive slave, claimed 
by his master, 245 ; leaves for Michi- 
gan, 246. 

Jackson, Andrew, proclamation of, calling 
for Negro troops, War of 1S12, 25 ; 
orders the suppression of the Snow riot 
at Washington, D. C, l8g. 

Jackson, iMlward. representative of Atlle- 
borougli, Pa., in the first conference of 
the African .M. E. Church, 452. 



J.ackson, Fanny M., her birth, education, 
44S ; school-teacher, 449. 

Jackson, Kev. Henry, Negroes excluded 
from the church of, 430. 

Jarrol vs. Jarrot, case of, mentioned, 120. 

Jay, John, i)residcnt of the N. V. Society 
for I'lomoting the Manumission of 
Slaves, 167. 

JefTerson, 'I'hom.as, rccommenils the abol- 
ishing of the slave-trade, 8 ; predicts 
the abolition of slavery, 33 ; condemns 
slavery, 3;. 

Jerusalem Courl-Ilousc, Va., Negro in- 
surrection at, 1831, 88. 

Johnson, John, Negro sailor, his bravery 
and death, 30. 

Jordan, Thomas, letter to Col. II. K. 
Rhett, Jr., relative to the refusal of the 
Confe<leratc army 10 exchange captured 
Negro .soldiers, 358. 

Jordan vs. Smith, case of, mentioned, 113; 

" Journal of the Times" (The), anti-shivery 
newspaper, advocatesiheclaims of John 
Quincy Adams, 39. 

Judah, IJrig.-Gen., II. M., orders the re- 
turn of fugitive slaves, 245. 

Judge, Philadelphia, former slave to 
Martha Washington, 193. 

Judson, Andrew T., decision in the case 
of the " Amistad " captives, 94 ; advo- 
cates resolutions against school for Col- 
ored children in Conn., 150; .secures 
enactment of a law abolishing the same, 
152 ; counsel for the prosecution in the 
trial of Trudence Crandall, 156. 

Kansas, fugitive-slave bill pa.ssed, speech 
of John Hrown against slavery, 215 ; 
infested by border ruflians, aid for the 
relief of, 216; arms purcha.sed for the 
defence of, 21S ; plan of John Jirown 
for the freedom of slaves in, 219 : num- 
ber of .Negro troops furnished by, 299 ; 
ratifies the fifteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the U. S., 422 ; frecil- 
men's relief association, organized, 536. 

Kentucky, slave populalioi\. iSoo, 2, :Slo, 
9 : opposed to the restriction of slavery, 
16; slave population, 1S20, 22, 1830, 
1040, 99. 1850, too ; slave laws rclartl 
the education of the Negroes, 159. • 



596 



INDEX. 



number of Negro troops furnished by, 
299 ; comparative statistics of educa- 
tion, 3SS ; institutions for the instruc- 
tion of Negroes, 392. 

King, John, member of llie first American 
Methodist Conference, 466. 

Ku Klux, a secret organization, objects of, 
3S2. 

Lafayette, Marquis de, address to the 
scholars of the N. V. African free 
school, 16S. 

Langston, John Mercer, born a slave, 
education, services. Resident Minister 
and Consul-General to Ilayti, 446. 

Lake Erie, N. Y., Negro sailor repre- 
sented in the picture of Perry's victory 
on, 28 ; bravery of the Negro sailors at 
the battle of, 30. 

Lancaster County, I'a., freepuljlic Colored 
school, 206. 

Lawrence, John, mentioned, 166. 

Lavfrence, Kansas, sacked and burned by 
a mob, 215. 

Lawrence, Nathaniel, mentioned, 166. 

Leanian, Jacob, mentioned, 166. 

Leaman, Willett, mentioned, 166. 

Ledlie, Brig. -Gen., James IL, attempts 
to fire the mine at the siege of Peters- 
burg, Va. , 341. 

Lee, General Fitz-Hugh, defeated by 
Negro troops at the battle of Wilson's 
Wharf, 335. 

Lee, William Thomas, his school for Col- 
ored children burned, 205 ; threatened 
by mob, 206. 

Laming, Lieut., Mc J., his testimony in 
regard to the Fort Pillow massacre, 367. 

Lenox, Walter, opposed to the education 
of Colored people, 201. 

Leonard, Rev. Chauncey, his school for 
Colored children destroyed by mob, 192. 

Lewis, Edmonia, Negro sculptress, sketch 
of, 450. 

" Lexington," gun-boat, at the battle of 
Milliken's Bend, 326. 

" Liberator" (The), anti-slavery news- 
paper, established, 41. 

Liberia, proposed colony of free Negroes 
at, 51, 54, 56; protest against the col- 
onization, 70. 



Lincoln, Abraham, in favor of the 
Union of the States, 230 ; speech 
against slavery, 232 ; his answers to 
Stephen A. Douglass' questions on 
slavery, 237-239 ; in favor of gradual 
emancipation, elected President of the 
United States, 239 ; his inaugural ad- 
dress regarding slavery, 240 ; letter in 
reply to Horace Greeley, on slavery, 
254 ; to Gen. Fremont, disproving his 
proclamation emancipating slaves in 
Missouri, 256 ; rescinds proclamation of 
Gen. Hunter, 25S ; conservative policy 
of, 259; his reasons for not issuing 
emancipation proclamation, 264-266 ; 
issues emancipation proclamation, 267- 
269 ; .second proclamation, 272 ; op- 
posed to the enlistment of Negroes, 278 ; 
authorizes the enlistment of Negro 
troops, 285 ; second call for troops, 287; 
his order in regard to prisoners of war, 

355- 

Lincoln University, see Ashum Insti- 
tute. 

Littlefield, Col. ^L S., letter describing 
the bravery of Sergeant William H. 
Carney at the assault on Fort Wagner, 

33'- 

Liveriiool, Moses, former slave, erects 
Colored school, 182. 

Livingston, Edward, address to the Negro 
troops before the battle of New Or- 
leans, 26. 

Loguen, Bishop, his book, " As a Slave 
and as a Freeman." mentioned, 59. 

Longworth, Nicholas, builds the first 
school-house for Colored people in Cin- 
cinnati, 172. 

Louisiana, slave population in, and terri- 
tory of, 1810, 9. 1820, 22 ; bravery of 
the Negro troops of, at the battle of 
New Orleans. 27 ; slave population, 
1830, 1840, 99. 1850, 100 ; education 
of Negroes prohibited, 160 ; secedes 
from the Union, 232 ; fugitive slaves 
offer their services in the army, 285 ; 
number of Negro troops furnished by, 
299 ; bravery of the 1st regiment, Ne- 
groes, at the battle of Port Hudson, 
317-324, 345 ; the 9th and nth regi- 
ments, Negroes, at the bailie of Milli- 



INDEX. 



597 



ken's Bend, 32f). 327 ; rcjircsentcd in 
Congress ■ by Negroes, 382 ; Nei;ro 
population in excess of the white, 3S6 ; 
comparative statistics of edncation, 3SS; 
institutions for the instruction of Ne- 
groes, 3tj2, 393 ; ratifies the fifteenth 
amendment to the Constitution 01 t!:e 
U. S., 422. 
Lovejoy, E. I'., member of the aggressive 
anti-slavery party, 50 ; killed Ijy a mob, 

51- 
Lundy. Benjamin, earliest ailvocateof the 
abolition of slavery in the United States, 
establisli-es anti-slavery newspaper. 
i32i. 33 ; liis sacrifices and work in lire 
cause of emancipation, 38, 39 ; visits 
William Lloyd Garrison, favors gradual 
emancipation, 40 ; colonii,ation of man- 
umitted slaves, 51 ; mentioned, 63, 73. 

McCl.Rl.I.AN, MaJ.-GeN, GliORGE B., 

views on slavery, 249 ; Secretary 
Seward's letter to, in regard to fugitive 
slaves, 263. 

McCoy, Benjamin M., one of the found- 
ers of Colored Sunday-school at Wash- 
ington, 1). C, 1S7 ; takes charge of 
public Coloreil school in Pa., 189 ; 
scliool for Colored children, 2u6. 

McCrady, John, chief engineer of Georgia, 
ordered to impress Negroes to build for- 
tifications, 261. ' 

McLeod, John, in favor of the education 
of the Colored people, 1S6. 

Madden, Rev. Samuel, a Coloreil Baptist 
minister, 476. 

Madison, James, opposed to slavery, 33 ; 
president of the American Colonization 
Society, 52. 

Maine, bill for the admission of, into the 
Union, 16, admitted, 18 ; equal school 
privileges granted to Negroes, l6o ; 
number of Negro troops furnished by, 
299 ; ratifies the fifteenth amendment 
to the Constitution of the U. .S , 422. 

Malcont, T^ev. Howartl, favors the coloni- 
zation of free Negroes at Liberia, 52. 

Mallory, Col., fugitive slaves of, declared 
contraband of war, 250, 

Mann, Horace, favors the colonization of 
free Negroes at Liberia, 52. 



Marechal, Rev. Ambrose, in favor of the 
education of the Negroes, 161. 

Marsh, Jacob, representative of Attic- 
borough, Pa., in tlie first conference of 
the African NL K. Church, 452. 

Maryland, slave population, 1800, 2, 
:Slo, 9. 1S20, 22; ()uakers emanci- 
pate their slaves, 35 ; slave population. 
1830, 1S40, 99, 1S50, 100; Negroes 
excluded from the schools, .St. Frances 
Academy founded, 160; the Wells school 
established, l6l ; order for the enlist- 
ment of Negroes, 290 ; number of Ne- 
gro troops furnished by, 299 ; compara- 
tive statistics of education, 388 ; insti- 
tutions for the instruction of Negroes, 

392. 393- 

MassacluLsetts, petition of the free Ne- 
groes for relief from taxatiim, 17.S0, 126, 
127; law preventing Negroes from other 
States from settling in, 127 ; notice to 
Negroes, Indians, and Mulattoes warn- 
ing them to leave, 12S ; li>t of the same, 
128, 129 ; first school for Colored chil- 
dren, 162 ; number of Negro troops, 
furnished, 299 ; captured Negro sol- 
diers from, sold into slavery. 353. 

Massachusetts General Colored Associa- 
tion, 78 ; letter to New England Anti- 
Slavery Society desiring to become aux- 
liaiy to the latter, 79. 

Massachusetts .Medical Society, first Col- 
ored member admitted to the, 133. 

Massachusetts State Kansas Committee, 
amount of money furni>hed for the re- 
lief of Kansas, 216, 21S. 

Mass.achusctts Volunteers, 54th regiment, 
first Colored troops raised at the North, 
2S9 ; at James Island, 328, 335 ; march 
to Morris Island, 328, 329. 332 ; .nssauU 
Fort Wagner, and plant the colors of 
the regiment on the fort, 329 ; Edward 
L. Pierce's letter describing the valor 
and losses of the regiment, 331 ; Gen. 
.Strong commends the bravery of the 
regiment, 334. 

Matlock, White, mentioned. 1(16. 

May, Rev. Samuel J., in favor of educi- 
tion of Colored children in Conn., 150, 

151. 153. 157- 
Memphis, Tenn., Negro troops raised 



598 



INDEX. 



for the Confederate States, 277 ; fort 
garrisoned by Negroes, 345. 

Mercer, Brig.-Gen. Hugh W., order to 
impress Negroes to build fortilications, 
261. 

Methodist Episcopal Church founded, 
Negro servants and slaves contributors 
to the erection of the lirst chapel in 
New York, 1768, 465 ; first American 
annual conference, 465, 466 ; first Ne- 
gro preacher in the, 466 ; opposed to 
slavery, 467 ; organized, interested in 
the welfare of the Negro, 46S ; strength 
of the churches and Sunday-schools of 
the Colored members in the, 469. 

Michigan, slave po[ntlation in the terri- 
tory of, 1810, 9 ; nun^ber of Negio 
troops furnished by, 299 ; ratifies the 
fifteenth amendment to the Constitu- 
tion of the U. S., 422. 

Middleton, Charles li., establishes school 
for Colored children, 207, 208. 

Milliken's Bend,, La., bravery of the 
Negro troops at the battle of, 30S, 313, 

32". 345- 

Miner, Myrlilla, establishes seminary for 
Colored girls, 196 ; sketch of, 197-205. 

Minnesota, numlier of Negro troops fur- 
nished by, 300 ; ratifies the fifteenth 
amendment to the Constitution of the 
U. S., 422. 

Minot, William, address at the dedica- 
tion of the Smith school-house, 1C2. 

Mississippi, slave population in territory 
of, 1800, 2 ; one of the most cruel of 
slave States, 3 ; formation of the terri- 
tory of, 3 ; slave population, 1810, 9 ; 
ap|)lies for admission into the Union 
with a slave constitution, 9: slave popu- 
lation, 1820, 22, 1830, 1840, 99, 1S50, 
100 ; education of Negroes prohibited, 
conduct of slaves regulated, preaching 
the Gospel by slaves declared unlawful, 
163 ; secedes from the Union, 232 ; 
number of Negro troops furnished by, 
300 ; 1st regiment of Negroes at the 
battle of Milliken's Bend, 321') ; repre- 
sented in Congress by Negroes, 382 ; 
Negro population in excess of the 
wliite, 386 ; comparative statistics of 
education, 388 ; institutions for the in- 



struction of Negroes, 392, 393 ; rati, 
fies the fifteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the U. S., 422. 

Missouri, applies for admission into the 
Union, 14 ; Arkan-sas formed from, 15; 
controversy, \b-2Q ; admitted into the 
Union, 20 ; slave pojifilation, 1820, 22, 
1S30, 1840, 99, 1850, 100 ; Negroes 
ordered to leave the State, education 
prohibited, 163 ; order for the enlist- 
ment of Negroes, 290 ; number of Ne- 
gro troops furnished by, 300 : compara- 
tive statistics of education, 3S8 ; insti- 
tutions for the instruction of Negroes, 
392 ; ratifies the fifteenth amendment 
to the Cons titution of the U. -S., 422. 

Mitchell, Charles L., member of the 
Legislature of Mass., 446. 

Mobile, Ala., educational jirivileges 
granted to the free Creoles, 148. 

Monroe, James, message to Congress in 
regard to the slave-trade, 12. 

Montes, Don Pedro, passenger on the 
Spanish slaver "Amistad," compelled 
by the slaves to navigate the ship, 93 ; 
charged with piracy, 94. 

Montgomery, Ala., Confederate States or- 
ganized, 232. 

Morgan, Rev. J. V. B., establishes school 
for Colored children, 209. 

Morris, Catharine, contributes money for 
the education of Colored people, 199. 

Morris Island, S. C, battle on, Negro 
regiment leads the assault, 313, 328, 329. 

Morsell, Judge James, interested in the 
education of Colored people, 207. 

Mott, Lydia P., establishes a home for 
Colored orphans, 144. 

Murfreesboro, Tenn., captured Negro sol- 
diers massacred at, 353. 

Murray, John, Jr., mentioned, 166. 

Muse, Lindsay, one of the founders of 
Colored Sunday-school at Washington, 
D. C, 186. 

Mussey, Captain R. D., superintends the 
recruiting of Negro troops, 294. 

Nasjtl'CKET, Mass., anti-slavery conven- 
tion at, 425. 

Nashville, Tenn., Negroes in the Confed- 
erate service, 277 ; Negro troops re- 



INDEX. 



599 



cruited, 294 ; engaged in llie battle of, ' 
342. I 

Natchez, Miss., fort at, garrisoned by | 
Negro troops, 345. 

National anti-slavery convention, held in 
I'hila., 1833, 44. 

Neau, Elias, establishes a school for 
Negro slaves, in New York, 1704 ; 
pupils accused of being concerned in 
the Negro plot, his life threatened, 164 ; 
his death, 165. 

Nebraska, bill introiluccd in Congress, to 
organize the territory of, 107, 110; 
number of troops furnished by, 300 ; 
ratifies the fifteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the U. S., 422. 

Negroes, free, sold as slaves, 2; preniinin 
to informer of illegally imported, seized 
in the United Slates, 10 ; imported to 
St. Mary's, lo ; to be returned to 
Africa, 12 ; serve in the War of lSi2, 
23-27 ; (jen. Jackson's proclamation 
calling for Negro troops, 23 ; Gen. 
Livingston's address, 26 ; rated as 
chattel property, their valor in war 
secures them immunity in peace, at 
the battle of New Orleans, 27 ; in ihe 
United States Navy, 2S-30 ; at Fort 
Mackinac, 1S14, 2S ; their treatment as 
sailors, Captain Perry's letter to Com- 
modore Chauncey, complaining of the 
men sent him, 28 ; Commodore Chaun- 
cey's reply, 29 ; at the battle of Lake 
Erie, represented in the picture of 
Perry's victory on Lake Erie, letter of 
Nathaniel Shaler commending the 
bravery of the sailors under his com- 
mand, 30 ; mditary services, 32 ; pro- 
posed colony of free, at I^iberia, 51, 
54, 56 ; authors of anti-slavery litera- 
ture, 59 ; anti-slavery efTorts of free, 
6i-Sl ; conventions of the people of 
color, 61-79 ■> condition of free, in 
United States, 62, 67 ; proposed col- 
lege for, 63 ; settle in Canada, f)6, 71, 
73; opposed to colonization in Liberia 
and Ilayti, 70 ; leave Ohio, for Can- 
ada, 71, 76; colonization of Upper 
Canada, opposed, 72 ; dissolution of 
anti-slavery societies composed of, 79 ; 
prejudice against admitting, into white 



societies, eloquence of tlie, as ora'ors. 
Si ; insurrections of, S2-92 ; why they 
were kept in bontlage, 82 ; plot of the, 
in \'irgtnia, 1600, S3 ; in Charlestiin, 
S. C, 1S22, 84 ; insurrection in .S.ialh- 
amplon County, Va., 1S31, 87-S9 ; the 
" Amislad " captives, 93-96 ; Nurihern 
sympathy and .Southern subterfuges, 
1850-1860, 97-lix> ; schools broken 
up, pupils maltreated, 97 ; the " P>!.ick 
Laws" of " liorder States," 111-124; 
Ohio laws against free. III, 112 ; com- 
pelled to show cerlilicate of freedom, 
• 
112; laws against kidnapping, 113; 

not citizens, 114, ilS ; denied the right 
to vote, 119, 122; excluded from the 
militia service, schools est.iblished for 
free, 119; -Vet for the introduction of, 
into Indiana, 120 ; excluded from giv- 
ing testimony, 121, 123 ; exempted 
from militia service, 122 ; -Act to pre- 
vent the immigration of free, into Illi- 
nois, 123; restrictions and proscriptions 
in the Northern States, 124 ; the 
Northern, 125-146 ; number of free, 
in the .slave and Northern States, 125 ; 
petition for relief from taxation of free, 
in Mass., 17S0, 126; law preventing, 
from other States settling in Ma.ss., 127; 
notice to, warning them to leave Mass., 
12S ; list of, ordered lo leave Mass., 
123, 129 ; rights and privileges restrict- 
ed, 130-132 ; educated by their own 
race, admitted to the bar, practice of 
me<licinc, pulpit, authors, orators, 133; 
prominent, 134, 135 ; amount paid for 
their freedom, 134 ; distinguished in 
the pulpit, 135 ; report on the condi- 
tion of, in Cincinnati, 1S35, 13(>-13S; 
militia company of, 145 ; emigrate to 
Liberia, overcome prejudice against the 
race, 146 ; school laws, 1619-1360, 
147-213 ; education of, prohiliiled, 14S, 
149. 157. 15'*. '60. 163. 'Tt>. 17S-181 ; 
prejudice .against the schools for, in 
Conn., 149 ; resolutions against the 
establishing of schools for, in Conn., 
150 ; school abolishe<l, 152, 153 ; 
school-house mobbed, 156, 159; Afri- 
can School Association established, 
157 ; education of advocated, 153, 



6oo 



INDEX. 



,'159 ; denied the right of suffrage, 159 ; 
elective franchise and school privileges 
Ln Maine, 160 ; schools established, 
t6i, 162, 164, 16S-17S, 182-213 ; fiist 
school established by, 162 ; ordered to 
leave Missouri, 163 ; plot for burning 
New York, 164 ; prohibited the use of 
the streets, kidnapped, 165 ; school 
trustees, J71, 172 ; admitted to Ober- 
iin College, 172 ; the employment of, 
as clerks forbidden, iSo ; stringent 
laws of Va., iSo, iSi ; attacked by a 
mol), iSS ; population in United States, 
22g ; their services in the War of 1861 
declined, not tlie cause of the \Var of 
1S61, 242 ; arrest of free, by the army, 
244 ; ordered from the Union army, 
250 ; on fatigue duty, 260-262 ; em- 
ployed as teamsters and in tlie ciuarler- 
niaster's department, 260 ; number at 
Port Royal, cultivate land, self-support- 
ing, 261 ; order to impress, to build 
fortifications for Confederate States, 
261, 262 ; fortifications and earthworks 
built Ijy, industrious and earn promo- 
tion, 262 ; emancipation proclamations, 
263-275 ; President Lincoln's emanci- 
pation proclamation imparts new hope 
to the, 274 ; as soldiers in the War of 
1861 276-309 ; in the Confederate 
service, 277, 27S ; presented with war 
fl^St 277 ; President Lincoln opposed 
to the enlistment of, first regiment of 
loyal, organized, 278 ; official corre- 
spondence of the Secretary of War, con- 
cerning the enlistment of, 279, 280 ; 
their abilities as soldiers, 282 ; Presi- 
dent Lincoln authorizes the raising of 
five regiments of, 2S5 ; regiments of 
free, at New Orleans, 2S7 ; bill in Con- 
gress for the employment of, as soldiers, 
287 ; action of Congress, on the pro- 
posed amendment to the army appro- 
priation bill, to prohibit the enlistment 
of, 238 ; Mass. furnishes regiment of, 
■289 ; official order for the enlistment 
of, 290 ; New York furnishes regiments 
of, 292 : Pennsylvania regiments of, 
293 ; prejudice against, as soldiers, 
'/ree military school established, 293 ; 
number of, in the army, 297, 299-301 ; 



use of, .as soldiers, 301 ; the charactei 
of. 3031 as soldiers, 306, 310-349; 
bravery of, in battle, 308, 313, 323, 
329, 336, 33S, 342, 345-349 ; legally 
and constitutionally soldiers, 309 ; per- 
secuted in the army, 311 ; expedition 
of the First S. C. Yolunteers into Ga., 
and Fla., 314 ; at the battle of Port 
Hudson, 316-323 ; commended for 
thei** bravery, 323, 33S, 346 ; Boker's 
poem on "The Black Regiment," 324 ; 
at the battle of Milliken's Bend, 326 ; 
draft riot at N. Y., mob destroy orphan 
asylum, hang several, and destroy 
property ot, 32S ; lead the assault on 
Fort Wagner, 329, 331-335 ; number 
of battles fought by, in the Army of the 
Potomac, 335 ; defeat Gen. Fitz-Hugh 
Lee at Wilson's Wharf, 335, 336 ; at 
the battle of Petersburg, Va., 336-342 ; 
Nasliville, Tenn., 342 ; list of the 
losses, 343 ; at Appomattox, Va., their 
efficiency as soldiers, 344 ; forts garri- 
soned by, 345 ; soldierly qualities, 346, 
347; history records iheirdeeds of valor, 
in the preservation of the Union, 349 ; 
capture and treatment of, 350-376; 
Confederate States opposed to the mili- 
tary em]jloyment of, by the U. S. 
Government, 350, 351 ; captured in 
arms against the Confederate States 
to be executed, 352 ; captured, sold 
into slavery, the government urged to 
protect enlisted, massacre of prisoners, 
353 ; ill-treatment of free, captured on 
gun-boat, 354 ; Confederate States re- 
fuse to exchange captured, as prisoners 
of war, 355, 357 ; defend Fort Pillow, 
and are massacre<I, 360, 361 ; testi- 
mony in regard to the massacre, 361— 
375 ; the first decade of freedom, 377— 
383 ; condition of, at the close of the 
war, 378, 381, 382 ; bureau for the 
relief of freedmen and refugees es- 
tablished, 379 ; in Congress, members 
of Legislature in the Southern States, 
3S2 ; the results of emancipation, 384— 
418 ; advance in education, 382, 387, 
3S8, 396 ; number of schools attended, . 
382 ; amount of money raised by, for 
the support of schools, 386, 394 ; popu- 



TNDEX. 



tiO\ 



lation in excess of llic wliilcs, in La.. 
S. C, and Miss., 3S6 ; cnniparative 
statistics of education at the Suiuli, 
3SS , statistics of instiliiiions for the 
instruction of, 389-393 ; Uurcau of 
Refugees, Frecdnien, and Abandoned 
Lands establislied. 39S ; military sav- 
ings-banks, Frcedman's Savings IJank 
and Trust Company establislied, 403, 
407 ; failure of the bank, 41 1,412 ; social 
and financial condition of the, in the 
South, 413, 414 ; character of the 
Southern, 414; rarely receive justice 
in Southern courts, 415 ; their treat- 
ment as convicts, 416 ; increase, from 
1790-1SS0, 417; susceptible of tlie 
highest civilization, 41S ; representative 
men, 419-44S : ratification of the fif- 
teenth amendment, granting manhood 
sufifrage to American, 420-422 ; in the 
U. S. Senate and House of Representa- 
tives, in the diplomatic service, 423 ; 
representative women, 448-451 ; Afri- 
can M. E. Church, 452-464 ; contribu- 
tors to the erection of the first M. E. 
chapel in New York, 176S, 465 ; Bap- 
tists of America, 475-515 ; the decline 
of Negro governments, 516-52S ; the 
exodus — cause and effect. 529 ; abridg- 
ment of their rights, the plantation 
credit system, 530; political intimida- 
tion, murder, and outrage against the, 
531-533 ; settle in Kansas, 536 ; r^ro- 
spection and prospection, 544 ; power 
of endurance, number of tribes of, rep- 
resented in U. S., achievements as la- 
borers, soldiers, and students, 545 ; 
first blood shed by, in the Revolution 
and the War for the Union, 546. 

Nelson, Col. John A., commands Negro 
troops at the battle of Port Hudson, 
318. 

Nevada, ratifies the fifteenth amendment 
to the Constitution of the U. S., 422. 

New Bedford, Mass., Negroes excluded 
from the Lyceum, 430. 

Newburyport, Mass., anti-slavery news- 
paper published, 39 ; ship " Francis 
Todd " from, engaged in the slave- 
trade, 40. 

New England Anti-slavery Society, ap- 



points Mass. General Colored Associ.t- 
lion its auxiliary, 79 ; resolution in 
regard to anti-slavery, 80. 

" New Era," gun-boat, at the attack on 
Port Pillow, 3C10. 

New Hampshire, slave population, i.'<oo, 
2 ; number of Ncgru troops furnished 
by, 299 ; ratifies the fifteenth amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the U. S., 
422. 

New Haven, Conn., proposed college for 
young men of color, 63 ; citizens of, 
oppose the erection of the college, 76. 

New Jersey, slave population, iSoo, 2, 
iSlo, 9 ; resolutions against the exten- 
sion of slavery, 16 ; anti-slavery so- 
cieiy formed. Act for the gradual 
abolition of slavery, 20 ; slave popula- 
tion, 1820, 22 ; Quakers emancipate 
their slaves, 38 ; slave population, 1S30, 
1S40. 99, 185::, 100; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 299. 

New London, Conn., the Spanish slaver 
" Amistad " captured and taken to, 
trial of the slaves, 94. 

Newman, Rev. \V. P., Colored Baptist 
minister, 476. 

New Mexico, resolution in regard to the 
admission into the Union, 100, loi ; 
number of troops furnished hy, 300. 

New Orleans, La., bravery of the Negro 
troops at the battle of, 27 ; shaves 
from Baltimore to, to be sold. 40 ; 
Negro troops in the Confederate army 
at, 277 ; regiments of free Negroes 
organized, 287 ; forts at, garrisoned by 
Negro troops, 345. 

New York, slave population, 1800, 2, 
1810, 9 ; Legislature passes resolutions 
against the extension of slavery, 16; 
slave population, 1S20, 22 ; authorizes 
the enlistment of Negro troops in the 
War of i8i2. 23 ; convention of the 
Anti-Slavery Women of America. So ; 
slave population, 1S40, 99; right of 
suffrage granted to every male inhabi- 
tant, 163, amended. 163. 164 ; rights of 
Negroes denied, 164 ; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 299 ; ratifies the 
fifteenth amendment to the Constitution 
of the U. S., 422. 



6o2 



INDEX 



New York African Free School, organ- 
ized, 165 ; list of the trustees, sketch 
of, school destroyed by fire, 166 ; La- 
fayette's address to the scholars, 168. 

New York City, prominent Colored men 
of. 134 ; school for Negro slaves, 1704, 
164, 165; Negro plot, 164; Negroes 
prohibited the use of the streets, kid- 
napped, N. Y. African Free School or- 
ganized, 165 ; school-house destroyed 
by fire, 166 ; public schools for Colored 
children, 16S-170 ; Union League Club 
raise Colored troops, 292 ; diaft riot, 
Colored Orphan Asylum burned by 
mob, 328 ; first Methodist Episcopal 
chapel erected, 465. 

New York Public School Society, assumes 
control of the Colored schools, 168. 

New York Society for Promoting the 
Manumission of Slaves, organized, 165. 

"New York Times" (The), articles on 
Negro troops, 2S4, 301, 313, 314, 320. 

" New York Tribune" (The), articles on 
Negro troops, 303-307, 353. 

Nichols, Manuel, his testimony in regard 
to the Fort Pillow massacre, 361. 

Nickens, Rev. David, Colored Baptist 
minister, 476. 

Norfolk, Va. , mililary savings-bank for 
Negroes established, 403. 

North Carolina, slave population, 1800, 
2, iSlo, 9, 1820, 22, 1830, 99, 1840, 
1S50, 100 ; Colored schools abolished, 
education of Negroes prohibited, 170; 
number of Negro troops furnished by, 
300 ; comparative statistics of educa- 
tion, 3SS ; institutions for the instruc- 
tion of Negroes, 392, 393 ; ratifies the 
fifteenth amendment to the Constitu- 
tion of the U. S., 422. 

Northup, Solomon, narrative of, men- 
tioned, 59. 

No.xon, Thomas, teaches Negro slaves in 
New York, 165. 

OnERi.iN College, Colored students ad- 
mitted to, 172. 

O'Connell, Daniel, extract of speech 
against slavery, 43. 

Ohio, constitution adopted, 3 ; Negroes 
leave for Canada, 71 ; laws against free 



Negroes and Mulalloes, in, 112; fu- 
gitive-slave law recognized, 112 ; law 
to prevent kidnapping of free Negroes, 
113; first constitution, 113, 114; free 
Negroes denied the right to vote, ex- 
cluded from the militia service, sepa- 
rate schools, 119; Colored schools es- 
tablished, 170-172 ; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 300; institutions 
for the instruction of Negroes, 392 ; 
ratifies the fifteenth amendment to the 
Constitution of the U. S., 422 ; Ne- 
groes, members of the Legislature, 

447- 
Ohio Anti-Slavery Society, report on the 

condition of the people of color, 1835, 

136-138. 
Owen, Richard, first native Methodist 

preacher in America, 465. 

Paducah, Ky., fort at, garrisoned by 
Negro troops, 345. 

Park, Benjamin, report in favor of the 
modification of the ordinance of 17S7, 
in Indiana Territory, 6. 

Parker, Mary S., President of the Anti- 
Slavery Women of America. So. 

Parker, Theodore, favors the extinction 
of slavery, 48. 

Paul, William, his connection with the 
Negro plot in Charleston, S. C, 1822, 
85. 

Payne, Daniel A., bishop of the African 
M. E. Church, 464. 

Peck, Maj. -Gen. John J., letter to Gen. 
Pickett, relative to killing of Negro 
.soldier after surrendering, 356. 

Pemberton, John, bequest for the educa- 
tion of Colored people, 175. 

Pennsylvania, slave population, 1800, 2, 
1810,9; resolutions against the exten- 
sion of slavery, 16 ; ami-slavery soci- 
ety, 20 ; slave population, 1S20, 22 ; 
Quakers emancipate their slaves, 38 ; 
slave population, 1840, 100 ; Colored 
schools established, 172-178 ; number 
of Negro troops furnished by, 299 ; 
institutions for the instruction of Ne- 
groes, 392 ; ratifies the fifteenth amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the U. S., 
422. 



INDEX. 



603 



Pennsylvani.i Aliolition Society, establish 
Colored schools, 175, 176. 

Perry, Capt. Oliver Hazard, letter to 
Commodore Chaiinccy, complaining of 
the Negro sailors sent him, 2S ; com- 
mends bravery of the Negro sailors at 
Lake Erie, 29. 

Petersburg, Va. , Negro troops engaged in 
the siege of, 335-337 ; lead the charge 
on the advance works, 33S, 339. 

Phelps, Brig. -Gen. J. \\'., report in favor 
of enlisting Negroes, 285; applies for 
arms and clothing for Negro regiments, 
his policy in regard to the em))loyment 
of Negroes as soldiers, 286 ; resigns 
from the army. 287. 

Philadelphia, Colored citizens of, send 
memorial to Congress, against the slave- 
trade, 2 ; anti-slavery newspaper pub- 
lished, 3S ; national anti-slavery con- 
vention, 44 ; conventions of the j^eople 
of color. 61, 6S ; prominent Ctilored 
men, 134; amount paid for their free- 
dom, 134; churches, 135; first Colored 
school established, 172; (Quakers estab- 
lish school, 174; number of public 
schools, condition and population of the 
Colored people, 1 75 : Negro troops re- 
cruited. 293 ; free military school for 
Negroes established, 295-29S ; first 
American Methodist conference, 465. 

" Philanthropist" (The), office destroyed 
by a mob, 51. 

Phoebe vs. Jay, case of, mentioned. 120. 

Pickett, Maj.-Gen. J. E., letter to Gen. 
Peck, relative to killing of Negro sol- 
dier after surrender, 357. 

Pierce, Rev. Charles, minister of the 
African M. E. Church. 452. 

Pierce. Franklin, nominated for President 
of the United States, 106; elected, in 
favor of slavery, 107. 

Pillsbury, Parker, member of the hetero- 
dox anti-slavery party, 48. 

Pilmoor, Joseph, member of the first 
American Methodist conference, 466. 

Planci.incois, Anselm.as, color-sergeant of 
the First Louisiana Regiment of Colored 
Troops, his reply on receiving the colors 
of the regiment, 316, 319 ; bravery and 
death, 319. 



Poindexter, Rev. James, Colored liaptist 

minister, 476. 503. 
Port Hudson, La., br.avcry of llic Negro 

troops at the battle of, 308, 313, 317, 

31S, 322, 345. 
Port Koyal, S. C, first regiment of loyal 

Ni'griies, organized, 27S. 
Porter, Henry, his connection with the 

Negro insurrection in Southampton Co., 

Va.. 87. 
Potter, Henry, cstal)lishcs school for Col- 
ored children, 1S3. 
Poyas, Peter, his connection with llic 

Negro plot in Charleston, S.C..1822, 22. 
Presbyterian church, the first Colored, 

Washington, IJ. C, organized, i8q. 
Prout. John \V., establishes school for 

Colored children, 185, If6 ; opposed to 

the emigration of Negroes to Liberia, 

185. 
Proviiience, R. I.. Colored school ,ibol- 

ished, 17.S. 

QtJAKERS. emancipate their slaves, 35, 

38 ; est.ablish school for Negroes, 174 ; 

contribute money for the education of 

the latter. 19S, 199. 
Quincy, III., the Free Mission Institute 

destroyed by a mob, 159. 
Quincy, Josiah, signs memorial against 

the increase of slavery, 16. 
Quinn, Rev. William Paul, minister of 

the African .M. E. Church, 452. 

Randolph, John, report in Congress, 
against the modificaiion of the ordi- 
nance of 17S7, in Indiana Territory, 4. 

Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, speech 
against slavery in the Legislature of 
Virginia, 33. 

Rankin. Thomas, president of the first 
-American Methodist conference. 466. 

Rankin vs. Lydia, case of, mentioned, 
120. 

Ray, John F. , his testimony in regard to 
the Fort Pillow massacre. 373. 

Reconstruction, 1865-1875. 377-383. 

Recder, Gov. .Andrew H.. threatened by 
mob, leaves Kansas, 216. 

Rees. Sergt. Henry, fires the mine at the 
siege of Petersburg, \'a. , 341. 



6o4 



INDEX. 



Republican party, decline of the, 518 ; the 
f>residential campaign of 1876, 519, 520. 

Revels, Hiram R., succeeds Jefferson 
Davis in the U. S. Senate, 423. 

Rhode liland, slave population, 1800, 2, 
iSio, 9, 1820, 22 ; grants equal privi- 
leges to Negroes, 178 ; number of Ne- 
gro troops furnished by, 299; ratifies 
the fifteenth amendment ;o the Consti- 
tution of the U. S., 422. 

Richardson, Mrs. Henry, raises money for 
the purchase of the freedom of Fred- 
erick Douglass, 431. 

Richmond, Va., Negro plot, 1800, 83 ; 
Negroes armed for the defence of, 278; 
schools for the education of Negroes, 
394-396. 

" Richmond Enquirer" (The), mentioned, 
8g ; on the Negro insurrection of 1831, 
go, 92. 

"Richmond Examiner" (The), on the 
treatment of captured Negro soldiers, 

354. 355- 

Roberts, Thomas Wright, bishop of the 
M. E. Church. 469. 

Rodney, Caesar, report in favor of the 
modification of the ordinance of i7S7in 
Indiana Territory, 4, 

Roman Catholic school for Colored peo- 
ple, 194, 212. 

Ruffner, \V. II., superintendent of public 
instruction, commended, 393 ; his re- 
port, 395. 

Ruiz, Jose, passenger on the Spanish 
slaver "Amistad," 93; charged with 
piracy, 94. 

Russell, Pero, free Negro, petitions for 
relief from taxation in Mass., 17S0, 
126. 

Russworm, John B., teacher in the Afri- 
can school, Boston, Governor of Cape 
Palmas, Liberia, 162. 

St. Frances Academy for Colored girls, 
founded, 160. 

St. Mary's, Md., slaves imported to, 10. 

Satchell, Rev. Charles, Colored Baptist 
minister, 476. 

Saunders, George Nicholas, his connec- 
tion with the proposed steam-ship line 
to Africa, 53. 



Savar.n.ah, Ga., education of Negroes pro- 
hibited, 158. 

Saxton, Brig.-Gen. Rufus, authorized to 
enlist Negroes, 283 ; establishes mili- 
tary .savings-bank for Negroes, 403. 

Scott, Dred, Negro slave, 114; his mar- 
riage, children of, 115 ; sues for his 
freedom, I14-I18. 

Scott, Lieut. -Gen. Winfield, Gen. Butler's 
letter to, declaring slaves contraband of 
war, 250 ; nominated for President, 
106 ; defeated, 107. 

Seward, William H., in favor of Union 
of the Stales, 230 ; speeches against 
slavery, 230, 231 ; letter to Gen. Mc- 
Clellan relative to fugitive slaves, 263. 

Seymour, Horatio, opinion in regard to 
raising Negro troops, 292 ; addresses 
the draft rioters at New York, 328. 

Shadford, George, member of the first 
American Methodist conference, 466. 

Shaler, Capt. Nathaniel, letter commend- 
ing the bravery of Negro sailors under 
his command, 30. 

Shaw, Col. Robert Gould, commander of 
the 54th Mass. Regiment of Colored 
Troops, leads the assault on Fort Wag- 
ner, 329, 333 ; his death, 330, 333. 

Shelton, Rev. Wallace, Colored Baptist 
minister, 503. 

Sherman, Brig.-Gen. T. W., procla- 
mation protecting slave property, 
246 ; ordered to accept the services of 
all loyal persons to suppress the war, 
27S, z8l. 

Sherwood, Gen. Isaac R., his account of 
an attempt to secure a fugitive slave in 
his charge, 245, 246. 

Shirley, Thomas, donates money for Col- 
ored school-house, 174. 

Shorter, Rev. James, establishes Colored 
school, 213. 

Shorter, James A., bishop of the African 
M. E. Church, 464. 

Shurtleff, Capt. G. W., refuses to arrest 
fugitive slaves, 245. 

Simpson, Rev. H. L., Colored Baptist 
minister, 476. 

Slave-trade, on the coast of Guinea, se- 
cretly carried on in the United States, 
2 ; American ships prohibited from sup- 



INDEX. 



605 



plying slaves from Uniteil Stales to 
foreign markets, 3 ; Jefferson recom- 
mends tlic abolishing of the, S : Act of 
Congress in regard to persons engaged 
in the, g; memorials against the, 10; 
illegal at St. Mary's, 10 ; vessels en- 
gaged in the, to l)e seized, 13 ; ship 
''Francis Todd," from Xewhuryport, 
Mass, engaged in the, 4u ; l)ill for the 
suppression of the, 53 ; Spanish slaver 
"Amistad," 93 ; number of slaves im- 
ported for the, from the year 1500 to 
i860, 544. 

ivery, restriction and eNtciisinn, iSoo- 
1S25, 1—22 ; increase of, iSoo, i ; !,lave 
population in United States, i8oo„i, 2; 
the fugitive-slave law of 17(53, source of 
persecution to the free Colored people, 
2 ; growth of, in United States, iSlo, 
9; President Monroe's message to Con- 
gress on the question of, 12 ; resolu- 
tions in favor of restriction of, in the 
new Slates, 16 ; anti-slavery societies 
formed. Act for the gradual abolition 
of, in New Jersey, 20 ; atliuule of the 
Northern press on the ipiestion of, 21 ; 
anti-slavery sentiments of the North, 
22 ; retrospection and reflection, 1S25- 
1850, 31—36 ; secured at the South, 31 ; 
Jefferson predicts the aboliiion of, 
33 ; increase of, 33 ; speeches against, 
■n the Legislature of Virginia, 33- 
35 ; evil effect upon society, 35 ; 
the South in favor of, 36 ; anti-slaver)' 
methods, 37-60 ; anti-slavery newspa- 
pers established, 38, 39 ; lUichanan's 
oration against, 1791, 3S ; first anti- 
slavery society established in United 
States, 43; O'Connell's speech against, 
43 ; Sumner's speech, 46 ; the South 
entertains hope that, will become na- 
tional, 9S ; increase in the United 
States, gg, 100 ; Congress has no au- 
thority to prohibit, Henry Clay's reso- 
lutions in Congress for the adjustment 
of, does not exist by law in the United 
Slates, lor; Senator HeU's resolutions, 
Jefferson Davis's speech in favor of, 102; 
Calhoun's speech, 103-105 ; President 
Pierce in favor of, 107 ; ignorance 
favorable to, 14S; John Brown's speech 



against, 215 ; speeches of William \\. 
Seward against, 230, 231 ; Lincoln's 
speech against, 230; Alexander IL 
Stephens's speech in favor of, 235 ; the 
extension of, the issue between the 
North and South, 236, 240 ; Lincoln's 
views on, 237-239 ; Rev. Justin D. 
Fulton's views on, 242, 243 ; Gen. Mc- 
Clellan's views on, 249 ; Greeley's let- 
ter to Lincoln, 253 ; Lincoln's reply, 
254 ; struggle for the supremacy be- 
tween the Union and, 259 ; Lincoln's 
views on, 264-266 ; resolutions of the 
Confeilerate Congress, 350, 351 ; .ibol- 
ished in the U. S., 377; the legal destruc- 
tion of, and a constitutional ])rohibition, 
419. 
Slaves, number of, in the United .States, 
1800, I, 2 ; free Colored men sold as, 
fugitive-slave law of 1 793, c.ause of per- 
secution to the Colored people, 2 ; 
American ships prohibited from supply- 
ing, from United States to foreign mar- 
kets, 3 ; importation of, piohibiied, 8 ; 
illegally imported to be forfeited, S ; 
number of, in United .States, 1810, g ; 
circular- letter of the Uiuted States 
Navy De])artment in regard to the im- 
portation of, premium to informer for 
imported, seized in United .States, 10 ; 
number of, in United States, 1S20, 22 ; 
the right to hold, ijuestioned, 32 ; in- 
crease of, 33 ; Quakers of Maryland 
and Delaware, emancipate their, 35 ; 
in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 3S ; 
from lialtimore, sent loNewOrlcans lo 
be sold, 40 ; Washington emancipates, 
43 ; insurrections of, 82-92 ; why kept 
in bond.age, 82 ; plot of the, in \'ir- 
ginia, iSoo, S3 ; insurrection in South- 
ampton County, Va., 1S31, S7-89; 
the "Amistad" captives, 93-96 ; num- 
ber of, in United St.atcs, 1830, 1S40, gg; 
Jefferson Davis's speech on the right to 
hold, 102 ; the " Dred Scott " ca>c. 
114-ng ; law in regard to execuiions 
.against ilie lime of service of, iig, 121 ; 
.•\ct for the introduction of, inio In- 
diana, 120; persons emancipating, in III. 
required to give bonds, 122 ; fugitive, 
seek refuge in Canada, 125 ; rendition 



f)o6 



INDEX. 



of fuj^ilive. by the army, 244 ; failure 
of attempts to secure fugitive, from the 
army, 245. 246 ; orders in regard to 
liarboring fugitive, in the army, 248, 
249 ; contraband of war, 250 ; Gen. 
Fremont's proclamation emancipating, 
in Missouri, 255 ; disapproved by Presi- 
dent Lincoln, 256 ; Gen. Hunter's 
proclamation, 257 ; rescinded, 258 ; or- 
der to impress, to build fortifications 
for Confederate States, 261 ; emancipa- 
tion proclamations, 261-275 ; Secretary 
Seward's letter in regard to, 263; Presi- 
dent Lincoln's proclamation, 267-269 ; 
second proclamation, 272 ; enlist in the 
service of the Union, 2S1 ; fugitive, 
offer their services in the army, 285, 
287 ; Judge Advocate Holt's letter on 
the enlistment of, 307 ; the U. S. Gov- 
ernment justified in the employment 
of, as soldiers, 310; at the battle of 
Port Hudson, 316, Milliken's Bend, 
326 ; bravery at battle of Nashville, 
Tenn., 342 ; resolutions of the Confed- 
erate Congress ag.iinst the military em- 
ployment of, by the U. S. Government, 
35ti. 35 1; Confederate army refuse to 
exchange captured, 357, 35S ; results of 
emancipation. 384—418 ; character of 
the Southern, 414 ; contributors to the 
erection of tlie first M. E. chapel in N. 
v., 465 ; number of, imported from 
Africa, from the year 1500 to i860. 544; 
number of fugitive and manumitted, in 
United States, 1850, 146 ; education of 
prohibited, 148, 158. 17S-181 ; the tax 
on. in Delaware, added to the school 
fund for the education of white chil- 
dren only, 157; proceeds of the sale of, 
in Florida, added to the school fund, 
158 ; conduct regulated, and preaching 
of the Gospel by, declared unlawful 
in Miss., 163 ; school for, at N. Y., 
1704, 164; Society for Promoting the 
Manumission of, organized, 165 ; meet- 
ings of, foibitldcu. iSo ; fugitive-slave 
bill passed, 215 ; aid for the relief of, 
in Kansas, 216 ; John Brown's plan for 
freeing, 2ig: increase of, 22S; numberin 
the United States, 1S60, 229; value of 
labor products of, 1S50, 229; number of 



owners of, 230 ; Constitution of the 
Confederate States, 233 ; Lincoln 
favors the gradual emancipation of, 
239. 

Smith, Abiel, founds school-house for 
Colored children, 162. 

Smith, Elizabeth, establishes school for 
Colored children, 212. 

Smith, James M., pupil of the N. Y. 
African free school, his address to Gen. 
Lafayette, 167, 

Smith, Rev., John C, organizes the First 
Colored Presbyterian Church of Wash- 
ington, D. C, 190. 

Smith, Melancthon, mentioned, 166. 

Smith, Maj.-Gen., W. F., marches on 
Petersburg, 336; commends the bravery 
of the Negro troops, 338, 340, 346 

Smothers, Henry, establishes school for 
Colored children, 185. 

Snow, Benjamin, cause of the Snow riot 
at Washington, D. C, leaves for Can- 
ada, 1 88. 

South Carolina, slave population, 1800. 
2, 1810, g, 1S20, 22 ; Negro plot, 1822, 
S3 ; slave population, 1S30, gg, 1840, 
1S50, 100 ; education of Negroes pro- 
hibited, 17S-180; secedes from the 
Union, 232 ; Gen. Hunter's proclama- 
tion emancipating slaves, 257, re- 
scinded, 250 ; regiment of loyal Ne- 
groes organized, 278 ; number of Negro 
troops furnished by, 300 ; exploits of 
the first volunteers, Negro regiment, 
314 ; represented in Congress by Ne- 
groes, 3S2 ; Negro population in excess 
of the white, 3S6 ; school population, 
387 ; comparative statistics of educa- 
tion, 388 ; institutions for the instruc- 
ticm of Negroes, 392 ; ratifies the 
fifteenth amendment to the Constitu- 
tion of the U. S., 422. 

South Carolina Volunteers, First Regiment 
of Colored Troops, 304. 306. 

Southampton County, Va,, Negro in- 
surrection, 1S31, S7-S9 ; militia ordered 
out, 89 ; number of killed, 91. 

Southern States, churches, libraries, and 
newspapers in the, 230 ; number of 
troops furnishetl by, 300. 

Spencer. Peter, representative of Wil- 



INDEX. 



607 



minglon, in the first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 

Stafford, Col., Spencer II., speech to the 
1st I. a. Regiment of Colored Troops be- 
fore the battle of Port Hudson. 316. 

Stanton, Edwin M., Secretary of War, re- 
vokes order for the return of fugitive 
slaves, 246 ; correspondence with Gen. 
Hunter relative to Negro troops, 279, 
280 ; endorses the free military school 
for Negroes, 295 ; commends the bra- 
very of the Negro troops, 338 ; his 
treatment of prisoners, in retaliation for 
cruel treatment of captured Negroes, 

354- 

Stearns, Maj. George L., secures aid for 
the relief of Kansas, 216; his connec- 
tion with John Brown to free the shaves, 
216-219 ; superintends the recruiting of 
Negro troops, 294. 

Stearns, Mrs. George 1-., personal recol- 
lections of John Brown, 215-221. 

Steedman, Col. James li., refuses to have 
his camp searched for fugitive slaves, 
246 ; employs Negroes as teamsters, 
260 ; commends the bravery of Negro 
troops, 342. 

Stephens, Alexander H., delegate from 
Georgia, to the convention of the Con- 
federate States, 232 ; chosen Vice- 
President of the Confederate States, 
233 ; in favor of State rights, 230 ; 
speech in favor of slavery, 235. 

Stewart, Rev. Austin, his book " Twenty- 
two Years a Slave and Eorty Years a 
Freeman," mentioned, 59. 

Still, William, founder of the underground 
railroad organization, 5S. 

Stokes, Rich.ird, establislies school for 
Colored children, 209. 

Stowc, Harriet Beecher. her book " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," published in diflerent 
languages, 60 ; errors in lier book, 546, 

547. 

Strawbridge, Robert, founder of Metho- 
dism in Baltimore, 4()5. 

Strong, Brig. -Gen. George C, com- 
mands brigade at the assault on l''ort 
Wagner, 329, 330 ; character of, 334. 

Strong, Henry, counsel for Prudence 
Crandall, 156. 



Summer, Charles, speech on " The .\nti- 
Slavcry Duties of the Whig Party," 44 ; 
leader of the political abolition party, 
45 ; his reasons for not supporting 
Robert C. Winthrop, for Congress, 
organizes the Eree Soil paily, speecli in 
Congress on " Freedom National, 
Slavery Sectional," 46 ; views on 
slavery, 433. 

Sylvester, Elisha, teacher of the first 
school for Colored children, 162. 
[ Syphax, William, establishes school for 
Colored children, 206. 

Tabus, Micii.\f.l, establishes school for 
Colored children, 210. 

Tallmadge, James, Jr., introduces bill in 
Congress .against the introduction of 
slavery in Missouri, 14. 

Talmadge, Capt. Grier, first to decide 
slaves contraband of war, 252. 

Taney, Roger B., decides that the Negro 
is not a citizen, 114; opinion in the 
Dred Scott case, I lf>. 

Tanner, Alelhia, purchases frcedouj of 
John E. Cook, 1S7. 

Tapsico, Jacob, representative of Phila., 
in the first conference of the African 
M. E. Church, 452. 

Tappan, Arthur, secures the release of 
William Lloyd Garrison, 41 ; mention- 
ed, 63. 64. 

Tappan, Lewis, lakes charge of the 
" .\mislad " captives, 94. 

Taylor, John \V., introduces bill in Con- 
gress prohibiting slavery in Arkans.as, 
iS ; in favor of the .admission of .Mis- 
souii, 20. 

Taylor, Rev. Marshall W. , his .ancestors, 
early life and strtiggles (or an educa- 
tion. 469-471 ; teache.-. school in Ken- 
lucky, his experiences .as a Icichcr, 
472 ; ordained, becomes a preacher and 
niission.iiy teacher in Indiana and 
Ohio, receives tlie title of Doctor of 
Divinity, his inlluence and standing, 
473, 474 ; opposed to Colored confer- 
ences, 474. 

Tennessee, slave population, iSoo, 2, 
iSio, 9, 1320,22, 1830, 99. 1S40, 1S50, 
too ; no discrimination in school law 



6o3 



INDEX. 



against color, iSo; order for the en- 
listment of Negroes, 290 ; Negro troops 
recruited, 294 ; number of Negro troops 
furnished by, 300 ; comparative statis- 
tics of education, 3S8 ; ins'.itutions for 
the instruction of Neg'-"es, 392, 393. 

Texas, slave population. 1850, 100; ex- 
iles free Negroes, treatment of slaves, 
no legislation in regard to educatingthe 
Negro, 180 ; number of Negro troops 
furnished by, 300 ; comparative statis- 
tics of education, 388; institutions for 
the instruction of Negroes, 392 ; ratifies 
the fifteenth amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the U. S., 422. 

Thomas, Alexander S., sketch t/f, 141- 

:43- 

Thomas, Maj.-Gen. George 11., approves 
tlie employment of Negroes as team- 
sters in the army, 260. 

Thomas, Jesse B., in fnvor of excluding 
slavery north and west of Missouri, 17. 

Thomas, Lorenzo, Adjt.-Gen., U. S. 
Army, speech in favor of enlisting 
Negroes, 289 ; o.der for the enlistment 
of Negro troops, 290 ; letter to Henry 
Wilson on the efficiency of Negro 
soldiers, 344. 

Thomas, Brig. -Gen. Samuel, report on 
the freedmen, 400, 401. 

Thompson, Jacob, his testimony in re- 
gard to the Fort Pillow massacre, 364. 

Thompson, Marg.iret, establishes school 
for Colored children, 206, 207, 

Townsend, E. D., Assistant Adj. -Gen., 
U. .S. Army, order for the enlistment of 
Negro troops. 291 ; in reference to ap- 
plicants for admission to the free mili- 
tary school, 296. 

Travis, Hark, his connection with the 
Negro insurrection in .Soulliamplon 
County, Va., 87, 88. 

Trenton, N. J., opposed to the increase 
of slavery, lO ; anti-shiveiy society 
formed, 20. 

Trinity Church. New York City, Negro 
slaves, communicants of, 164. 

Turner, Benjamin, mentioUL 1, 85 ; killed 
by Negro mob, 88, 89. 

Turner, H. M., bishop of tlie African M. 
K. Cliurch, 464. 



Turner, Nathaniel, Negro prophet, his 
birth anil parentage, becomes pre.achei, 
description of his person. 85 ; mode of 
life, believes he is a prophet, his super- 
stition, denounces conjuring and fort- 
une-telling, regarded with reverence by 
the Negroes, acknowledged leader 
among the slaves, hired out as a slave, 
86 ; claims to have seen visions, organ- 
izes plot for the uprising of the slaves, 
address to' his fellow-conspirators, 87 ; 
leads the attack in Southampton County, 
Va. , his confession of the plot, 88 ; 
trial and execution, remarkable proph- 
ecy of, 90 ; his character, 91. 

Tyler, Cpl. Erastus B., address to the 
people of Virginia, promising the re- 
turn of fugitive slaves, 244. 

Underground Railroai^ Organiza- 
Tio.N, the, 58 : its efficiency in freeing 
slaves, 59 ; mentioned, 82. 

Underwood, J. R., Gen. Buell's letter to. 
on the return of ^gitive slaves to their 
masters, 248. 

Union League Club, N. Y. City, raise 
Negro regiments, 292. 

Union Seminary, Washington, D. C, 
1S9. 

United States, sl.ive population, 1800, i, 
2 ; increase of slavery, I ; slave-trade 
secretly carried on, 2 ; American ships 
prohibited from supplying slaves from, 
to foreign markets, 3 ; importation of 
slaves prohibited, 8 ; slaves illegally 
imported to be forfeited, 8 ; slave pop- 
ulation, 1810, 9; premium offered to 
informers of illegally imported Africans 
seized within the, circular-letter of the 
Navy Department to naval officers in 
regard to the importation of slaves, 10 ; 
President Monroe's message to Con- 
gress on the question of slavery, 12 ; 
appoint agents to direct the return of 
shaves to Africa, 13 ; resolutions in 
favor of restriction of slavery in the 
new States, 16 ; slave population, 1820, 
22 ; Negroes serve in the War of 1S12, 
23-27 ; Gen. Jackson's proclamation 
calling for Negro troops, 25 ; termsof 
peace by tlie Commissioners of Ghent, 



INDEX. 



G09 



27 ; increase of tlic slave populalion, 33 ; 
first anti-slavery society cslal)li>lK(l, 43 ; 
number of anli-slavery societies in, 
1S36, 44 ; Free Soil parly organized, 
46 ; commenis of the press on tile pro- 
posed steam-sliip line between Africa 
and, 55-5S ; condition of the free Ne- 
groes in, 62, 67 ; slave population, 
1830, 1840, 99, 1S50, 100 ; Franklin 
Pierce elected President, 107 ; number 
of fugitive and manumitted slaves, 1S50. 
146 ; increase of slaves, 228 ; slave 
population, i860, value of slave labor 
products, 229 ; six States secede from, 
232 ; Abraham Lincoln elecled Presi- 
dent, 239 ; slavery abolished, 377 ; Ne- 
gro population, 1790-1S80, 417 ; the 
thirleentli amendment to the Constitu- 
tion, 419 ; ratification of the fifteenth 
amendment, 420-422 ; Southern elec- 
tion methods and Noiiliern sympathy, 
517 ; decline of the Republican parly, 
51S ; Southern war claims, 519; the 
presidential campaign of 1S76, 519, 

520 ; the electoral count in Congress, 

521 ; President Hayes's Southern ]iolicy, 
a failure, 522-[;24, 

United States Army, Negro troojis serve 
in the War of 1S12, 23-27 ; Negroes 
arrested, 244 ; orders in regard 10 fugi- 
tive slaves in, 245, 24S, 249 ; Negroes 
ordered from, 250 ; Gen. F'remont's 
proclamation emancipating sl.ivcs, 255 ; 
Gen. Hunter's proclamation, 257 ; for- 
tifications and ear'.hworks built by Ne- 
groes, 262 ; condition of, 1S62, 264 ; 
opposed to President Lincoln's procla- 
mation, 269 ; Negroes as soldiers, 276- 
309 ; first regiment of Negroes organ- 
ized, 278 ; Negro troops organized, 
fugitive slaves offer their services, 285, 
287 ; order for the enlistment of Negro 
troops, 290 : number of Negroes in, 
297, 299-301 ; services of Negroes in 
the Army of the Potomac, 335. 

United States Congress, proceedings on 
the memorial of Colored citizens of 
Philadelphia, against the .slave-lr.adc on 
the coast of Guinea, 2 ; American ships 
prohibited from sujiplying slaves from 
the United States to foreign markets. 



3 ; action on the memorial of Indiana 
Territory for a modification of the or- 
dinance of 17S7, 4-8 ; importation of 
slaves prohibiteil, 8 ; slaves illegally 
imported, to be forfeited, 8 ; Act in 
regard to persons engaged in the slave- 
trade, 9 ; memorials against the slave- 
tr.ade, fugitive-slave act amended, pre- 
mium to informer for imported slaves 
seized within the United States, 10 ; 
Presi<lent Monroe's message to, on the 
question of slavery, 12 ; debate on the 
bill to admit Missouri, 14 ; the .Mis- 
souri controversy. 16-20 ; Garrison 
jietitions. for the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia, 39 ; Sumner's 
.speech on slavery, 46 ; bill establishing 
a line of war-steamers 10 the coast of 
Africa, suppression of the slave-trade, 
promotion of commerce, and the coloni- 
zation of free Negroes, 53-35 ; organi- 
zation of the 31st, 100 ; motion for the 
admission of California and New 
Mexico, 100, loi ; has no authority to 
prohibit slavery, resolutions of Henry 
Clay for the .adjustment of slavery, 
loi, of Senator Bell, 102 ; speech of 
Jefferson Davis in favor of slavery, 
102 ; John C. Calhoun's speech, 103- 
105 ; fugitive-slave l.iw, 1850. 106 ; 
bill to organize Nebraska Territory, 

107 ; to repeal the Missouri compro- 
mise, speech of Stephen A. Douglass, 

108 ; reply of Salmon P. Ch.ise, 109 ; 
Act to organize the territories of 
Kansas and Nebraska, no; opposed 
to civil and military interference with 
slaves, 244 ; conservative policy of, 
252 : passes Act to confiscate properly 
used for insurrectionary purposes, 
263 ; Act to make an ailditional Article 
of War, 267 ; of 1S60, 1S62, 269 ; 
resolution in regard to the enlistment 
of Negroes, 279 ; action on the pro- 
posed amendment of the army appro- 
priation bill to prohibit the enlistment 
of Negroes, 2SS ; investigates the Fort 
Pillow massacre, 361-375 ; Act to es- 
tablish a bureau for the relief of freed- 
mcn and refugees, 379 ; methods of, 
for rec(>ns;r»ciing the South, 3S1 ; 



6io 



lA'DEX. 



Negroes in, 3S2 ; Act to incorporate 
the Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust 
Company, 403, amended, 407 ; ap- 
point commissioners to close up the 
affairs of the bank, 411 ; authorized to 
enforce the thirteenth amendment, 
419 ; recommends the ratification of the 
fifteenth amendment, 420 ; action on 
the electoral count of 1S76, 521. ' 

United States Navy, Negroes serve in 
the, 28-30 ; captures the Spanish slaver 1 
" Amistad," 64. 

Utah, slave population in the terriloiy of, ! 
100. 

Vallan'dingham, C. C, speech on the 
character of John Brown, 225. 

Vanlomen, Rev. Father, preceptor of 
Catholic seminary for Colored girls, 
194. 

Vermont, number of Negro troops fur- 
nished by, 299 ; ratifies the fifteenth 
amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States, 422. 

Vesey, Denmark, leader of the Negro 
plot in Charleston, S. C, 1S22, S4. 

Vesey, Rev. William, rector of Trinity 
Church, New York, 164 ; his death, 165. 

Vicksburg, Miss., fortifications built by 
Negroes, 262 ; fort at, garrisoned by 
Negro troops, 345. 

Virginia, slave population, iSoo, 2, iSlo, 
9, 1820, 22 ; increased, anti-slavery 
speeches in the Legislature, 33-35 ; 
Negro plot, iSoo, 83 ; insurrection, 
1831, S7-89 ; slave population, 1S30, 
99, 1S40, 1S50, too ; education of 
Negroes prohibited, 180, iSl ; Negro 
school population, 387 ; comparative 
statistics of education, 3SS ; institutions 
for instruction of Negroes, 392, 394, 
395 ; r.itifies the fifteenth amendment 
to the Constitution of the U. S., 422. 

Wade. Benjamin F., one of the commit- 
tee of investigation of the Fort Pillow 
massacre, 361. 

Walls, James, his testimony in regard to 
the Fort Pillow massacre, 366. 

War of 1812, Negro troops serve in the, 
23-27. 



War of 1 86 1, definition of the war issue. 
22S ; States secede from the Union, 
232 ; organization and Constitution of 
the Confederate States, 232, 233 ; ex- 
tension of slavery the issue, 240 ; a 
white man's war, first call for troops, 
241 ; rendition of fugitive slaves by the 
army, 244 ; order for the return of fugi- 
tive slaves revoked, proclamations pro- 
tecting slave property, 246-248 ; orders 
in regard to harboring fugitive slaves 
in the army, 248, 249 ; slaves contra- 
band of war, 250; Gen. Fremont's procla- 
mation emancipating slaves in Missouri, 
255 ; President Lincoln's emancipation 
proclamation, 267-269 ; called the war 
(or the Negro, 269 ; President Lin- 
coln's second emancipation proclama- 
tion, 272 ; employment of Negroes as 
soldiers, 276-309 ; President Lincoln's 
call for more troops, 287 ; order for the 
enlistment of Negro troops, 290 ; num- 
ber of Negroes in the army, 297, 299- 
301 ; expedition of the First S. C. Vol- 
unteers, Negro Regiment, into Ga. and 
Fla., 314 ; battle of Port Hudson, 320- 
323, MiUiken's Bend, 326, 327 ; 
memorable events of July, 1S63, 328 ; 
attack on Fort Wagner, 329 ; battles 
fought by Negroes, in the Army of the 
Potomac, 335 ; their services ac the 
siege of Petersburg, Va. , 336-342 ; 
number of, engaged in the battles 
around Nashville, Tenn., 342 ; capture 
and treatment of Negro soldiers, 350- 
376 ; the Fort Pillow massacre, 360- 
376 : reconstruction of the Confederate 
States, 377-3S3 ; end of the war, 377 ; 
provisional military government estab- 
lished, bureau for the relief of frcedmen 
and refugees, 379. 

Ward, Rev. Samuel Ringgold, his book, 
" Autobiography of a Fugitive Negro," 
59 ; mentioned, 79 ; anti-slavery orator, 
434- 

Ward, T. M. D., bi.shop of the African 
M. E. Church, 464. 

Washington, ]). C. first Colored school 
established. 1807 ; population of fri 
persons, 182 ; Colored schools, iS' 



/.VDEX. 



fill 



213; the Snow riol, 188; Colortd 
cliurcli organized, 190. 

Washington, Annie K., school for the eel- 

ucation of Colored jieople, 209. 
Washinglon, George, emancipates his 
slaves, 43 ; called the illustrious South- 
erner, 105. 
Waugh, Nannie, establishes school for 
Colored children, destroyed liy mob, 
192. 
Waynian, A. W., bishop of the African 

M. E. Church, 464. 
Wears, I. C, delivers address on the rati- 
fication of the fifteenth ainendmenl, 
422. 
Webb, Capt., Thomas, one of the founders 
of the M. v.. Church in New Voik, 465, 
466. 
Webster, Daniel, author of meniorial 

against the increase of slavery, i&. 
Webster, Thomas, representative of 
Phila. in the first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 
Welch, Jonathan A., counsel for tlie pros- 
ecution in the trial of I'rndence Cran- 
dall, 156. 
Wells, Nelson, establishes school for free 

children of color, 161. 
Wesley, John, founder of Methodism, 

465, 466 ; opposed to slavery, 467. 
Wesleyan Seminary, Washington, I). C.. 

194. 
West Virginia, number of Nci;ro troops 
furnished by, 300; comparative statis- 
tics of education, 388 ; institutions for 
the education of Negroes, 392 ; ratifies 
the fifteenth amendment to the Con- 
stitution of the U. S., 422. 
Wetmore, Rev. James, teaches Negro 

slaves in New York, ibj. 
Whig parly, opposed to slavery, 44 ; . 
Sumner's speech before the, 44 ; con- | 
vention of 1S52, nominates Gen. Scott 
for the Presidency, 106 ; defines its po- 
sition on the slavery question, 107. 
White, Kev. .Sampson, Colored liaplist 

minister, 476. 
Wliiteworth, Abraham, member of the 
first American Meihodist conference, I 
466. 



Whitfield, Rev. James, favors the edu- 
cation of Negroes, ifjo. 

Wilberforce University, reiimt for 1S76, 
455. 456; list of the f.uully. 460; re- 
port and general statement, 462-464. 

Wilcox, Samuel T., sketch of, 140. 

Williams, Major, his testimony in regard 
to the Fort Pillow m.issacre, 362. 

Williams, Nelson, his connection with the 
Negro insurrection in Southampton 
County, Va., 87. 
, Williams, Richard, representative of Bal- 
timore in the first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 

Williams, P.rig.-(jen. Thomas, order in 
regard to harboring fugitive slaves in 
the army, 249. 

Wilmington, Del., African School Asso- 
ciation established, 157. 

Wilson, Henry, introduces bill in Con- 
gress for the employment of Negroes .as 
soldiers, 2S7 ; (ien. Thomas's letter to, 
on the efiiciency of Negro soldiers, 
344- 

Wilson's Wharf, Negro troops defeat (icn. 
Filz-lhigh Lee at the battle of, 335. 

Williamson, Edward, representative of 
Baltimore in the first conference of the 
African M. E. Church, 452. 
Wisconsin, number of Negro troops fur- 
nished by, 300 : ratifies the fifteenth 
amendment to the Constitution of the 
U. S., 42i. 

Wool, Maj.-Gen. John E., orders the 
employment of Negroes in the army, 
260 ; in command of troops durin" the 
draft riot at N. V., 32S. 

Wormley, Mary, establishes school for 
Colored children, 205. 

Wormley, William, creels school-house 
for Colored children, 205 ; threatened 
by mob, his deaih, 206. 

Wright, Richard, member of the first 
American Meihodist conference, 466. 

Ve.vrbry, JiiSF.i'ii, incniber of the first 
American Meihodist conference, 466. 

Zane. Jo.nathan, bequest for the educa- 
tion of Colored people, 177. 



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